Spike carefully placed the last book on the shelf, sighing from the heavy workload. Books had been scattered all over the room from Pinkie's studying, and who else was going to clean them up? Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Come in." Spike called as she began to sweep the floor. Rarity and Fluttershy nervously trotted in, and when Spike saw Rarity, he screamed and dove into the bookshelf, then carefully peeked out again to see a pegasus Rarity rolling her eyes at him.
"Where's Twilight? We need her help." Rarity said flatly.
"Who knows? Anyway, she can't help you, she lost her horn just like you did, so now she's an earth pony. If there was any unicorn that I would ask for help, it would be Pinkie Pie, but she's in the hospital with terrible burns from Sugar Cube Corner. Rainbow Dash is a unicorn too, but she can't really use magic...at all...I guess her wings are either on you, or Applejack, oh, and by the way Rarity, your sister lost her horn, Applebloom is a pegasus and Scootaloo has a horn. Princess Celestia is a pegasus, also, and I can't breathe fire." Spike rambled abruptly.
Rarity and Fluttershy were silent for a moment, and Spike took this time to stare at Rarity, taking in every beautiful feature of her, before quickly looking away when he came to the unfamiliar wings. Twilight and Princess Celestia smoothly trotted into the library, shocked to see Rarity and Fluttershy.
Spike took a closer look at Twilight, and suddenly felt shy around her. He was extremely confused, as he had never felt this way around Twilight, but now, he did, and it was a strong feeling. He kept staring, trying to look away, but always being pulled back somehow. Spike snapped out of the trance as a hoof was waved in front of his face.
"Spike? Hello?" cautioned Rarity. He jolted upright as he looked at Princess Celestia and his face turned bright red.
"Spike, go get the Extremely Advanced Unicorn's Book of Incredible Magic, I'll go get Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the Crusaders. Princess, do you think you could help me find them? Maybe fly over the town, or find Applejack?" Twilight asked. Princess Celestia nodded, and they both left.
Spike had left the book on the table downstairs and Rarity and Fluttershy had taken a seat and began to chat, as Spike went upstairs so he could think about what just happened in private. He had never felt so shy and frantic around Twilight before, but now when he saw her, he got butterflies in his stomach, his palms sweated, and his face heated up, he felt nervous and exited all at once, and it was like nothing he had ever felt before.
It couldn't possibly be that he had...feelings for Twilight...could it? He began to wonder when she would be returning, then, a thought came to him. How was he going to face her, now that he understood his feelings? Just then, the library door opened, and in came Princess Celestia, Applejack, and Applebloom. Spike came racing downstairs to welcome them back, when Celestia spoke up.
"Spike, has Twilight returned yet?" she asked. Spike's face heated up and turned red as he shook his head no. And exactly when he had stopped, the door swung open and in trotted Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.
"Pinkie Pie? I thought you were in the hospital!" gasped Fluttershy.
"I was until I remembered I had magic!" Pinkie tapped her horn.
"Ok Pinkie Pie, we need you to cast this spell. It will change all of us back to our normal states, and we can all live like normal again. Applejack gasped.
"No! I can't give up my wings!" she stammered. Applebloom nodded, but all too late remembered her...problem. Pinkie was also against the idea, stating that she wanted to keep her horn forever. And if Pinkie didn't want to do the spell, it wasn't going to happen. Pinkie and both Apples trotted out the door, leaving their stunned friends behind.
Spike sighed as he finished cleaning up the library, and decided that Twilight had probably already gone to bed, and that he should probably do the same, so he began walking to the bathroom to brush his teeth before bed. He turned the knob, opened the door, and after exchanging screams with Twilight, slammed it again. He had walked in on her going to the bathroom! His face felt like it was 200 degrees hot, and he began to run up the stairs, jump into bed and throw the covers over himself.
He missed the days when him and Twilight could just be good friends, but now he couldn't even speak around her without getting a hot face and becoming shy as heck.
Applebloom climbed into bed huffily and pulled the covers up to her chin, smashing her eyes shut, and because of her exhausting day, instantly falling asleep.
Scootaloo's horn glowed a smokey purple as she flicked on her lighter, approaching the building that Diabo had been reminding her of all day.
"Scootaloo, just think about the smell of smoke...think of all the beautiful dresses in there, and how much prettier they'll look and smell when they're burning down...fire..."
Scootaloo's eyes lit up with an amazing excitement as she thought a bit harder.
"Go inside, Scootaloo, you'll get a better view."
It didn't even occur to Scootaloo that she was breaking into her best friend's home. She bucked the door open and raced over to the first dress rack she saw, starting up her lighter and instantly igniting it. She expected a wave of comfort and relief to fill her, but was disappointed to realize it wasn't good enough. The fire was spreading quickly, trapping Scootaloo in the heat, and making it's way to the upper layer of the house. Scootaloo listened carefully, past the crackling and heard a familiar voice trying to scream, but choking instead. It was Rarity.
Then, a high pitched scream of terror and pain, obviously coming from Sweetie Belle, followed by coughing. Scootaloo suddenly felt a crisp tingling on her hoof, and looking down, realized it was on fire. This was the satisfaction she had needed. The relief came instantly.
She heard the thumping sound of hooves racing down the stairs, and suddenly decided she had to hide, and there was only one place she could see, and that was the flames. She dove in, just as Rarity flung herself out the door, carrying a passed out Sweetie Belle on her back.