//------------------------------// // Moments // Story: Stars Relit // by Rocinante //------------------------------// Spike adjusted his bag; he was going to have to get used the strange chafing of saddlebags on hair again. But Ponyville had gone a long time without a dragon living in it and he wanted let them acclimate to the idea slowley. Of course his daughter had been living here longer than any pony alive. Her unique appearance was accepted without question, so it shouldn’t take the town long to go from being comfortable with a half dragon, to a full one. Even then he knew he would spend a lot of time as his pony self since his dragon self had become a bit hard to move around in houses designed for ponies. His visit last week had been novel, but now that he was making his first motion to move back, nostalgia washed over him at every corner. It had been a year after getting his wings that he learned to cast the polymorph spell. Most dragons didn’t cast their first spell until well into their first century, but he had two things they didn’t: living his entire life with a magical prodigy had steeped him in the art, and more importantly, a dream; a dream named Rarity. The transfiguring spell had recreated him as a young stallion with a glistening ruby heart for a cutie mark. In the guise of his alter ego, Gem Heart, Spike had introduced himself to Rarity. The chemistry between them was palpable immediately, and it almost destroyed him when he could not get her to go on a date with him as Gem Heart. It was only when he pressed her on the subject that he got the answer he never expected. “You're handsome, Gem Heart, and really nice, but I love someone else. I just haven’t sorted out how it would ever work.” “Someone?” he had asked She nodded with a teary smile “Indeed, you have the same colors. I guess that’s why I felt so comfortable with you, you remind me of him. Sorry.” The next one hundred and three years were the best years of his life. If it hadn’t been for his daughter... “Papa!” a voice called, snapping him from his memories. Before he could turn toward the voice, a pair of arms wrapped around his neck in a tackle of a hug. “I thought I’d get to surprise you at the shop,” Spike said, returning his daughter’s hug, “We were just going to the morning market.” “We?” Spike asked, pulling back to look around. “Do I finally get to meet my son-in-law and granddaughter?” Just then, something tapped him in top of his head. Looking up, a pair of crystal-blue eyes set against gray stared down at him, inches from his face. “Boo!” chirped the spritely voice. “Gaa!” Spike jumped, sending the bat-winged filly above him rolling to the ground in laughter. Chuckling through the adrenaline surge, he was glad he wasn’t his regular self, a yelp backed by green fire would have been bad. “Surprise got her cutie mark while she was staying with Silver Moon’s parents,” Lavender said like she was sharing a juicy bit of gossip, prompting the little one to turn and show her grandpa the bright-orange jack o'lantern on her flank. “Apparently her special talent is scaring ponies...” Lavender sighed just loud enough for her father to hear. Nudging her daughter to her hooves, Lavender bent down to her level. “This is your grandpa, Spike.” Surprise looked between Spike and her mother with a sceptical air. “That’s not a dragon,” she informed her mother. Spike and Lavender broke into rolling laughter. “It’s a spell dear,” Lavender said, ruffling Surprise’s mane. “You’ve seen the picture on the mantle.” Pausing a moment to rifle through her memory, Surprise perked up with an “Oh!” recalling the picture of her mother, the white unicorn, and the green stallion. “Ooo! Can we go flying later?” she asked. “Sure thing, kiddo,” Spike said with a smile. “But for now, lets go to the market with your mom.” Gesturing for Lavender to lead the way, he turned towards the market and followed her. “So where’s Silver Moon?” “They asked him to work the Summer Sun Celebration, so his shift extended a few more days,” Lavender said “Dad protects Princess Luna,” Surprise chimed in. “He gets three weeks off, after the Celebration,” Lavender continued. “I’ll point him out if you come with us to Cloudsdale. He got us really good tickets to Summer Sun Celebration; it’ll be her first time seeing Princess Celestia.” Walking towards the market, Spike watched his granddaughter. Skipping beside her mother, she occasionally fluttered into the air to look at something as they passed; a blissful smile on her face the whole time. She looked very much like any other young bat-winged pony. Her round, blue eyes were the only thing that most would notice as different, but he could see dragon in her teeth and wings. “Sounds fun, I’ll go,” Spike said, watching Surprise spring into the air again to coo at a kitten in a second story window. As she glided back down, Spike moved under her. When her hooves landed on Spike’s back, she startled. “Sorry!” she said, thinking she had landed on somepony by accident, but her grandfather’s big smile told her he had planned it. “Yay! Pony back ride.” - - - Twilight’s spell was... strange, elegant, and brutally efficient. Calling it no-frills was a dangerous understatement. It took one read through to understand why Twilight had insisted on her supervision, killing yourself with this spell would be only a matter of one misstep. Evening shivered as Twilight’s magic combed through the spell she was holding. Twilight’s horn was a beacon in the field on this new-moon night. Evening could see a lavender shimmer around her sister, and assumed a similar one was around her. She wanted to feel out the spell the princess had blanketed over them, but the temptation alone was more of a distraction than she could afford. “You both have the spell pattern. Now focus on a point a little above the ground and release the spell,” Twilight instructed. A flash of light next to Evening signaled her sister’s spell. Relaxing the grip on her own spell’s energy, she unleashed it to do its work. Morning snapped back into existence atop the hill she had focused on. A chill washed over her as she turned to look for her sister. She could not see Evening, but she didn’t need to see her sister; she felt her magic reaching for her. Morning's magic sprang to life by reflex. They had been accused of being telepathic since they were yearlings, but they were not. Telepathy shared words, maybe images. What they shared was magic. Twilight yelled something, but Morning didn’t hear. /// Twilight’s magic fell away from her students as they released their spells. They had the correct pattern, the rest was up to them. Twilight smiled when Morning appeared on the hill top near a shrub, but frowned when Evening did not.   Looking around, a flash of light among her stars made her sick. Evening had somehow teleported into the clouds; she had no choice but to catch her. Flaring her wings, she began to push off, but faltered. A magenta aura replaced the wink of light in the sky. The magic fell with its pony for a moment, before becoming a bolt that raced down to earth like lightning; the bolt danced with frantic energy, searching for something. Morning’s blue magic answered her sister’s call. Reaching into the sky, it grabbed the chaotic bolt. The two lights met, mingled and solidified into a purple cord. Then Twilight felt a spell begin to weave. “No! Don’t-” Twilight shouted. She was too late, Evening appeared next to her sister in a nova of magic. Twilight winced, covering her eyes from the gruesome spectacle she expected. Teleport preserves the target’s kinetic energy, she would still be moving at near terminal when she appeared. There was no thud, no scream, there was... laughing? Looking up, the two held each other, shaking from the near death experience, but laughing out of relief. Flying up the hill, Twilight landed next to the two. “Are you two okay? The two nodded to Twilight with faint smiles, too breathless to speak and unwilling to let go of each other just yet. “How did you bleed off her inertia?” Twilight asked . Evening pointed to the ground around them. It was then Twilight realized they stood in a small crater: dirt, rock, and plants all pushed aside or thrown clear. “Energy can neither be created or destroyed,” Morning said. “Only converted or redirected,” Evening finished. “You dual cast my spell, and converted it on the fly to turn her inertia into a shock wave?” Twilight asked, sitting on her haunches to think about the spell they had created. “Yea, I guess,” Morning answered. The twins sat leaning against each other, Twilight could tell their stunt had taken a lot out of them, but they were safe. Wrapping them in a group hug, Twilight laughed. “I think this covers making your own version. Now, let's get you home.” There was a magic between those twins that she might never understand, and that was okay.