When the train had arrived in the station, everypony decided to get to their designated houses to get some sleep. Two very powerful purple unicorns trotted towards Ponyville's Books and Branches Library, chatted softly as they did so. The door of the library creaked open as they stepped into their familiar home, though it was a bit more familiar to one of them.
"Twilight?" came the voice of a small purple dragon. The two ponies jumped, having forgotten about him.
"Spike, when did you get back here? Weren't you at the castle before?" Twilight asked.
"Princess Celestia sent me back to Ponyville, because I was getting a little bored of being around girls all day," he said, "but it looks like we've got the guys around now too!"
"Yep we--" Twilight stopped, "Oh, no! Dusk, what about Spines? Was she still at the castles when you guys came through?" Dusk smiled softly at her concern.
"Solaris sent her back to 'watch the library', though I think I know why he actually did it now." He purple colt looked down at Spike, smiling knowingly.
"Oh, good," Twilight breathed, "I was afraid that we'd left her at the castle all alone."
"Hey, if she's anything like me, she'd be happy to be at the castle. She could probably hang out with Shining Armor's duplicate," the little dragon said defiantly. The unicorns both gave him identical smiles, one eyebrow raised and a smug sort of look on their faces. "That's a little creepy."
"What's a little creepy?" they asked him unanimously, to which the little dragon began to laugh.
"That!" he said between giggles. Dusk and Twilight looked at each other, slightly confused. "You guys keep doing the exact same thing."
"Oh," Twilight said, "Well, I hope you can deal with that for a few days."
"Twilight," Dusk said, "If it is going to be a problem, we could always give him some time off. After all, there are going to be two librarians here for awhile anyway. Besides, this way he won't bother us when we're studying." A grin spread over the colt's face. "He can spend the week with Elusive and...Rarity..." A dazed look passed over Dusk's face before he composed himself again. "Anyway, I'm sure they'd let him stay for awhile."
"That's a great idea, Dusk!" Twilight said, "Spike, you can head over now, if you'd like." The little purple dragon was gone before Twilight could say anymore. The unicorn smiled at his antics, but looked over at Dusk with a slightly concerned expression.
"What?" Dusk asked, "Is something wrong? Do you think he shouldn't go?" He trotted up to his duplicate.
"Well, no, but..." Twilight sighed, "Spike has had a crush on Rarity since he first laid eyes on her, but now you've come along. I know you like her Dusk, it's pretty plain for me, considering that I like Elusive. I suppose your little Spines will feel the same once she finds out that Elusive likes me too. I just...I know it's a little selfish, but I don't want Spike to get hurt."
"I know he'll be hurt, but..." Dusk sighed, "Maybe it's time that our little dragons found, ya know...another dragon, and not one of the mean ones like they they met at the migration, which I'm assuming Spike went to?" He looked over at Twilight, who nodded. "Perhaps if we could have them meet each other, it would help with the fact that...well, you know..." He shuffled uncomfortably for a moment.
"Yeah..." Twilight agreed awkwardly, "But...lets worry about that later. We haven't studied in ages!" She smiled lightly, and Dusk returned the gesture. The two unicorns settled down on the couch and levitated over some books. Twilight delved into 'Advanced Unicorns' Guide to Illusions', which she hadn't read for the three months she'd been in the other universe. Dusk had had the book, of course, but her page wasn't marked. Twilight hated having to look through a book to find her place back.
"'Starswirl the Bearded's Complete Unabridged Guide to Morphing Spells'," Dusk read, "I wonder if it's any different from the one I have back home." Twilight looked over at him.
"Hmmm..." she wondered, "Do you think that because they were different genders, they would have written their books differently? Maybe one even knew something that the other didn't?" She grinned. "Ooh! We have to find out! You read that book and tell me anything that you find in it that isn't like the one you have, which I assume you've memorized from front to back already?"
"Naturally."