As daylight broke the next day, Spike’s eyes opened slowly. As he did so, the events of the previous evening came rushing back to him, and he suddenly found himself wanting to tuck himself into his covers, burrow down as deeply as he possibly could, and never come back out.
He thought about those deadly green eyes, and how they seem to look straight through Twilight, as though she was looking not at her face but into her very inner being. He thought about the smirk on her face, as though what she was talking about was some sort of cosmic in-joke and Twilight just happened to be out of the loop.
More than anything, though, he thought about the voice that he had heard inside his head after Celestia had left. What did it mean? It was so odd. The voice had almost sounded like Chrysalis’ regular voice... and yet it had a much more sinister timbre behind it. It was almost as though somepony else was talking through her, simply using her as a channel, and-
“Hmm? Spike...?”
Spike looked up at Twilight’s bed and smiled. “Hey there,” he replied softly. “How did you sleep? You know... after all that?”
Twilight rubbed her eyes sleepily, though Spike figured that to be more of a side-effect of her just waking up than anything else. “You know something? I actually slept better than I thought I would. You’re right, though... Last night was really... something else.”
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Spike asked, a concerned look coming over his face. “You’re acting awfully calm for somepony who’s just had quite possibly the most harrowing experience of their life happen to them, and only a few hours ago at that.”
Twilight had to smile at Spike’s concern. “Yeah, you’re right. That would be something to be concerned about, if I were at all calm about this situation. I think, though, that a more appropriate term would be... in shock.” This made Spike feel a little bit better, at least. Maybe she hadn’t come completely unhinged, like she had when she thought that she had nothing to write to Celestia about and went just about permanently insane as a result. Only Celestia’s own explanation had been able to back Twilight away from going in the deep end for good.
Spike was about to say something else, when he heard a small clutter from downstairs. He silenced himself immediately, and pointed in the direction of the stairs. Twilight nodded silently, confirming that she had heard the disturbance, as well. Spike could tell that they were having the same thought: what if Chrysalis had come back for them?
Twilight got out of bed slowly, so as not to potentially cause another fainting spell like the one she’d had the evening previous. Her steps were unsteady at first, but as she regained her balance she began to move more purposefully. She and Spike descended the stairs quietly; on the off-chance that their unwanted guest from the night before had returned, they did not want to prematurely let on to the fact that they were aware of her presence.
When they were downstairs, Twilight held up a hoof to her mouth, mimicking a silent “shush” motion. Spike gave her a deadpan look of sorts, as if to ask her, “What, do you really think I’m going to be a loudmouth and screw this up?” With that, Twilight turned her focus once again to-
“Why is she in the kitchen?” Twilight asked with the barest of inflections, and in a whisper so soft that Spike almost didn’t hear what she said. He simply shrugged in response, trying to stick as close to the original protocol as possible. From what Celestia had told him the night before regarding the Changelings, their hearing was their most valued asset- aside from their shapeshifting, of course. And even Spike recognized that if the Changelings’ hearing was that acute, then the sense of their queen was undoubtedly so, as well.
Twilight held up a hoof, signaling for Spike to stop, and he did so. She seemed to be readying herself for something, more than likely to confront her guest. She did a silent count to three, then burst into the kitchen, magic at the ready. Spike was only a step or so behind her. What they both saw there, confused and bewildered them.
“There’s nopony here!” Twilight exclaimed. “I know I heard noises, and you did too, so... where in Equestria did they go?”
“C-can she turn invisible?” Spike asked, stuttering a bit. “We already know she can turn into anypony that she wants... Maybe she’s got more powers than just that at her disposal.”
Twilight allowed herself to shudder. “If she does... We certainly do have our work cut out for us.” Just then, her ears perked up. “Somepony’s removing one of the books that’s in my library! Maybe she’s out there now!”
Spike gave her an odd look. “So... now you can hear when a single book is being taken out of a single shelf? I couldn’t even hear when Rainbow Dash crashed into the library and knocked all of the books out onto the floor.”
Twilight sighed in near-exasperation, though most of it was directed at the situation in general and not at Spike himself. “First of all, you weren’t even there when Dash lost her sense of direction. I’m the one who told you about that after the fact. And second, you’re underestimating me again. This is my library, and my books. I know this tree better than I do anyplace else, and I’m including my old home in that. Call it ‘book sense’.”
“Book sense? Is that anything like spider-sense?”
Twilight was about to respond, when the utter nonsensicality of his statement hit her. “Um, Spike... What on earth are you talking about?”
“Oh, it’s this comic book that Fluttershy showed me the other day. It’s called Spider-pony. You really should read it sometime; it’s-” The look on Twilight’s face shushed him right up, and his face flushed a bit red, embarrassedly.
“Now,” Twilight continued, “to the library!” They turned around and, since the library was right outside the kitchen, pushed the door open bravely. Twilight readied her magic yet again, and when they stepped hoof (and claw) into the living room, they were surprised to find-
“Celestia?” Twilight asked in shock, her mouth falling agape. “Wh-what on earth are you doing here? I thought you left last night...”
Celestia smiled warmly at her. “You did. However, your assistant informed me that you might say something like that, and so I took it upon myself to stay the night anyways. Besides that, the castle does tend to get a bit stuffy at times. It is always good to get a little change of scenery every once in a while.”
Something still wasn’t clicking in Twilight’s mind. “But, I saw you leave through the window and fly off. When did you get back downstairs? And besides that, wasn’t the door locked?”
“My dear student... you are not the only unicorn in the room who has mastered the art of the teleportation spell.” Twilight’s mind went blank for a moment; how on earth could she not have thought of that before? “And besides that, the door was unlocked when I got in. I took the liberty of locking it for you; I did not want any other... unwanted disturbances to your slumber. I saw last night that you were quite in need of it.”
Twilight smiled a bit sheepishly as she remembered. “Yeah, I was pretty tired. That whole thing with Chrysalis didn’t help out at all, either...” Just then, a thought occurred to her. “Why did she choose Zecora as her disguise? Anypony else would have served just as well.”
“I believe it was because she knew that you had just gotten done visiting our Zebrican friend. She knew that Zecora’s appearance wouldn’t cause much alarm, even as unexpected as it was. That way, she wouldn’t arouse any more suspicion than she had to.”
“But... how did she know? Was she following me?”
Celestia sighed, her smile long-since faded. “It is entirely possible that she was following you the whole time. In that case, she may have also been to visit some of the other Elements, or possibly even a few of the other Ponyville denizens.”
Twilight gasped audibly. She hadn’t even considered that possibility. “I’ve got to go ask and see if that actually is-”
Celestia held up a hoof, and Twilight obediently fell quiet, though her exasperation and desperation at the situation was still evident. “Do not worry yourself with such matters. I will go and check on everypony else. You need to stay here and get your rest. I can tell that you are not yet recovered from last night’s events.” She smiled again. “Watch over this place with diligence, my student. And you, Spike, help her out as much as she admits, maybe even a bit more if the situation calls for it.” Before either of them could speak, there was a bright flash of white light, and with that the princess of the sun was gone.
Twilight looked at Spike. “You know, there’s one thing that I still don’t get.”
“What’s that?” Spike asked.
“What book was Celestia getting out when we heard her?” She took a quick glance around the room. “All the bookshelves appear to not be disturbed, and it doesn’t look like any of my usual books are missing.”
“This assumes you know every single book in your library, what they look like and everything, in addition to where every single book is at all times, which when it comes to Dash coming in and crashing and making everything go kaboom... You probably don’t, do you?” The look that Twilight gave him was one of mixed pity and bewilderment, and Spike immediately amended himself: “Oh yeah, that’s right. You do know where everything is. Even know technically, I’m the one who’s supposed to be keeping all of this-” he motioned around the library- “in order, you’re the one who’s actually doing it, and doing it much better than I ever could, at that-”
“The alicorn book...” Twilight’s voice was so soft, it could barely be heard, but Spike recognized it and fell quiet for a moment. When it was clear that Twilight was not going to be saying anything else without prompting, he continued: “What do you mean by that, Twilight?”
“You know I have a lot of books on a lot of subjects, right?”
Spike rolled his eyes. “That’s the understatement of the century, right there.”
Twilight half-heartedly tossed him the evil eye before continuing: “Well, one of the subjects that I have been researching more enthusiastically than others, is the subject of alicorns. Where they came from, what causes them to form... Everything about them, basically.”
“And Celestia took your alicorn book?” Spike asked. “Just for clarification.”
“Well, technically, she took one of my alicorn books. I actually have six, all of them written by the same author. Pennyfeather the Wise, ever heard of him?”
Spike scratched his head, thinking. “Wasn’t he like some sort of protege of Starswirl the Bearded or something? I know you’ve mentioned him at least once in passing before...”
Twilight nodded. “Well, kind of, anyways. He was more of a contemporary of Starswirl. They studied together at the royal university of Canterlot. Pennyfeather taught Starswirl just as much as Starswirl taught him, though, and it was Pennyfeather’s studies of the ruling alicorn family of the time- ironically, the same one that rules at this very moment- that provided the basis of alicorn studies for generations of ponies to come.”
“And yet still, ponies claim that we know nothing about them...”
She scoffed. “That’s because ponies don’t want to take the time to read up on them.” She sighed and went into the kitchen, opening up cupboards at random. “There’s nothing good to eat here. You want to go out to eat, Spike?”
He nodded, his stomach rumbling. “We haven’t eaten yet today, you know.”
“Well of course I wouldn’t take a catnap. I’m not a cat. I’m a dragon.” He and Twilight continued to banter back and forth as they got ready to leave. As they walked out the door and shut it behind them, though, the air shimmered near the door, and a tall form became visible once again.
Chrysalis smiled. “Find out all you want to about your precious little alicorns, Twilight. It will not save you in the end.”
Twilight sat down at the table that the waiter had pointed them to, and Spike took the other seat. While they pored over the menu and Spike jabbered pointlessly about a certain marshmallow-colored pony, Twilight’s mind was more occupied by more pressing matters, namely the situation with Chrysalis, and just why on earth Celestia would have wanted that book.
“It was the fifth book out of the six!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, a bit too loudly for proper restaurant talk. “At least it would have made a bit more sense if she would have taken the first book! Who on earth starts with a book that isn’t the first one in the series?!”
“You all talkin’ about Daring Do again?” Twilight looked off to her left a bit. Rainbow Dash was standing there, grinning expectantly. “Well? Are ya?”
Twilight couldn’t help but get caught up in Dash’s enthusiasm about her favorite literary character, and she smiled a bit. “Hi, Dash. Unfortunately, no, we’re not talking about Daring Do this time. I was referring to... well... her.”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t have looked more confused if her life depended on it. “Um... who, now?”
Twilight sighed exasperatedly. “I’m talking about... her. Chrysalis.”
The lightbulb came on in Dash’s head. “Oh. Yeah, her... Heh, I probably should have known that’s who you were talking about. Celestia came and visited me just before I came over here. She was asking about her, and if anypony odd had come to visit me lately.”
Twilight wasn’t going to ask before that, but now that Dash had brought it up, she couldn’t help it. “Well... have they?”
“What, has anypony odd come to visit me? Not really odd. Gilda stopped by for a visit the night before last. But...”
“But... what?” Twilight prompted.
“Well, it was kinda weird, actually. Usually, she and I like to just kick back and reminisce about all the awesome times we’ve had over the years. This last time, though... it was like she’d forgotten all about them. Like, she could kind of remember vague details, but nothing specific. That was really weird, to me. Usually, her memory’s sharp as a tack.” Twilight couldn’t remember much about the little bit of Gilda that she’d seen, but she’d heard Dash talk about her plenty, and that was one of the most consistent things that Dash had brought up about her.
Rainbow’s eyes went wide just then. “Wait a second... You don’t think... Do you?”
“It’s entirely possible.” Twilight’s eyes roamed for a second, looking for anything that seemed to her to be out of place. When she couldn’t see anything that fit her paranoid descriptor, she continued: “Did Celestia mention anything about what happened to me last night?”
“She didn’t go into too many specifics, but yeah she mentioned something about her coming to visit you, and something about Nightmare Moon that I didn’t quite understand... I had just woken up from a nap right before she came to me.”
“Yeah... Apparently she thinks that Nightmare Moon is going to be returning soon.” Dash looked at Twilight oddly for a second, as though she was expecting Twilight to clarify that she was just joking about that. When no such pronouncement was forthcoming, Dash burst into raucous laughter. The other patrons looked at her condescendingly for a moment before turning back to their meals, some of them making the cyan pony their topic of conversation for the time being.
“What is your problem?” Spike asked a bit harshly. He had just been able to get to his sandwich, and he was not particularly keen on the thought of his meal being interrupted by a loudmouthed pony.
“She doesn’t have a problem,” Twilight said in a scolding tone. “Though I will admit, there isn’t much of a reason for you being that loud, Dash.”
“I... I’m sorry... but... I just thought you would have disabused yourself of that notion the first time. Remember? That big, long conversation we all had when you first told us about those dreams you’d been having? You still actually think that could be true?”
“I know what you all told me, and deep down inside I feel like it’s true, but... I’m just thinking, why in the world would Chrysalis be talking about it?”
“Um, maybe because she just wants to throw you off? She might be planning something, and wants to use this to throw you off from getting on her trail.” What she said made sense, but it didn’t fill in all the holes.
“That may be true, but that’s not how all of this started. Remember, I’d been having these dreams for weeks before last night. So how in the world would Chrysalis have known about the dreams?”
“Maybe she has telepathy. You already know she can use magic like a regular unicorn can. Why couldn’t she be a telepath as well.” Twilight was shocked at how much sense Dash was making at the present. Usually, it would have been Applejack that would have been bringing these points up.
“We don’t really know anything for sure,” Twilight pointed out. “This is all pointless conjecture at this point.”
“Celestia doesn’t seem to think so. She was all on-fire about some book she’d gotten from your library, I think.” Twilight nodded. “It was that alicorn book, right?”
“Yeah. Did she say why she wanted it?” In response, Dash looked down at the ground a bit and shifted uncomfortably. Twilight fixed an intense stare on her. “Rainbow Dash... You are going to tell me, aren’t you?”
“Well... I want to... but Celestia told me not to tell anypony else. And besides, I don’t know everything about it. And it really doesn’t make sense to me, anyways.”
“What was she talking about?” Twilight asked, her curiosity now piqued more than ever.
“Something about Chrysalis being Cadence’s sister.”