//------------------------------// // When Big Brothers Attack! Part One // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// She opened her eyes, and was quite surprised to find she wasn't in a straightjacket or a cell. She was lying on top of a bed, in a large mostly-circular room that looked like it was part of a hollowed-out tree. Her mind felt clear and free of the foul taint of too much caffeine or lack of sleep. 'Or at least as clear as my mind ever gets' She mused. Strangely enough, something felt wrong. She slouched out of the bed, and looked around. The sky outside was perfectly blue, as normal. There was the sound of birdsong, all perfectly normal. She noticed Trixie's bed was empty, and Twilight's and Spike's basket. She quickly made herself presentable and wandered downstairs, to find Twilight sitting surrounded by books, swarmed by books even. She understood. Re-Shelving day. Any book Twilight was interested in would be placed in a pile, while the rest were carefully recategorised and shuffled about. Sometimes she wondered if one day she'd suddenly find herself interested in doing something like that. She also briefly wondered if her misguided help rampage was responsible for it being bumped up the schedule. She was fairly certain Twilight had just re-shelved everything last week. "Morning, Twilight" she said. "Good morning" She said, "Have a nice sleep?" Midday felt an involuntary yawn. "Yeah. I guess I probably needed it." She laughed. "I suppose you did. You were out for a whole day." Midday stopped dead. "What?" she said. "Yeah. It's Friday" Twilight said, returning to her book. Midday frowned. She'd been tired and running on empty, but surely she shouldn't have slept through the whole day. "Oh, and this letter came for you last night." Twilight said, tossing a small scroll that carried the silver seal and blue sash of a letter from Luna. "We thought you might need some more time to heal." It said. Such economy of language, she thought. Still. she did hate waking up after noon, but a whole day, gone. She was suddenly aware of an odd stench. "Morning" said Spike, walking past Midday with what looked like a rolled-up newspaper. His cheek was filthy, and she could see buried under the dirt and grime what appeared to be lipstick. It didn't take a detective to figure out what had happened. She went through to the kitchen, partially to get away from the smell, and also because she hadn't eaten in a whole day. Once that was done she returned to the main room. She found Spike reading what in fact was a tabloid, with a blurry but distinct picture of Rainbow Dash at Canterlot Castle with Scootaloo on her back. Or rather, Rainbow Dash with her in the driver's seat with Scootaloo still holding on for her life, thanks to Trixie's rather unusual attempt at revenge. The headline was... quite remarkable. 'Canterlot Castle takes part in Bring Your Daughter to Work Day', it said. "Spike..." Midday said slowly. He looked up. "Yeah?" "What does the headline article say?" He looked at it. "Oh, just some stuff about Rainbow Dash. Nothing much." "Spike, I've just been asleep for a whole day after going near-insane from lack of sleep because a stage magician managed to swap my mind and Rainbow Dash, and I'm one hundred percent sure that's actually my mind in that blurry photo in Rainbow Dash's body, so please, just tell me what it says, or I'll get a damp cloth." It took Spike a few seconds to realise what she meant by the 'damp cloth' remark, but when he did he quickly explained. "It's just speculating that Rainbow Dash is Celestia's daughter, and Scootaloo is her daughter and they're visiting Celestia even though it wasn't actually Bring Your Child to Work Day on Monday" He said hurriedly. "Thank you for sharing that Spike. Now, shouldn't you, I don't know... wash that cheek?" She said, concerned. He suddenly looked defensive. "No way! I'm not washing this cheek ever again!" He said. "It's a shrine to my love for Rarity!" "You mean you don't have a shrine in the basement anyway?" she asked. Spike quickly leapt over to her and made 'shush' motions. "Oh, Spike! You don't actually have a shrine to Rarity in the basement, do you?" He blushed, and scuffed his foot against the floor. Midday did not giggle. She was the more-or-less proud daughter of one of the oldest noble houses in Equestria, with all that it entailed (Including the occasional burst of insanity) and therefore did not giggle at Spike's endearing display of embarrasment. "Don't tell her" He hissed. "Not a word." She smiled. Then something occured to her. She looked for the small calendar she'd put up. Quickly she rushed upstairs. She quickly found the small cabinet next to her bed and rummaged through it. She found a small box, neatly wrapped with a bow in the bottom drawer with a small note next to it in her hand-writing, reading 'Spike's birthday present'. Next to that was another note, 'Dear Twinkie, I owe you one save, signed, M.E.' "Damn her, she's always one step ahead!" she muttered. She couldn't recall buying this. Had she wiped her memory of the event, or had it just been too far back for her to recall clearly, or had it been during the Help Rampage? She decided it didn't matter, and calmly closer the drawer again. She could hear raised voices from downstairs. She quickly rushed back downstairs to find Twilight chasing after Spike with a damp rag. "It needs to be cleaned! It's unhygenic!" She strained. Midday watched as Spike rushed into the kitchen, Twilight following after. She wondered why Twilight didn't just teleport Spike in front of her, although that was probably just the Family Madness acting up again. Knowing Spike, he'd probably manage to evade her, and she'd give up and return home soon enough. She sighed, and looked for a piece of paper. She found one and began to write. Since Spike wasn't there, and was really only useful for sending letters to Celestia, she decided to walk to the post office. ***** It was a glorious day. The sun was out, clouds were drifting lazily through the sky, nothing particularly bad going on anywhere. True, the sun was the more harsh glare of winter than the lazy restfulness of spring and summer, but it was warm. And it was somewhat cold. It would probably snow at some point, which was a bit obvious seeing as it was by now December. And that meant... "Hearth's Warming" she said. She looked about the town, and made a mental note to stay as far away from Sugarcube Corner as was equinely possible. Some ponies probably enjoyed crooning, but not her. And of course at some point Twilight would no doubt make some remark about 'the best Hearth's Warming Ponyville has ever had'. She stopped walking as visions of misery and despair flooded her mind. True, her Hearth's Warmings were always generally pleasant, with the usual book from Twilight, the odd something-or-other from... her father, and the traditional sweater from grandma Velvet, but considering Twilight only ever bought her books, or gave her books she'd written, or on one rather unfortunate occasion, school textbooks, there was room for improvement. Although no Hearth's Warming present could ever have trumped Rarity's gift of a dress. She had been eight. What in Equestria was an eight year old going to do with a dress? She sighed, and carried on walking to the post office. ***** She calmly strolled back from the post office, feeling slight spring in her step, in no small way due to Ditzy having thanked her for some measure of aid she'd provided during the Help Rampage, which had apparently consisted of a warm thermos of tea and some assisting with a massive pile of letters. She returned to find Twilight carefully analysing a large amount of books, frequently muttering things to herself and sighing supercilliously at random intervals. "Something wrong?" Midday asked. "Oh, it's just all this gutter-minded writings by brain-dead researchers constantly enforcing their own sexual preferences on history!" she said. Midday nodded. She was studying Hearth's Warming. She looked at the book Twilight was reading. It was the one she'd bought Twilight just last saturday. "But apart from that, there's so much inaccuracy in the traditional play." "Well, you can't make it more like the history books, Twilie. Otherwise you'd need a ludicrously huge amount of money, extras, actors, and it would pretty much be a straight-up historical re-enactment then." "Yeah" Twilight nodded. "If you were you I'd more offended about the unflattering portrayal of Princess Platinum, rather than historians and their obsessions with certain ponies being lovers." "Let's not get started on unflattering portrayals" Twilight said. She looked up at the clock. "Oh, I must have gotten distracted. I've got errands to run." She stood up and walked over to the door. "If somepony knocks on the door, be careful. It's Crazy Friday" Twilight said, before she walked outside. And before Midday could question how it was named that, she was gone. But then, Twilight thought ponies who wanted to remove books from the library were mad, so maybe it wasn't anything serious. Nothing serious at all. She saw what appeared to be Twilight's script for the Hearth's Warming play, which had apparently been savagely attacked by a horde of quill monsters. Little notes were scribbled all over it, pointing out things the historical versions of the characters would never say or do. There was a truly huge amount of them centered on Platinum. She saw one or two on Puddinghead, and several more on Pansy, with constant notation that Fluttershy was unsuited for the part. She had to agree with that one, if only in spirit rather than the precise wording. She started recalling the time when, in school, she'd been chosen for the Hearth's Warming play as Princess Platinum (a decision that had caused no small amount of upset) and had decided not to go along with the script, instead playing a more... historically accurate Princess Platinum, which ended with half the cast getting the stuffing beaten out of them by her method acting abilities. It also resulted in her never being allowed to act in school plays ever again. She regarded that as a net gain. She was shaken from her fond school memories by a popping noise, as a small purple and green dragon fell from one of the top shelves, landing face-first on the floor. "Hey" Spike said, dazed. "How long have you been hiding up there?" She asked. "Couple of minutes" he said, looking proud of himself. "It smells really owl-y up there." There was a hooting noise that somehow managed to sound annoyed. Spike turned and looked up toward the noises' source. "You first!" he said to the offended looking owl. "Now, now boys. No rough-housing on Crazy Friday." Spike's eyes went wide. "Oh no! It's not Crazy Friday again, is it?" Midday knew a lot of Twilight's traditions. She knew of re-shelving day, of what happened when certain mythological sub-species of ponies were mentioned in earshot, of Twilight's almost total lack of inner monologue and dislike of direct eye contact and tendency to yell at history books for including lesbian subtext. However, she'd never heard of Crazy Friday. She was about to ask what it was, when there was a knock at the door. Instantly, Midday realised why Twilight had warned her. After all, they were in a public library, with a sign by the front door describing official opening and closing hours for all to see, so therefore, if somepony did knock, something was amiss. Spike and Midday exchanged glances. She wondered how Spike had managed to move from right next to her to by the kitchen door so fast for a dragon with such stubby little legs. She walked over to the door, and, preparing for anything (Including opera-loving land cephelapods) opened it. "Hi." Standing there was a mare. She had purple-blue hair, her fur was a rather odd plum colour, and she appeared to be wearing contact lenses. Suddenly, memory of what Spike had said on her first day in the past came flooding back. "Every few weeks it's the same thing. Some mare shows up, usually with purple fur and blue hair with dyed-in streaks, saying she's a great admirer of the legendary Twilight Sparkle and she wants to learn magic from her, and couldn't she just show her some of her magic, just to get an impression." The pony in front of her did not look like she was especially dangerous, in the same way that most ponies didn't regard custard or sock puppets evil. But Midday was different. She knew there was reason Pinkie Pie was forbidden from ever having, using, making or handling sock puppets, even if she didn't know why (though she suspected it probably involved the misuse of cutlery) "Is... this the residence of Twilight Sparkle?" The pony said, sounding confused. "This is the Golden Oaks library" Midday said. "Oh, good. I'm new in town, and I was hoping to see her honour, Miss Twilight Sparkle." "Are you a reporter?" Midday tried to ignore the blatant incorrect title. Or the desire to tell this pony that Twilight had no actual title at present. The mare looked offended. "No! I am not." "Then why are you here?" The mare paused. "I was hoping Twilight Sparkle would be here. Could I see her?" "For what purpose?" The mare looked nervous. She muttered something inaudible. "Excuse me one moment" Midday said, gently closing the door. She turned to see Spike sitting there eating a box of popcorn. "Well?" She said. Spike looked up at her. "All signs point to crazy." He said, in-between another mouthful, like it was the most perfectly ordinary thing in the world. "So, get rid of her?" "Yeah." "Got it." She walked back over to the door. "I do apologise, but Twilight Sparkle is not here yet." "Maybe I could wait for her" the unicorn said hopefully. "Well, there are a great many reasonably priced hotels in Ponyville. If you leave us your name and contact details we will get back to you." The mare looked uncertain. "You do have a name, right?" Midday deadpanned. "Yes, it's... Twinkling Dawn?" "And your real name?" "... Peachy Plum" the mare said, sadly. For a brief moment, Midday was utterly unsure of what she was supposed to say. Then she gathered her thoughts. "Well, I'm afraid Twilight Sparkle is not currently looking for an assistant, protege or aide. Thank you and good day" she said. She closed the door and turned to look at Spike. Her horn glowed, as she sound-screened the room. "Wow" she said. "Yeah" said Spike. "Just... wow." "I know." "And this happens regularly?" "Yeah." "Sweet Celestia on a stick..." ***** "Your majesty? Is something wrong?" "Oh, it's nothing. Were was I?" "The bi-monthly budget report, page twenty-seven." "Oh, yes." ***** Twilight returned eighteen minutes later and promptly returned to her studying the play, occasionaly muttering threats against whoever wrote the book. Midday meanwhile wandered aimlessly back and forth. In theory, she could have gone out, but the only place to go to on a friday afternoon in December was Sugarcube Corner, and they'd be playing jingles, or covers of jingles done by some Sapphire Shores-wannabe with a terrible voice and awful mixing, and she honestly wasn't sure which was worse. So she found herself helping Twilight critisise historians. Which was more fun that not, and evidently Twilight liked having somepony who understood how wrong all the history books were, and how unfair the depictions of some ponies were, even though she could see Twilight's brief frowns when she explained she knew the major players in history. "It would be so nice to make the play more accurate" Twilight sighed. "Yeah, but like I said earlier, it would take too many ponies and time, and of course everypony would critisise it. 'Hey," She said, trying to do the most sarcastic, condescending voice that she could think of, "Why's Platinum being all sensible and rational and not whiny! Why's Hurricane a dude? Who's that guy with the beard and bells? This play's so inaccurate to the play I watched twenty years ago! Why didn't they throw in seaponies while they were at it?'" She took a second to realise why Twilight was glowering at her, and gave a small horrified gasp. Behind her she could hear Spike leaping for cover. "Did you say... seapony?" Twilight said, her voice calm and quiet and cold as permafrost. "Well, I-I-" "SEAPONIES ARE NOT REAL! THEY ARE FAKE, FRADULENT, OF THE THINGS THAT EXIST, SEAPONIES ARE NOT AMONG THEM! THEY ARE FALSE, AND FURTHERMORE A TOTALLY RIDICULOUS IDEA!" Midday waited for the world to stop spinning, and for her ears to stop ringing. "Got it" she said, shaking her head and hoping the spots went away quickly. Twilight paused and considered something. "Maybe I should ask Cheerilee if I can teach her students history at some point." Midday was about to bring up the fact that Cheerilee would probably argue against it on the grounds of being too dark, then that the foals would probably be all for violence and disembowling. Then she thought better of it. "I thought you already did that" she muttered. "That was different. This is just an accurate version of the Hearth's Warming tale." "Presumably edited for time and adult content?" "I suppose." "Well, I might help with that, but the school'll be closed until well January. Kids these days get it so easy. Do you know, when I was a kid my mom made me study during the holidays?" Midday made a mental note to kick herself for saying that to Twilight Sparkle. "That sounds fun." The purple unicorn smiled, then it was replaced by a frown. "My parents hid my books during the holidays, said if I didn't-" "They said they'd never see you, otherwise" Twilight frowned at Midday. "Sorry, but that is the sort of things parents say" she smiled, in the hopes that Twilight's frown would fade. Instead the mare just turned back to her books. The two continued onward with their studying, Twilight apparently hoping to find some record of Clover the Clever's usual method of dress before she went to bed. Eventually sleep began to tread at their heels, and the two ponies called it a night. As she went to bed Midday noted Spike's still filthy cheek, and the fact that he was sleeping in a dog basket, and made another mental note to 'talk' to Twilight about that at some point. She also told herself it was Spike's 'big day' tomorrow, although for some reason she had an ominous feeling. ***** Midday woke up, yawned, stretched and then went right back to sleeping. Then she woke up when she remembered it was Spike's birthday. She opened the cabinet her gift for him was contained it. She tried to remember if she'd ever recieved a birthday or Hearth's Warming gift from Spike. She looked down at the wrapped present. "Okay, friendship is a two-way street" she muttered, remembering all those lectures from her university roommate, who would probably enjoy being stuck twenty-three years in the past, knowing her. Especially if she'd got the chance to meet Sweetie Belle and Sapphire Shores. "Lousy stupid purple pegasus" she said, though there was no malice in it. She came downstairs to find Twilight brandishing a damp cloth at Spike. "I'm cleaning that cheek!" she declared. Spike ran, and as he did Twilight's horn flashed. There was a pop of magic as he reappeared in front of Twilight. Amazingly he tried running again. Midday's horn glowed and Spike ran smack-dab into a forcefield. "No fair!" He complained as Twilight set upon him with the rag. "It's for your own good" Midday said, not at all feeling slightly vindictive over eighteen years back order of presents or cards. There was spluttering from Spike and then a groan as Twilight leaned back with the rag. "There. Presentable" she said triumphantly. There was a knock on the door, which given the nature of the tapping was probably Pinkie Pie. Twilight opened the door and Pinkie burst into the room, a party horn (leastways that was what Midday'd always called it) in her mouth. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She cheered, tooting her horn and bouncing around the room. Midday saw the rest of Twilight's friends standing there holding presents. And Rainbow Dash, ever considerate of others had brough a barbell. She was still smiling though. "Are those... for me?" asked Spike upon seeing the presents. Midday was about to say something when Applejack cut in. "You bet they are, birthday boy!" "Don't you know that you get presents on your birthday?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Well," said Spike, "This is my first birthday in Ponyville, and I usually just get one present..." "From Twilight. A book." Midday joined in. Everypony looked at her. She looked at Twilight, who was grinning sheepishly and barely hiding a book behind herself. "Speaking of presents" Rarity said, displaying a cape which appeared to be made of taffeta. "This is from my new line of taffeta capes. I'm going to make one for each of you. Except you Midday, since I wasn't sure whether you would want one." "Fair enough" she shrugged. "I've been inspired by the generosity of my little Spikey-wikey, who gave me this beautiful fire ruby, one of the kindest acts I've ever experienced" Rarity continued, calling attention to the necklace she was wearing. Midday questioned whether being handed a lump of carbon was really the kindest acts Rarity had ever experienced, or whether she was just being nice to Spike. Though considering she apparently needed to learn that being with family involved compromise, it was probably the former. ***** She watched as Spike opened each present, beaming at what appeared to be hers, a rather large gemstone that she couldn't for the life of her recall getting. She found herself conversing with Fluttershy of all ponies "You know, this birthday party's been pretty good" she said, smiling. "Nopony's been set on fire, either, which is a plus." There was a terrified squeak from Fluttershy. "No, no, I'm kidding. My mother never let me set anypony on fire. She did let me practice casting fireballs on melons, though, which was as close to a non-literary present as I ever got from her on my birthday." "That's... good, right?" Midday shrugged. "Well... She did once get me a book on dangerous plants and weeds. That was interesting. Did you know how many types of not-quite sentient plants there are that can break a stallion's leg?" Fluttershy nodded. "Wait, are you nodding because you do know, or just nodding in general?" There was a pause before Fluttershy responded. "The first one." "Really? I didn't have you pegged (No joke intended) as somepony with an interest in botany?" "Well, I do sometimes make up herbal remedies for my animals, or sometimes Angel wants something specific in his dinner that the market stalls don't carry, and sometimes there are animals with odd diseases, so I thought it would be an idea to study dangerous plants, especially after this accident with Poison Joke." "And how soon did you start having nightmares about being eaten by daffodils?" Fluttershy blushed and muttered something. Midday tried not to feel alarmed that she'd embarrased Fluttershy. It wasn't like she was talking to a pony known for being able to wrestle bears. But the only options of conversation available were either Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash or Twilight. And Applejack as well, in theory. And Spike had vanished. Something was bothering her, some half-remembered tale from when she was little. And several scraps of information on dragons, some ruminating from Impossibility, her niece, who as a half-dragon did have some valid concerns about her biology. "Well, good conversation" she said, Fluttershy making the first move and disappearing. Midday's gaze was drawn toward Twilight, who was looking concerned. "Something up?" Midday asked. "Yes. Spike should've been back by now. He was only going to Sugarcube Corner and it's not like the weather could be slowing him down" She waved a hoof at the window showing the nice, mostly cloudless day. She could even hear Rainbow Dash and Rarity talking about it. "Yeah, it's nice right now, but's it's probably gonna snow by tomorrow. Maybe tonight if we push it." "No." "Yeah. Snow. Great, isn't it? We're thinking of keeping it till mid-January" Rainbow Dash beamed with pride. "But, Rainbow Dash, we're going to Canterlot next week. How can we go if the rails are blocked by several inches of snow?!" Rainbow Dash patted Rarity on the head. "Don't you go fussing over that, Rarity. Auntie Dash knows what she's doing when it comes to weather." "Is that why it rained frogs last March?" Rarity smirked. "Wasn'tmyfault" she murmured hurriedly, looking at her hooves. "Wuz Cloud Kicker's fault." "I'm still concerned about Spike" Twilight announced, looking up at the clock. "Well, he can't have gotten lost, not in Ponyville. Maybe he's just talking to somepony." Twilight looked at the clock. "I'm going to go see where he is" she muttered. ***** "Hey there, Lickety Split! That's a pretty cool ball you got there! Did you know today's my birthday?" ***** "R-r-right back hoof on blue!" Fluttershy said, straining to keep herself upright. Midday cursed herself. How did she manage to let Pinkie talk her into this? "Rainbow, can you reach the thing?" Pinkie said from somewhere behind Applejack. "Oh, yeah, sure" came the speedster's voice from somewhere in the mass of heads and tails and legs. There was a sound of a door opening and hoofsteps stopping. "I am awake, right? Trixie isn't seeing some localised debauchery taking place in Twilight's house at eleven in the morning, is she?" "They're just playing Twister" Rarity said from the chair she was sitting on, somehow having managed to resist Pinkie's cunning arguments. "I see" Trixie said, carefully edging her way into the kitchen, never taking her eyes off the girls. "Oh no" whispered Rainbow Dash. "What? What?" Applejack asked. There was a strange noise coming from Rainbow Dash. "Nuthin'" the pegasus blurted. Midday was sure she could feel her beginning to wobble. "I think Rainbow Dash has something against somewhere sensitive" Midday deadpanned. "Hey! I don't do 'sensitive'. It's just... tickles, is all." "Dashie's tickly? Fluttershy, you never said she was ticklish!" "I didn't know." There was the sound of a door opening again. From the sound of it, it was probably the front door. "What the-?" Twilight said. She didn't sound amused. "Hi Twilight!" Pinkie said, apparently waving a hoof. "We're playing Twister. We'd let you join in, but... we're kinda tangled up right now." There was an unspecifiable noise from Rainbow Dash. "Whoever's touching me, please move" she said. She sounded agitated. "Rainbow, whoever's doing it can't move till they know who it is who needs to move" Midday said. "Who the who who who?" Pinkie chirped. "Thank you Pinkie, very constructive" said Midday, who had a strong suspicion that it was probably her causing Rainbow Dash her discomfort. Of course, everypony else in the tangle was convinced of the same thing as well, even Rainbow Dash. "Spin the thing, blast ya!" Applejack said as she felt the full weight of Pinkie Pie upon her. "Left front hoof on... yellow" said Rainbow Dash. There was an awkward silence as all five ponies did the mental arithmatic as to their positions and the location of a yellow circle on the mat relative to them. "Aw, nerts." Pinkie Pie said. Two and half minutes later, and Fluttershy's leg gave out, causing all five ponies to sort of slump into a heap, being too close together and tangled up to fall. Rarity laughed, drawing the gaze of several ponies. "Next time, you're joining in" Midday hissed, wiping some sweat from her brow. "Oh, please. I'm a lady, and a lady does not play Twister. Especially not while carrying expensive jewellery." "See, all I heard there was 'excuse, excuse, excuse'" said Rainbow Dash, adding a derisive snort for good measure. "So, you do this at everypony's birthday party, Pinkie?" Midday said, rubbing her sore back legs. "Yuh-huh" Pinkie smiled, restoring her temporarily discarded party hat. Midday looked at Twilight, who still standing in the doorway and looked furious. Midday knew the specific brand of furious currently gracing Twilight's face. It was her 'disapproving mom' look. And she couldn't help but notice Spike wasn't present. "Something wrong?" she asked. Everypony turned to look at Twilight. "I'm fine, but I'm afraid Spike's birthday party is going to have to be cut short." "What?" Pinkie Pie said with utter horror, somehow managing to unhinge her jaw. "I'm sorry Pinkie, and no, you cannot talk me out of this" she sounded sad. Midday watched as the mares quickly left, leaving Twilight looking at the floor. "Hey, where'd everypony go?" said Trixie, walking in from the kitchen with what looked like a sandwich that instead of using butter used... mustard. "Where is Spike anyhow?" asked Midday. "He'll be along in a minute" Twilight said firmly. Midday walked up to her. "What happened?" "Nothing, nothing." Midday stared at Twilight. She sighed, and sat down. "He was using the fact that it's his birthday to extort presents off of ponies. I caught him trying to take some flowers from Junebug" she smiled. "Fortunately I was able to nip the problem in the bug, and Spike agreed to return everything he's taken." Midday and Trixie exchanged glances, although Trixie's slight shuffle away from her, followed by a punctuated bite of her sandwich indicated they weren't exactly thinking on the same level. Midday wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she could easily tell when Twilight was tempting fate. "Twilight," Midday said, smiling slightly, "just out of general curiosity, what's the strongest level of containtment field you can conjure?" Twilight looked thoughtful. "Class six. Maybe a seven if I were pushed. Why?" Midday smiled in a manner she hoped was disarming. "Just for future reference, and not any variety of fear that you may need to use such a spell in the immediate future in any way, shape or form, especially not to contain gigantic fire-breathing creatures." Midday winced. It wasn't actually fear, it was more along the lines of expectance. Like the old Diamond Dog phrase that couldn't translate accurately into actual Equestrian, but generally went along the lines of 'Aargh'. "That's good." Twilight said, not noticing the concerned look on Midday and Trixie's faces. ***** "Pinkie? What is it dear?" Mrs Cake asked. "I don't know. I think it's a giant creature rampage. But I'm not sure which sort. Wait... narrowing it down... it's either a giant lizard, giant bear or... a giant... turtle!" Mr and Mrs Cake exchanged nervous glances, Mr Cake's eyes going to his wife's midsection. She looked at him. "Pinkie, do you think you could look after the store tomorrow?" Mr Cake inquired, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible, and ignoring the complete panic only an expecting parent can muster. ***** The rest of the day passed without any variety of incident, although Midday quickly searched for the book on dragons and couldn't find it, and as time passed her concern and dread grew. There was also the fact that Spike still hadn't shown up, and Twilight was beginning to pace in the main room. Midday eventually calmed Twilight through a truly stunning combination of logic and a stern, commanding tone, and made her go to bed, promising to look for Spike first thing in the morning. As she went to sleep herself, Midday was faintly aware of a strange scraping noise, though she fell asleep before she could do anything about it. She had dreams of running after a vast, dark shape that seemed to be draining all the colour out of the world. ***** She opened her eyes to see an alarming sight. Right at the end of Twilight's bed was a massive pile of objects, detritus and what lawyers would call 'stuff'. She could hear snoring underneath it. "Twilight, wake up" She said to the curled up unicorn. She nudged her. That didn't work. She rolled her eyes. "Exam student Twilight Sparkle, your time is up!" she said. That did the trick, as Twilight's eyes shot open, and she seemed to get up without actually moving. "I'm awake, I'm awa-" Twilight cut off when she saw the pile of things at the foot of her bed. She frowned and her horn glowed to reveal a strange and somewhat alarming sight. Spike was sleeping in his basket, and he looked... bigger. And there was a fedora on his head. "Spike?" Twilight said. The no-longer-a-baby dragon yawned, revealing a wide mouth and sharp-looking teeth. Halfway through the yawn turned into a hiss. "What happened?" he said upon seeing his larger form. His voice sounded slightly deeper. "Will you knock it off with the n-... pleasetellmeimdreaming!" said a voice from the second spare bed. Midday felt a sudden, resolute and unyielding need to find the book on dragons.