There She Is
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I look at myself in the doorway, unblinking, and myself looks back occasionally as he listens to Pinkie's explanation of why we're here. He's trying to keep his attention on her as she introduces him to himself. I don't say hello, or shake hands with myself, or anything. We both feel the tension between ourselves. Pinkie feels it too, and slowly quiets down until there's complete silence. Finally, because one of me doesn't know why this awkward confrontation is happening, myself asks me a question.
"Is something wrong, Mr. Spires?"
Suddenly I remember my false name. I blink a few times, and now he's Spike, not me. I'm Emerald Spires, stranger to Dragonsville. And I need a place to stay. I shake my head to answer Spike, and move my gaze from him for the first time since he answered the door. I look over at Pinkie, who's smiling again. She takes my look as a cue to start up again, and begins where she left off.
"So, like I was saying, he's new and he needs someplace to stay, but he hasn't got any money, so I was hoping Twilight could help with that!"
Spike looks from me to Pinkie a few times and shrugs.
"Come on in. I'll get Twilight; she's studying, as usual."
I enter the library after Pinkie expecting a duplicate of the tree I live in back in Ponyville. What I get in Dragonsville is much larger. The main room of the library is enormous, larger than the tree it's built in. Rows and rows and rows of bookshelves stretch back and back and back into the depths of the room. It looks like it goes on forever. Maybe it does. The ceiling rises at least thirty feet above me. Everything is spaced out, especially the shelves, but everything is the same: Twilight's writing desk, near the staircase that now spirals halfway around the room before it reaches the living area of our home; the door to the kitchen, next to a new door that stretches two-thirds of the way up to the ceiling. Larger dragons need it to enter. I wonder which ponies would be these large ones. Applejack and Dash, probably. In the center of the ceiling is an odd crystal that looks something like a stalactite and dimly glows violet. I take all of this in, then go running out of the library and take a lap around the oak tree. It looks exactly like it does in Ponyville, save for the tall door that opens impossibly into the enormous interior. When I reenter the library, Spike smirks at me.
"Go on," he goads. "Say it. Everydragon does." He sounds like me.
"It's smaller on the outside."
Pinkie giggles. Spike's grin falters. He looks disappointed with my answer.
"Never heard that one. That's a first."
I grin back. "First time for everything, huh?"
He nods, and begins to walk towards the countless shelves. I follow eagerly, eyes on the tall shelves that tower like skyscrapers in Manehatten. Pinkie trails behind us, hopping like she does with that weird boing that she can make. I will never understand how she does that. Spike starts introducing me to the library.
"This used to be an empty old husk of a place, before Twilight and I came to town." That's something different from my story. The library was fine before we came to Ponyville. "We reopened it after the Night Fury incident, and Twilight set up this spell so that more than one dragon at a time could browse. That's what that crystal on the ceiling is. Break that, and the whole library would shrink and crush us all!" So, Nightmare Moon is something called Night Fury. Was Luna still Luna? I think I heard Celestia's name from dragon-Bon-Bon... "But Twilight could probably teleport us all out before we got hurt. Probably." He turns down a hall of novels. Pinkie and I follow. I hope we can find our way back; I'm getting lost in my own home. The shelves are all blending into a maze. Left, left, right, left, right, right, left, right, right, right, left, u-turn (what?), left, sharp left, then, finally, we're standing in front of a pile of books that reveal lavender scales in some spots. Spike sighs and trots up to the unmoving pile, and coughs. He's three times smaller than her.
"Uh, Twilight?" He prods smaller bump on the pile, which I assume is its head. "We have company." A grunt, so masculine I almost worry that Twilight is actually a dude in this crazy parallel mind-world. The pile shifts, and A Tale of Two Drakes by Charles Drakens bonks Spike on the head. Rubbing the spot where the corner made contact with his skull, he repeats, "Twilight, we've got company. Wake up." Another grunt, no shift this time. Spike lowers his hoof and sighs again. He gets up close to the pile's head, turns to face us, and raises his tail. He cracks it down an inch from the pile, and the resulting sound shocks it to life. An eye opens, and the violet iris behind its lid widen when it catches sight of Pinkie and I. The pile rises up at an impressive speed, sending books flying everywhere. The head that the eye belongs to comes into sight as the dragon called Twilight Sparkle yelps awake. She looks frantic when she sees me, but calms down a bit when her gaze rests on Pinkie.
"Pinkie! What are you doing here?" It's as if the pile of books that Spike is now under was not once her. I am not ashamed to say that I feel attracted to her when I look her over for the first time. She looks a little smaller than Pinkie. She looks the way I'd imagined she would when I was being dragged here: scales the same shade of lavender as her pony form's coat; spines the same blue-violet, with a single bright pink spine sitting near the back of her neck. Unlike Pinkie's, Twilight's spines are flat and curve back like fins, which actually looks very attractive on her. Like Lyra, a horn protrudes from her forehead, this one violet like her eyes. On her collar is the tattoo of a magenta starburst. She catches me staring, and smiles at me like I'm a stranger. And I am.
"Who's this?" I stop staring and step over to the book pile where Spike disappeared, hoping to avoid talking with her. Pinkie explains while I shuffle through novels, textbooks, and even a few surly-looking magazines. I'm closer to Twilight now, and I watch her tail swish as I shuffle through the books. A few paperbacks slide away, I toss aside a copy of Draconic Arcana for Dummies, and a patch of purple fur appears under the pile. I take hold of it, and suddenly three things happen at once.
One: I feel a shock run through my body, like I'd touched metal after rubbing my feet on carpet.
Two: Spike and I both yell in pain as the shock hits us both, and we both flinch back. I step back from the books, and Spike retreats further into them.
Three: The pile Spike is under explodes outward. There's a sound like a soda can fizzing, and with a great WHOOOOSH! the books all fly off in different directions. Some go down the hall of shelves and are lost in the darkness of the maze, some fly up to the ceiling and stick to it, but most are pinned against the shelves themselves, as though something is forcing them there. The four of us stare wildly at the books until what sounds like something big and terrifying sighing is heard and they fall to the floor. Then, silence.
"What in the name of Luna was that?!?" Spike shouts, staring at the copy of Enigmas of the Inexplicable sitting in his lap. Twilight, looking a little faint, helps him up and shakes her head.
"I have no idea. What I want to know is, what made it?" Nopony answers. Pinkie is pulling a few loose pages from her spines, but she's still giggling.
"That was super-duper fun! Do it again, Emerald!"
Twilight gives me a venomous glare. I take a step away from her.
"You did this?" she demands. I shake my head, then think about it. Spike and I have the same thought at the same time, and we make glance at each other at the same time. Simultaneously, we utter: "I think we did."
Twilight looks back and forth between us, confused. Again, we both open our mouths to speak, but I stop and gesture for Spike to go first.
"I think," he starts, "that it happened when we touched. I know it sounds weird--"
"--but it's the only thing that makes sense," I finish. We give each other looks again, and I keep talking. "When I touched his fur, I felt this sort of static shock--"
"So did I."
"--and at the same moment, the books did..." I gesture to the dispersed books. "...that."
Now both Twilight and Pinkie are giving us looks.
"Are you finishing each other's sentences?" Twilight asks.
The answer is yes, but I shake my head. "We just had the same idea at the same time."
"Yeah," chimes in Spike. "We're just more clever than you right now."
Twilight gives him the death stare, and he shuts up and starts picking up the books that are now completely and properly inanimate. I get one too, and I hope that I don't end up this Twilight's enemy by mistake. That would suck. Twilight walks up to me and hesitantly puts a claw on my chest. Nothing happens, except for the blush that appears on my cheeks. I force myself to stop being attracted to her, and thankfully Twilight does not notice the red patches on my face. She does, however, notice that I'm missing something.
"You don't have a cutie mark." They're still called cutie marks here. Good. "Why don't you have a cutie mark?" She's suspicious of me. Not good.
My mind blanks for a moment. I can hear seconds ticking by on a clock nearby. Are they slowing down? Maybe they'll stop, and I can get out of here while time's stopped, and then when it starts again Twilight Sparkle the Dragon will be staring at empty air, and I'll be at the gate, and then I'll run into the forest again, and past the spot where I woke up, and I'll just keep running until I find Ponyville, and then it'll all become this great story I can tell to the girls next time we all have lunch together, and-
"Hello?" Oh. Time didn't stop. I've just been standing here, like an idiot. Twilight's super suspicious now. "Why don't you have a cutie mark?" she asks again. This time, my mind kicks into high gear, and I give the most genius answer anypony's ever given:
"Uh, yes I do?" Good one, Spike (er, Emerald). Nailed it.
"No you don't," Twilight insists, jabbing the spot where a dragon's cutie mark is supposed to be. "There's nothing but scales there." My eyes follow her finger to the spot on my neck she's poking, and in a flash of true brilliance, my eyes widen, and I whisper, "What the heck...?" I move her hand away and continue to stare down at myself, formulating the most life-saving plan I've ever thought up as I do. I look back up at Twilight when it's formulated. She's raising an eyebrow and has her claws on her hips. The plan goes into action.
Step One: Act Surprised
"It's not there anymore. What happened to my cutie mark?" I hope I look as shocked as I sound. Twilight's eyebrow lowers, but she doesn't look convinced that I'm clueless. Which means...
Step Two: Panic/Denial
"This can't be real. I must be having a nightmare or something. I'm still dreaming, that's why I was on the side of a road when I 'woke up!'" I should look a little manic now. Twilight's look has shifted from unbelieving to concerned. I step over to Spike and pick up the book next to him. It's A Tale of Two Drakes. I hold it up for them to see.
"This isn't a novel!" I tell them. "It's a cookbook!" I open it, and pretend to have my hopes crushed when I read about the best and worst of times. I let the book fall dramatically from my hands, and slouch against the shelf next to me, looking what I hope is crushed.
"This isn't a dream. I'm really in a town I've never heard of. I really woke up on the side of a road in the middle of a forest this morning." I glance down at my collar. "I really have lost my cutie mark."
Step Three: Gain Pity, Lose Suspicion
Twilight comes over to me, now looking sorry that she'd sounded so suspicious. She puts a hand on my shoulder, and I give her my famous puppy-dog eyes. She smiles kindly at me, and says, "I'm sorry. I didn't know the whole story."
I fake a sniffle and tell her it's alright. She continues: "Let me make it up to you. Pinkie told me you needed a place to stay, and I've got a guest room downstairs..."
The look I give her could break hearts. "What are you saying?"
"You can stay here, if you need it."
I grin and accept, making sure my voice wavers a little sadly when I do.
Step Four: I win Best Actor at the next Hoofney Awards.
The book I dropped glows green and lifts itself up to an empty slot in the bookshelf across from us. It slides in just as Spike comes around the corner. He catches my eye again, and I smile. He looks to Twilight, who also gives him a grin.
"Spike, prepare the guest bedroom. Mr. Spires will be staying with us for a while."
Spike laughs and says, "That was fast, Twi," as he trots past. Twilight blushes, and so do I, when I figure out what he means a moment after her. We don't make eye contact the entire trip back to the front of the library. Spike heads down to the basement to set up the guest bedroom, and Twilight offers to get Pinkie and I drinks. Somepony knocks on the door just as Twilight enters the kitchen.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, darling!" The voice of an angel. I can suddenly feel my heartbeat pounding in my chest. Mother of Celestia. It's her. I spin around and pretend to be interested in Twilight's writing desk as Twilight answers that yes, Rarity, you can come in, the door's unlocked. I hear it open, hear the soft padding of feet, hear it close. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Pinkie brighten up and walk out of my line of sight. I stare at the same quill, brushing it's feathers with my claw as I hear Pinkie chat with the new visitor. I had not thought about this, to my surprise. I hadn't imagined her, in all of the time I'd been here (which, granted, was not much), and now that she was here I was feeling the overwhelming impossibility of this whole day blanket me again. What was I going to see when I turned around? I didn't dare look at anything other than the desk. Yet my attempt to remain inconspicuous is in vain, for as soon as I decide not to engage, I hear Pinkie telling her all about Twilight's new house guest, and the party she'll be throwing tonight, and then I hear her voice, directed toward me:
"You're Mr. Spires, I presume?"
Oh no. I have to turn around now, don't I? Maybe not. I cough, straighten up, and say in a voice deeper than my normal one, "Yes, I am." I'm in the clear.
"Oh, come on, Emerald! Don't be shy! That's Fluttershy's thing! Come over here and say hi to Rarity! She won't bite!" Pinkamena Diane Pie, you over-social party-planning sugar-bomb, you've blown my cover. I have to turn around, now, no question about it. I breath deep, pray for a miracle, and turn to face Rarity the Dragon.
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"Excuse me?"
Time begins to move again. She's looking awkwardly between me and Pinkie. I'm standing perfectly still. Pinkie sees that she's uncomfortable (so am I, really), and she says, "Oh, that! He does that to everydragon! He did it to Twilight and me earlier! He'll be alright in a second!" Pinkamena Diane Pie, my Lord and Savior, you've saved me once again. She looks back to me, and I manage to gain enough feeling in my face to smile politely at her. The rest of my body follows suit, and walk over to her and Pinkie. Pinkie gives her a "See? I told you!" look, and she smiles at me and holds out her hand.
"Rarity," she introduces, "premiere fashion designer here in Dragonsville."
I take her hand and kiss it without thinking. I have not broken eye contact with her yet. She blushes and draws her hand away, a little reluctantly, I notice.
"Emerald," I tell her, "premiere stranger here in Dragonsville."
She laughs and smiles again. Oh thank you, Faust, I can still make her laugh and smile. The initial shock is still wearing off, so I am limited to simply smiling back at her and standing around waiting for the next question. And I'm still staring her in the eye. I probably look like I'm thinking of how good her eyes might look in my collection, or something like that. Her smile is just beginning to fade again when Twilight comes in with five drinks on a platter floating in the air. She sets them down on the table in between the two doors leading outside, and I'm about to ask why there are five when Spike comes back up the stairs with a duster in the grip of his magic. His eyes rest on Rarity, and the duster falls to the ground.
"Rarity," he breathes, looking like a little kid meeting his favorite cartoon character, "I didn't know you'd be here!" His eyes are shining with admiration. He's hopelessly, unforgettably, madly enamored with this dragoness. I will never hate anypony more than I hate the unicorn-me in this moment. Rarity smiles back at him and says hello. I almost hate her too, for a second. The five of us sit down for drinks, and I manage to pull out a chair for Rarity before Spike can. The look he gives me would make Fluttershy cry, but it only gives me pleasure to see his anger. I sit on one side of her, with Pinkie on my left, and he sits on the other side of her, with Twilight to his right. We are directly across from each other. That's another difference in this world: the table's rectangular, not circular. I like it better this way.
"Twilight, dear, this is excellent!" The moment Rarity begins speaking, Spike's head snaps to look at her. I smile, and glance over at her. I have more control over myself around her. That's 1-zip, my favor. Rarity continues speaking, either unaware of Spike's head snap or unaffected by it. "What is it?"
Spike answers instead of Twilight. "It's her famous iced coffee. It's pretty much the only thing she can make in the kitchen, but when she makes it, she makes it good." Damn. He's able to answer her easier. What's worse, he's completely right: this is he most delicious coffee I've ever had. My Twilight doesn't drink coffee. That's 2-1, his favor. I'm already losing. Crap. Time to move attention away from her.
"So, about my rent..." I begin, and Spike reluctantly turns to me from Rarity. I look at Twilight, who has finished her drink already and is laughing quietly.
"Mr. Spires, please-"
"Emerald, please," I insist. I give Rarity a sideways glance. "Call me Emerald."
"Well, Emerald, if what Pinkie tells me is true, you have no money with which to pay rent." She gives a sigh full of false-exasperation. "So I'll simply have to let you stay here without paying."
"I can't let you do that without doing something for you."
"It's fine, really. Don't worry about it."
I nod and drink more of my coffee. We start to chat about how my staying here will work out, and conversation is about to turn towards how I ended up here in the first place when Pinkie says something that makes everypony crack up. Rarity's drink is ruined when she snorts into it and a puff of blueish smoke fills the glass. Spike offers to get her a new one, and when he goes into the kitchen Rarity turns to me and picks up where the discussion left off.
So then, Emerald, I would love to know more about you. How did you come to Dragonsville?"
So I explained the full story: I'd woken up on the side of the road, with no idea where I was or how I got there, and I followed a path through the forest to Dragonsville, where I'd met Pinkie, then Spike and Twilight, and now, her. None of it was a lie.
"My, what a mystery!" Rarity says when I'm finished. I've impressed her: still your move, Spike. "Do you remember what you did just before you lost your memory?"
"I was on my way to C-" I stop, and manage to turn the C in Canterlot into a cough. Rarity doesn't notice a thing. "I was going to a meeting with the princesses." I realize that I've still made a terrible mistake far too late, and watch in horror as all eyes widen at my claim.
Twilight is the most offed by this. "Y-You know the princesses? You're friends with them? Is that why you don't have a cutie mark, because you're from Draco Arabia?"
"Er-" I can't say anything more, because Twilight has started ranting and will not stop.
"Were you at the show I put on for Celestia and her friends from Draco Arabia? Did you really love it? I worked hours on it, and I couldn't have been happier when Celestia told me you did! Did you mean it, or did you just say it to be nice? Does your country have magic users like we do-"
Pinkie puts a claw over Twilight's mouth at my request. I smile kindly, and start lying my way out of this mess:
"No, Twilight, I'm not from Draco Arabia. I don't know why my cutie mark's gone, and I don't know Celestia or Luna. The princesses I'm talking about are the nicknames for my sisters, because they always get what they want without having to earn it like I do. We have a family reunion every year, whether we like it or not, and if I had to guess I would say that I was ambushed on my way there, for whatever reason, and whoever ambushed me did something that took away my cutie mark and gave me amnesia. And yes, I think that Draco Arabia has magic users, though I've never been there myself."
Twilight's face is more red than purple now. Pinkie's giggling, as she always does, and she pats Twilight on the back to tell her it's alright. This doesn't help her, and she chews on the ice cubes in her glass to keep her mouth busy. There's an awkward pause in the conversation until Spike comes back into the room with two more glasses of iced coffee.
"Here ya go, Rarity!" He sets one glass down in front of her, and floats one over to Twilight. "I got one for you too, Twi."
Twilight forgets her embarrassment and downs half of the drink in one gulp. Rarity merely sips hers, and starts up her conversation again.
"So, then, Emerald, did you have an occupation?"
"Nope." I say. This is another lie. Since I turned 18, I've been receiving ample payment from Twilight for my work as her assistant, not to mention the room and board that's been included since I was born. "I was looking for jobs when this whole mess began."
Rarity's eyes brighten in that special way only she can pull off. "Well, if you need money, I could use a full-time assistant at my boutique. It would be wonderful to have you helping me, especially with the-"
She is interrupted by a loud shattering noise that makes her scream. Across from me, Spike is holding a hoof over a broken glass. The hoof is stained brown by the coffee, and red from the blood seeping from a gash in it. Extending from the gash is a piece of glass, about the size of one of the ice cubes. His eyes are widened in shock, but he isn't looking at the gash; his eyes are staring directly into mine, and I immediately know why the glass broke.
"Spike!" Both Rarity and Twilight yell his name at the same time. He ignores both of them, and finally looks down at his bleeding hoof. He blinks a couple times, and when his eye twitches I remember how afraid I am of watching myself bleed.
"My magic glitched," he mumbles, almost to himself. "I didn't mean to break your glass, Twi." He further observes: "That's a lot of blood." Oh. So this is how I look when I get like this. Sweet Celestia, I'm scared of myself. Twilight gets up and rushes over to him, poofing a med kit into existence with her own magic and putting her hands on the young colt's shoulders.
"You'll be alright, Spike. I promise." She's not Twilight, my boss, anymore. She's Twilight, my sister, my caretaker. She wraps up the cut around the glass, then whispers something in Spike's ear that makes him look up at the ceiling and shut his eyes. Then Twilight yanks the glass out, and a quick repairing spell drags every single glass splinter out of the gash and off of the tabletop. The repaired glass is set down, and Twilight disinfects the wound, then covers it up with gauze. All of this takes fifteen seconds. I am speechless.
"Thanks." Spike gets up from the table, makes a sort of crutch out of his magic and makes his way to the stairs leading up to his (my?) living quarters. He mumbles a goodbye to all of us. After a minute of watching him trot up the stairs, Rarity slowly turns to me and tries to continue her job offer.
"I usually have to handle things in my shop on my own. Sometimes I have little Spikey-Wikey"--an ice cube crunches loudly between my teeth--"to help, but I don't think that he'll be available for a few days. So, Emerald, would you like to come in, say, tomorrow, and help me?"
"Yes!" Suck it, horn-boy! I took your job! Whatcha gonna do now? I'm so wrapped up in my victory over myself that I don't notice how happily and loudly I accepted Rarity's offer until I catch her startled look. I change paces, and tell her, in as smooth a voice as I can muster: "I mean, of course I would." Pinkie is quite plainly holding back laughter, covering her mouth with both hands. Twilight has a knowing smile on her face.
"Wonderful." She moves a curl from her face. "It would be perfect if you could some in at ten, alright?"
I'm much cooler when I answer her this time. "I'll be there at 9:45."
She smiles and giggles again. The conversation shifts. Twilight swallows the rest of her drink and asks why Rarity is here at the library.
"Oh, that's right!" She reaches below the table and pulls out a purse (I notice that it's made of leather; my shiver goes unnoticed), and from it a slip of paper. "Here," she says, floating it over to Twilight with her magic. "Everything you needed, on the list." Twilight's eyes run across the paper once, twice, thrice, before she smiles and nods in thanks to Rarity.
"Excellent. That means we're done with preparations, and can begin the actual setup. I'll get AJ on it immediately."
"On what?" I ask without meaning to. I get another confused look from everypony at the table. In response I sip my drink nonchalantly and mumble, "I must've been out longer than I thought."
"You must have," Rarity agrees, "to be so unaware of the Summer Sun Celebration. It's in five days." Her expression turns worried, and she mutters to herself: "Oh dear. I wonder how many dragons will need outfits for the Festival."
"The Summer Sun Celebration, huh?" In Ponyville, it's almost winter. I've traveled through time as well, it would seem. Twilight nods and tells me about how honored she is to be planning the Festival in Dragonsville this year, as well as the actual ceremony, held once more in Ponyville this year, and how much extra work she'll have to handle with Spike incapacitated for the next few days. I almost offer my services, but the possibility of losing time with Rarity shuts me up. Instead, I make a remark about not falling asleep under a pile of books, and Twilight's blush makes Pinkie snort flamingo-colored smoke into her drink and Rarity raise and eyebrow questioningly. She apparently chooses to leave that story for another time, and gets up to leave.
"So, Mr. Spires, 10 o'clock, tomorrow morning. Don't forget."
"Like I said, I'll be there early. Can't wait."
She smiles at me one last time (is that a blush? Sweet Celestia, it is!) and heads towards the door, bidding Pinkie and Twilight good day . When she opens the door to go, Pinkie yells for her to hold it, and gets up from the table as well. As she passes me, she leans in and whispers in my ear: "I'll put in a good word for you, okay?" Before I can respond, she bolts out the door after Rarity, leaving Twilight and I at the table alone. She still has her knowing smile on, and I can't avoid meeting her gaze. She leans forward on her elbows and holds her head in one hand. She taps her cheek with a claw, and plays with her empty glass with her free hand. I do, say, think nothing about it. This silence goes on for a minute or so, until I decide that I'm very very tired (which is the truth) and excuse myself from the table.
"I think I'll check out my arrangements." It's a worthy excuse. "Thanks for those, by the way." I make to go down the staircase behind the table, but when I pass Twilight she grabs my arm roughly. This is frightening, mostly because pony-Twilight doesn't ever act like this. I look down at the seated dragoness, and she looks up at me with that same knowing look.
"I'm going to explain something that hasn't happened yet." She sounds mystic, almost. That's even more frightening. "Is that alright?"
"Uh, okay?" I'm not sure where she's going with this...
"Spike's doing what he's doing because he's crushing on her too. Hard."
Oh. I have no time to respond, as Pinkie's head appears quite impossibly from under the table and hisses at us.
"Foreeeeeever!" Back under the table she goes. I check for any sign of her. Gone, completely.
"Uh..."
Twilight pats me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, that was for me. I'll deal with it. What you have to deal with is Spike, and, if you think you're capable, Rarity."
I say nothing. I'm too angry at myself for still being that transparent. Ten years of this, damn it!
"If you're going after her, Emerald, you need to make sure Spike doesn't get hurt. Or else." She leaves it at that, and gets up to leave. The ominous tone of her last words make me shiver: What would my Twilight do, if Rarity broke my heart? Dragin-Twilight gives me one last smile, tells me to just ask if I need anything, and disappears back into the labyrinth of bookshelves. I'm alone. Game over. Final score: Spike, 5; "Emerald," ∞. Yet I don't feel like I've won. I'm too tired. How did I get so tired in the first place?
I trudge down to my new lodgings, the basement where Twilight also has a lab set up when guests aren't staying. All of the equipment is gone, but I know where it is: I've had to move it all after Twilight shrinks it down, into a compartment behind the bookcase beside my bed. The bed. I pounce on it like a hungry tiger. I know that it's still day time, and I know that I've been sleeping a lot this past day, yet when my head hits the pillow it's like a knock-out punch. I'm asleep in seconds.