//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: I Dream of Twilight Sparkle // by Salnalus //------------------------------// The next few days in Saddle Arabia were quite nice. Twilight and Spike enjoyed many things while they were in the grand city. The hot sand beneath their hooves, or feet in Spike's case, was nothing compared to everything else that they saw. Twilight spent much of her time enjoying some of the books she bought from Kubuya's library, while Spike usually engorged himself with the gemstones native to the city. Other than that, they went and visited many other buildings and shops. The market there had food that was exclusive to this area, so Twilight and Spike got to try a few new foods, and they were pretty good. Another area they found was a fortune-telling hut where they had their fortunes told to them. It was a bit bizarre, but also a bit fun. Another hut had various pottery shelves with fancy designs and shapes. Twilight found them particularly nice and decorative, and it gave the place a unique flair she hadn't seen many times before. This one particular morning, however, had much in store for the lavender unicorn mare. Back in the hotel room, Twilight woke up with a yawn and a stretch. The feeling in her back was less than comfortable, due to the small size of the bed and the fact that she had to share it. She turned her head to see Spike resting peacefully next to her, and smiled at the sight. She rose out of the bed, being careful not to wake up the sleeping dragon. Spike sure was a heavy sleeper, though considering his age, it was not much of a surprise. She looked out the window to see the bright morning sun rising over the horizon. "Hmm, a bit early in the morning. Didn't realize I'd wake up at this time anytime soon, especially considering how I've been sleeping the past few days," she said to herself. She looked back to the bed, again to Spike as if he was the cause of her problems. "No matter. A good walk out in the city to stretch out my hooves should do some good." She turned back to her saddlebags, only for a thought to occur in her head before giving it an odd look. I don't really need to bring this stuff, do I? Perhaps not. I'll come back for it later around the time Spike should wake up. She turned to the door and opened it with her magic. After she stepped out, she glanced at Spike one last time before she left. She smiled to herself as she trotted down the hallway. The interior of the hotel itself wasn't overall fancy, but it was something still amazing to the lavender unicorn, given the unique and impressive style that Saddle Arabians had. As soon as she came outside, she breathed in the nice, fresh early morning air through her nostrils, and exhaled it out in a relaxing manner.. If there was anything she liked, it was stepping outside to catch the early rise of Celestia's sun, spreading its sunlight all over Ponyville. She wasn't in Ponyville anymore, but it didn't matter much to her when it was this nice out there. The first thing she decided to tackle: visit Kubuya's library. As she trotted cheerfully through the market district of Saddle Arabia, she noted a few ponies were already waiting at the stands, with a couple that waited for the other salesponies to arrive. She didn't really expect anypony else to be up this early like she was doing. It made them all the more interesting to her. After a tour from the guide, Twilight got around to memorizing most of the city fairly quickly, just as she had done with Canterlot when she was a filly. No longer did she need somepony to point out the direction for a certain building whenever she decided to go there, as her memory proved to be something spectacular. Over the past few days, learning the turns everywhere was nothing to the smart unicorn. She finally made her way to the library, and when she stepped inside, she was greeted by none other than the librarian herself. "Greetings, Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville!" "Good morning to you too, Kubuya, although you can just call me Twilight." Kubuya smiled as she departed from her desk and waled towards Twilight. "Are you here to retrieve more books, or perhaps to return some?" "Actually, if you don't mind, I would just like to hang out here for a while. At least until Spike wakes up from his sleep." "Ah yes, the baby dragon." Kubuya raised a hoof to her chin in thought. "I was hoping to see him as well. I had a few books he would probably be interested in reading." Twilight didn't think that was something that was true, given she had known Spike all his life. "I'm not sure if Spike would even be interested in reading. He doesn't do it that much at home back in Ponyville, even when I try to convince him to do more reading." "Then maybe you would like to hear what the books are about first. One of them illustrates and explains about various gemstones around the world, and another tells things that are known by ponies about some of the history of dragons." Twilight beamed at the subjects of the books she heard. She didn't think books like those existed, not after reading nearly every single book in her library. "Those are just perfect! But I think I'll wait to get Spike first. For now, I'd like to hang out here for a few minutes." "Well, there's not really anything to do here in this library besides read books, especially since it is empty at this time. I just opened it about five minutes ago." Kubuya picked up two books from her desk, and walked over to one of the bookshelves. Twilight followed behind her in close proximity. "We could just talk. I'd really like to get to know you more since, well, I haven't met any other librarians besides myself. I'd also like to know, from your perspective, what everypony around Saddle Arabia like to do." While the busy librarian was putting one of the books in its proper place in one of the bookshelves, a smile formed on her face at the thought. "That sounds like an excellent idea!" And so, they talked, though saying it was a simple chat was an understatement. Their conversation lasted for hours, talking about many of the various things to experience in Saddle Arabia, including its culture, its history, about the ponies that inhabit it, the general atmosphere, the weather, the shops, what makes it unique compared to other cities... basically everything. As they talked and the hours went by, a few roaming ponies entered the library, reading through books, checking them out whenever Kubuya had to take a break from her conversation with Twilight. While the unicorn had other things to do, she generally didn't mind talking with a simple mare as nice as Kubuya for a few more minutes. It eventually got to the point where Twilight thought Spike would be awake after all that time. "You know, as much as I like talking more about Saddle Arabia and everything you know about it, I think it's about time I should go. I have other things to do, and Spike should be waking up soon. I don't want him freaking out or anything if he sees that I'm not there, or I'm worried that he might secretly take my bag of bits and go off to buy himself more of those gems." "It's alright, Twilight. I understand. I shall be busy myself, as I made a mental note to return a couple of returned books to their rightful places on the shelves." "Oh, I could help with that! I have a knack for being very organizable." "Oh, really? Are you sure you are not referring to me here?" Kubuya gave off a playful smile, which Twilight noticed almost immediately. "You too? I wonder which of us is the more organizable." They both stared at each other for a few seconds with raised eyebrows, before breaking out into simultaneous laughter. This went on for a few more seconds before Twilight finally calmed down. "Well, I should get going now. I'll stop by later when I have the time." "Very well, Twilight. I shall see you in some time, then!" Kubuya waved Twilight off as she left the library, with a very bright smile on her lips. She felt like she had gotten ten percent smarter after that morning, but now was the time to head back to the hotel for Spike. Along the way, she noticed more of the Saddle Arabians out and about in the market than before. Given that it was a few hours later since Twilight had first entered the library, it made sense. The hotel was to the west of the library with the market in between, while the entrance to the city was south of the market, where Twilight and Spike arrived via hot air balloon. Twilight had a smile on her face while she was trotting through the market, and she knew that she was going to enjoy the day like she had done in the days before. However, she was startled by somepony poking her backside. She jumped a little before turning around to see who had supposedly gotten her attention. She saw a beige stallion with grizzly dark brown hair. He had a small goatee hanging from his chin. He looked a bit mysterious, but then again, he looked almost like any other Saddle Arabian stallion. He spoke in a rather gruff tone. "Greeting, miss. I suppose you are a visitor here in our city, Saddle Arabia?" Now he didn't seem so mysterious to the unicorn. In fact, he seemed nice. "Why, yes! I got here after taking a two day trip from home to here in a hot air balloon." "Ah. I imagine it was quite a long trip. Were you lonesome for the entire time?" "Oh, no. In fact, I was going to bring five of my friends back from Ponyville, but it seems I didn't have available accommodations for them to come. The only one I chose to bring with me is my number one assistant, Spike." The stallion raised an eyebrow at the statement. Something wasn't quite right with it. "Spike? That's a peculiar name for a colt." Twilight giggled in response. "Oh no, he's not a colt." "Well, it seems even more odd to be a filly's name..." "He's not a filly either. In fact, he's not even a pony. He's a dragon." The stallion had now been staring at Twilight with disbelief. He thought that there was no way a pony like her could house a dragon. "That's... quite surprising. I do wonder how you were able to fit a big dragon inside your hot air balloon." She then shook her head. "Oh, he's not that big of a dragon. He's a baby dragon. He's just about half the size of an average pony. He wishes he were bigger, though he doesn't complain about his current size. Being a dragon, he won't have to worry about it. The long life span of dragons will more than make up for how long it takes him to age." "Ah, I see. Well, I'm sure whatever the age, he'd love some of our exquisite Saddle Arabian gems. I've seen even full grown dragons having a hard time resisting the urge to come and grab some." "I've read about them. I even got some for him in the past few days, and I was about to get more for him after I woke him up. In fact, I was just about to go back to get him when you got my attention." "My apologies, miss Twilight." "It's alright..." Twilight suddenly paused. She took another look at the stallion, now feeling he was a bit more mysterious than before. Something he said gave it away. "Excuse me, but how do you know my name? I never told you." Much to her dismay, the stallion only laughed. Twilight wasn't sure what was so funny about him knowing her name like that. If anything, it made her a bit anxious being around him. He calmed down after a while, and spoke to her again. "It's quite simple, really. I know that you’re Twilight Sparkle, one of the six embodiments of the Elements of Harmony. And not just any element, but the Element of Magic, making you the indisputable leader and perhaps even the most powerful of them all! I also know that you are Princess Celestia’s star pupil, and a hero that saved all of Equestria not once, not twice, but three times! Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the Queen of the Changelings.” Now Twilight was impressed to hear that somepony from a faraway city knew of her past accomplishments. That didn't mean her suspicions weren't all clear just yet. “How do you know all this? Before I came here, I was told that barely anyone in Saddle Arabia really knew what went on in Ponyville and Canterlot the past few years.” “Word gets around to some ponies more then you know, Twilight Sparkle. It’s just not a national policy to give the Elements of Harmony a hero’s welcome whenever they take a vacation somewhere.” Now that last statement was something Twilight definitely agreed on. “Perhaps that's for the best. Poor Fluttershy couldn’t handle all that attention, especially after her time as a model. And to be honest, even I’d prefer to just go through my normal day without someone going, 'Look everypony! It’s Twilight Sparkle, a national hero!'" The stallion laughed at her apparent sense of humor. It was as if he hadn't heard something so funny in such a long time. "Now, how about I introduce myself to you? You know, since I know all about you, and you probably don’t know anything about me.” "Of course not. But could we step inside somewhere? Standing out here in the sun is making me hot." Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face, as if to pretend she was fanning herself. The stallion noticed this and turned to his left, pointing a hoof towards a hut directly near them. "Of course. Please, I insist that you step inside my hut so that we shall not get sunburn, from the sunlight's heat pouring down upon us." The unicorn happily obliged and made her way inside, with him following closely behind. The floor, walls, and ceilings were made of finely flattened clay, and around the hut were plenty of expensive-looking assortments of Saddle Arabian furniture, attire, and the finest pottery anypony could see in all of Equestria. The stallion could have had a more traditional hut, but it was obvious he wasn’t exactly poor. She turned to face him, but cleared her throat before she began to speak. "Now then, may I ask that you introduce yourself?" "I do owe you an introduction. My name is Malakhar Manat, a renowned pottery maker here in Saddle Arabia. As such, my business is pottery and Arabian bottle-making. A lot of the assortment of vases, bottles, lamps, and more are all of my custom creations.” If Twilight wasn't surprised before, she was now ecstatic about what she saw. “Wow, you made all those yourself? These are some of the best pottery I’ve ever seen! How much do they usually sell for?” “Many a pony seek some of my designs. I’ve even been sent orders from all across Equestria. Some of my vases and bottles have been in such high demand that some of the richest in Equestria have given away their own priceless items just to get a hold of some of my creations. And that’s where I got the rest of my memorabilia that you see. In fact, this rug here that our hooves are standing upon was given to me by quite a well-known gentlecolt named Fancypants.” If there was anything the lavender mare knew, it was a few things about who was probably the most well-known stallion in Canterlot. “Oh, I know Fancypants! I’ve seen him when I went to Canterlot for my birthday, and he was at the wedding for my brother and Princess Cadence. He’s a high-class stallion to even the other high-class ponies in Canterlot. I figure after Fancypants ordered something of yours, it wasn’t long until much of Canterlot also bought your products.” Malakhar chuckled once again, but wasn't going to hold himself that high. “Yes, business really did seem to pick up when he ordered some of my pottery, so that makes sense." Twilight nodded in response. She was starting to feel more comfortable around the stallion, though she wouldn't have been prepared for the events that followed. "It’s been a really nice pleasure talking with you, Twilight Sparkle. I shall now present to you a gift that I have wanted to give you for a long time. I saved it for whenever you came to Saddle Arabia, even if you never ended up coming here. I am quite proud of this work and wouldn’t have sold it for a million bits, and it’s not because this thing is just that priceless. There’s a special property about it that might interest you, as you are the Element of Magic.” “Oh? And that is…” “Twilight Sparkle, how would you like to be even more stronger in magic then you currently are?” Twilight's eyes widened, and she took a step back. She knew there was no way just anypony could increase her magical power past how they already are now. “Whoa, what?!” “Is something the matter?” “No, no... nothing’s wrong, actually. It’s just, how do you have something in your possession that can possibly make a pony stronger in magic then they already are?” “Oh you’ll see in due time, but allow me to fetch what it is I'm talking about.” The stallion turned away from Twilight and left into a backroom. When he returned, in his mouth was a purple translucent bottle, decorated with glitter with similar colors as Twilight's tricolored mane and tail. On two sides were gem-encrusted engravings of Twilight’s cutie mark. Like a normal Arabian bottle, it was round on the bottom, and on the way to the top was a removable lid, which similarly was just as translucent and purple as the rest of the bottle. Twilight was wowed by the design, but noticed that the bottle was empty. “Wait, I love how it looks and all, but... it looks empty. How is an empty bottle supposed to make me any stronger in magic, just instantly out of the blue?” “Don’t underestimate it only because it appears like nothing is worthwhile inside it. Right now, I just want to focus on whenever or not you want it for yourself. If you accept, you may either take it home with you and give the boost to your magic back home in Ponyville, or you can open it now to get it over with.” No matter what Malakhar said, Twilight was still unsure about how a bottle could contain a power that could enhance her magic. “I don’t know, Malakhar. This just seems so crazy. But if I accept, what’s the cost of this bottle?” “It’s absolutely free of charge, as your deeds in the past are more than enough to reap the benefits. Do you accept my offer? If you decline, I’ll simply put the bottle back into the backroom and you may go on your way.” The curious mare looked at the bottle again. It did look nice, and if it proved to be false in that it could really improve her magic, it would at least make any room look nicer. “Oh well, since you’re offering it for free and all, I'll accept it. What’s the harm? It's really beautiful, and if it does what you say it does, I’ll both be much stronger in magic and I’ll have a nice decoration back home!” “Splendid! I am happy one of my finest works is going to somepony like you.” Malakhar gave her a wide grin, happy that one of his works was going to somepony so famous. At least, it was his opinion that Twilight was famous. “Soon this bottle will be more important to you then you realize, besides a simple decoration.” Then Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?” Malakhar shifted his eyes a bit. “Oh nothing, nothing really... but, uh, now that you accepted it, like I said, you have the choice of either taking it home with you so you can 'power up' at home, or you can do it right now on the spot. As soon as now or as late as when you get back, you will henceforth enjoy a kind of magic power no pony has seen in millenniums!” “Somehow I doubt that. What you’re saying is that with this bottle, I’ll suddenly gain powers that could even match with the powers of a Princess?" Twilight shook her head in disbelief before going on. "I’ll still give this a try, but if it does work, all I imagine will happen is that I will be able to do more advanced spells more frequently with less risk of tiring.” “Oh trust me, you’ll get plenty more then that. All you have to do is simply open the bottle, and you’ll get what I’m talking about. No other place then Saddle Arabia can provide you this. Now decide, Twilight Sparkle. Do you open it now or take it home?” “Assuming this works, it won’t be painful… will it?” Twilight had a tinge of worry in her voice, which was reassured by Malakhar almost immediately. “No, it should be generally relaxing. No pain will come out of it, but you will feel a sort of force on you.” “Well then, I’ll just open it now I suppose.” “Good, good! Now stand over there so you have more space.” He pointed over toward the middle of the rather small hut. Twilight walked over to it, and examined the bottle for a few more seconds as she prepared herself to open it. “Well, here goes nothing...” As her horn glowed, Twilight levitated the bottle in front of her and used telekinesis to remove the top of the bottle. Twilight shook in apprehension as she prepared for whatever 'force' Malakhar mentioned. After about thirty seconds or so, nothing really happened. Even Malakhar suddenly felt worried that it didn’t work, and scowled at the result. Twilight waited for a few more seconds, but she still didn’t feel anything. She turned around to face Malakhar again. “I should of figured this was a waste of time. I’m sorry Malakhar, but...“ Before she could say more, she felt a small tug coming from behind her. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Twilight’s tail was suddenly doing strange things. It was moving in a sort of wavy motion up and down and it wasn’t Twilight making it move. As seconds passed, it continued going in a wavy pattern, but it was doing more than just imitating Princess Celestia's free-flowing mane; the tail was extending. “Huh?! What's going on with my tail?!” Twilight didn’t have a clue why her tail was acting this way. She tried to move it herself, but it was like her tail had a mind of its own. She started walking for a little while until she was at the edge of the room, but she suddenly felt a bigger tug than before. “Ah! Something's pulling me!” When she looked back at her rapidly extending and waving tail, she saw that the end of it was now connected to Malakhar’s bottle, and yet more and more of her tail was being pulled and being somehow sucked into the bottle. “What is this bottle doing, Malakhar? Is this part of the process?!” She turned back to him with a scared expression, but what also surprised her other than what the bottle was doing to her, was what Malakhar was doing. He was laughing at what he was seeing. "It works! It actually woooooorrrrks!” By now, about half of Twilight’s extended tail was already in the bottle. She had the look of fear in her eyes. “What are you talking about?! What works?!” Suddenly, Twilight started inexplicably floating. “Gah!” She flailed her hooves as she floated. Her hind hooves were suddenly stretching to the bottle as well. She looked in shock as her body from the flank down was being shaped and shrunk the closer it got to the opened bottle. Everything right down to her cutie mark was nothing but a curvy smoketail and it was all ever so slowly heading inside the bottle. Twilight now knew what was happening: She was being forcibly sucked inside the bottle. She turned yet again to face the stallion, but this time with a glare. “Malakhar, stop this! If this is what it takes to get stronger in magic. I don’t want it!” “I’m afraid it’s far too late for that, Ms. Twilight. As soon as the bottle has opened, it can’t be stopped and the pony that opened it will be engulfed inside.” “You won’t get away with this... ah!” She yelled until she was tugged strongly again. Almost to her front hooves and neck now, she was being funneled inside the bottle. She flailed her forehooves and moved her head from side to side in desperation, bute her neck and hooves were being gradually sucked into the bottle in no time. As the rest of her body, including her head was finished being completely bottled, she yelled a big “Noooooooooooooo!” that became lower in volume, until it went silent when the last part of her body disappeared into the bottle, being which was her horn. With Twilight now completely bottled, the bottle fell to the floor and the bottle top magically returned to its spot on top, and sealed the now imprisoned unicorn completely inside. Before, it was clear. Now, inside was a glowing purple mist. Malakhar smiled in glee and walked up to the bottle that was no longer empty. "Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle. No harm will come out of this, I assure you."