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// Chapter 6: Student Directions 
// Story: Spike's Teacher 
// by Richer19 
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First chapter I'm writing of the New Year and first chapter writing on my new laptop. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 6: Student Directions


Fluttershy had finally made it to Rarity's shop after what felt like a few minutes of flying at her best speed, which Dash would refer to as 'controlled gliding at best'. Still, she wasn't too worried about being a slow flyer, especially since her hobby of taking care of animals had her on the ground most of the time anyway.
She reached the front door and was relieved to see the ‘open’ sign was still up. She was a little worried that Rarity was out during this time or that she was unavailable. Seeing that that wasn't the case, the shy mare opened the door and let herself in.  Fluttershy heard the familiar jingle before she heard Rarity’s voice saying, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique…Fluttershy! To what do I owe the pleasure of you stopping by? I had thought that you would be in the forest all day.”
Fluttershy was unable to meet the gaze of her fashionable friend and started to tell Rarity about her weird feeling inside of her.  However, the white unicorn was only able to hear a few random words underneath the mumbling that qualified as Fluttershy’s normal speaking voice.  Naturally, the fashion designer gave her quiet friend her most caring smile and asks her to please repeat what she had said. Fluttershy saw that cheerful smile and took a bit of comfort that Rarity was here to help her. Taking a small but deep breath, the shy pegasus said in a much clearer tone, “I feel really strange, Rarity, and I was hoping that you could help me…if that’s okay with you.”
At first Rarity was concerned that her friend had come down with something, but she didn't appear to be sick.  Rarity did notice the pinkish tint that was present on Fluttershy’s cheeks, though her long, pink mane was doing a good job of covering it up. Seeing that her friend was going to need her full attention, the white unicorn used a bit of magic to flip the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ and pulled up her favorite fainting sofa. She gestured for Fluttershy to sit next to her, which the pegasus accepted. Rarity then gave Fluttershy her best motherly look before she asked, “Now Fluttershy, do you know what might have happened that might have caused you to get these ‘strange feelings’?”
Fluttershy couldn't resist the blush that had surely grown in intensity as she recalled the events of the clearing. She knew what kind of response her friend was going to get when she told her and part of her wanted to try and bluff her way out of this. However, she knew that Rarity had a lot of trust in her and she couldn't lie to one of her closest friends. With an almost submissive sigh, Fluttershy said, “Well…while I was out in the forest, I…met a stallion…”
The moment that the word ‘stallion’ left Fluttershy’s mouth, Rarity was hit with a wave of realization. She had read enough romance stories to be able to see the signs of a mare that had fallen in love, and in Fluttershy's case, those signs were as clear as day.  There was the small but visible blush on her face, the slight pause in her speech before mentioning the stallion, and the way her body appeared to tremble slightly. Now, granted, two out of three of those signs would appear normal to anypony who had meet the yellow pegasus for the first time, but Rarity had learned a long time ago to look for the slight changes her normally timid friend’s body would make.
Still, Rarity was quite happy that Fluttershy had found a stallion that had such an impact on her, and she couldn't help but ask, “So…what’s he like? Do you know his name? Do you know where he went?” These questions and more flooded out of Rarity’s mouth and almost managed to give Fluttershy a mild heart attack. However, like Rarity, Fluttershy had gotten use to listening to what was an overflow of questions that would come from her fashion-focused friend.
When Fluttershy noticed the pause in Rarity’s questions, she began to talk about the purple stallion that she had met. As she was describing him, Rarity’s imagination was working its magic to visualize how this ‘Spyro’ looked. The more she heard, the more she could see why Fluttershy had such a flustered reaction. He sounded like one of those stallions that would make the perfect special somepony. So it wasn't that surprising when Fluttershy mentioned that Spyro was supposed to be in town today.
Rarity quickly grabbed her friend’s right fore-leg and said, “Well come on darling. We mustn't let such a stallion get away from you. We simply must find him so he can sweep you off your hooves.” Before Fluttershy had a chance to respond, she felt herself being dragged away by her excited friend. While she was somewhat surprised by Rarity’s unusual strength, her mind was more focused on the daydream of Spyro doing what Rarity had said.
Meanwhile
“…and since I haven’t seen you before that must mean you are new and since you are new then that must mean I get to throw my special ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party that will have cake, and games, and decorations, and streamers, and everypony will be there. So can you come? Can you, can you?” said the hyperactive pink horse named Pinkie Pie. She was still on top of Spyro, delivering a speech that would have made Volteer give pause. It wasn't just the talking though, but there was something about this one that seemed to cause Spyro’s heart rate to accelerate as his mind started to recall all those scenarios of him returning to Warfang and being constantly hounded by fans. Pinkie here seemed to be the culmination of all those scenarios rolled into one and he wasn't sure what to do.
Luckily, Cynder could sense Spyro's growing fears and stepped closer to the pink horse before saying, “Look, we really don’t have time for a party and we’re not staying in town for long either. Once we get what we need to get, we will be on our way.”
Pinkie looked up at Cynder, and the dragoness in disguise could see the large blue eyes that were overflowing with barely controlled sadness. Cynder was vaguely aware of her heart stopping for just a second before chasing that feeling away and returning Pinkie’s gaze with one of her own.
Now Pinkie was forced to look at a pair of emerald eyes that caused her own cheerful demeanor to slightly hesitate. She could feel the repressed sadness that was located inside this pegasus, and she wondered what kind of past she had.
Realizing that the pegasus wasn't going to relent on this issue, and remembering her lesson back when Cranky moved to Ponyville, Pinkie quickly got off of the handsome purple stallion and said in a slightly quieter tone, “Can I at least get your names?”
Cynder looked at Spyro and saw him slowly getting up before managing to give her a slight nod. Cynder nodded back at him before looking back at Pinkie and telling her their names. She thought about it for a moment before adding, “Tell you what, Pinkie. If we do pass by here again, we promise to take you up on that welcome party.”
Pinkie expression grew back into her normal joy before saying, “You Pinkie Promise?”
Cynder looked at the confusing mare with a blank expression and saw her give a slight giggle before going through the steps of a ‘Pinkie Promise’. Cynder felt a little embarrassed to copy the actions but she managed to swallow her pride long enough for her to repeat the motions while saying “Cross my heart and hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Pinkie Pie seemed content after Cynder had completed the motions and started to walk…or rather bounce off in a different direction. When she was no longer in sight, Sparx slowly made his way to his brother and asked, “Spyro?”
“Yeah, Sparx?” Spyro replied.
“That might have been the weirdest thing I have ever seen.”
Spyro nodded in agreement before pushing that weird encounter aside and started making his way towards where Twilight was suppose to live, Cynder and Sparx following close behind.
Eventually, the trio found themselves in front of what appeared to be a combination of a large tree and a hut. The tree looked quite healthy, despite all the windows and other attachments that were added to it, and it had a very calming presence about it.  The sign out front read ‘Golden Oaks Library,’ which prompted Sparx to ask, “Why build a library in a tree?”
Cynder had to agree with Sparx and added, “It doesn't seem to be safe... What if the tree were to catch on fire?”
Spyro then pointed out, “They may have some kind of fire resistant item, or everyone here is just really careful.”
The other two nodded and Spyro made his way to the front door. He saw that the door had a rather simple design on it that would befit a public building. With care so he didn't dent the door, the purple dragon knocked three times before stepping back and waited for an answer.
It wasn't long before Spyro noticed the door had opened to reveal another mare. This one had a coat of pure purple with a mane that was also purple, but had a noticeable pink strip. Her eyes were also purple, but they were currently large and expressive, as if she was surprised to see Spyro in front of her. The one thing that was noticeable was the addition of a weird, conical object that was poking through her mane and appeared to be attached to her. Spyro, after finishing his examinations said in his best neutral tone, “Are you Twilight?”
Twilight hadn't expected her day to turn out like this. She had thought that after sending Spike to spend time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she would be able to enjoy a nice, quiet afternoon reading. However, the knock on her front door managed to halt that plan for a moment and she decided to see what it was.
Now she found herself staring at a stallion that looked like he belonged in one of those romantic novels that she rarely read.  His purple coat looked like it was shinier than her own, and his golden mane looked both informal and regal. However, what captured her attention the most was his eyes.  Those dark purple eyes spoke of experience, wisdom, and intelligence that might even rival Celestia's. They even had that same tender, knowing kindness that her teacher's had. All of that cumulated into a type of feeling that she could only hypothesis to be a ‘crush’. Feeling herself at a loss for words, she could only nod in response.
Spyro was starting to get a little nervous under Twilight’s gaze. It felt similar to how he felt when Fluttershy was looking at him. Trying to force those nerves aside, he said, “I…uh…have something for you.”
It was like one of her dreams was coming true. When she was younger, she had dreams when she was younger of a handsome, intelligent stallion knocking on her front door to declare his secret love to her. He would always bring her a gift, though the gift differed from dream to dream. Twilight’s heart started to increase in tempo as she started to guess what item this stallion was going to give her. Was it going to be a book that he wrote just for her, or was it as simple as a poem? Was it a bouquet of her favorite flowers or a box of chocolate? Could it even be that tiny little box that would contain a ring just for her? The purple unicorn couldn't wait as she watched the stallion reach into his saddlebag and pulled out…
…a scroll?
Twilight saw the scroll that the stallion was holding out for her to receive. She had thought that it was going to have a love poem but she quickly recognize the wax seal of the moon. Twilight tried to minimize the dejected sigh that escaped from her mouth before grabbing the scroll with her magic.
Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder watched with mild surprised as the conical object on her head started to glow a purplish color before the same color appeared around the scroll in Spyro’s paw. They watched as the scroll was lifted out of his hand before floating over to her. The scroll stopped when it was in front of Twilight and they watched as the seal was broken, the scroll unrolled without Twilight touching it. Cynder was slightly curious as to how such a thing was possible while Sparx let out a quiet whistle. Spyro was slightly curious as well, but decided to put that in the back of his mind for later.
So the three watched and waited for Twilight to finished reading the scroll. It came to their surprised that they didn't have to wait very long before Twilight lowered the scroll that was in front of her face and said “So…uh…”
Spyro quickly caught on to what caused her slight pause, and introduced himself as well as his friends.  Twilight gave a cheerful nod of thanks before continuing, “Well Spyro…Cynder…Sparx, it just so happens that there is a train leaving for Canterlot in a couple of minutes.” She moved the scroll inside the library before closing the door and started to walk in the direction of the train station. Spyro and the others were quick to follow in behind and once they were in earshot, she added, “The train ride shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. Afterwards, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding the castle.
Spyro nodded in understanding while Sparx had ignored what the purple horse had said. Cynder, however, quickly asked, “Wait…how close is Canterlot?”
To her surprise, Twilight gave a slight giggle before responding, “You can’t see it?” Before Cynder had a chance at a rebuttal, Twilight pointed off in a direction and three pairs of eyes followed it. What they saw left each them with slightly gaping mouths.
What they saw was what appeared to be a castle literally attached to the side of a mountain. From the distance it was hard to make out any details, but the two dragons and dragonfly could tell that the castle was quite large and looked beautiful.
Sparx’s mind could only think of one thing to say that summed up what he thought about the castle they were looking at. In his most sarcastic, unbelievable tone proclaimed, “How in all that is good and awesome did we miss something like that?!”
That statement managed to cause a mild chuckle from Spyro and a bigger laugh from Twilight. Cynder merely shook her head in slight annoyance. After the purple dragon and purple mare had finished their laugh, the four returned to the task of heading to the train station. As they were walking, Cynder couldn't help but think about two things.
For starters, she noticed that the purple mare had a strange symbol located on her rear end. A quick look around the town was enough to establish that these symbols were constant with these horses, though they were different from one horse to another.
The second thought on her mind was the reactions of the four mares that they had run into contact. All of them appeared to have fallen head over hooves for Spyro, yet appeared to barely notice her prescience…aside from Pinkie of course. The only conclusion Cynder could think of was the simple fact that Spyro appeared as a stallion and so far all of their interactions have been with mares. Still, it didn't stop the feeling of jealousy from rising up in her which translated into her thinking, “If I see one more mare trying to get their hooves on Spyro…”
Sorry for the mild delay but I do have some good news in that I have a second editor that is helping me with this story. I do want to thank stingray43 for the help. Hope you enjoy.