Fluttershy tried to collect herself, but her thoughts were racing as she gently brushed her fingertips over Spike's fur. How did he get here? Where was Twilight? Had something happened? How would she find her? What would happen to Spike if she couldn't?
Forcing herself to take a couple of deep breaths, Fluttershy tried to give Spike the most assuring smile she could and said, "Don't worry, Spike. I'm sure Twilight will be here first thing to get you and take you home. And until she does, I'll be here with you all day to keep you company."
Spike nudged her hand, and then sniffed at the food that Fluttershy had brought. Unlike most dogs, Spike didn't tear into the meal, instead taking smaller bites. Fluttershy waited patiently until she was sure that Spike was going to finish eating, then gave the little dog another gentle pat and stood back up, easing the cage door closed.
Walking up to the front again, Fluttershy called out "Hen? I'm done with the feedings and I have some questions."
Fluttershy's companion looked up from the book she was reading and answered, "Sure thing, what's up? Oh, and could you get the new dog to eat some?"
With a nod, Fluttership replied "Yes, he's eating now. And I want to talk about him. When did he arrive last night and who brought him in?"
Hen marked her place in her book, setting it aside and then shuffled through the duty log from the previous night. "Hmm," she said at last. "Seems that he arrived around 9:00 PM, just a drop-off, and no note as to who brought him in. I guess they didn't stay around to give any information."
Fluttershy pondered that a moment, but it made some sense. Clearly, Spike had been separated from Twilight and gotten into trouble. Still, it would have been nice to know where he had been found in his current state. What mattered most though was getting him home, even with the promise in effect.
"Hen, I think that I might know the owner." Fluttershy said after a moment. "Can you look up 'Twilight Sparkle' in the phonebook?"
Hen blinked a bit in surprise. "You know that dog? How can you be sure? He didn't have a collar or tag."
Fluttershy nodded affirmatively. "I'm certain that dog belongs to a fr...to someone I met a couple of months ago. She attended our school briefly and Spike was with her."
"Spike, huh? Fun choice of name, he doesn't seem all that fierce." Hen mused. She reached into her supply drawer and took out a large marking pen and wide tape so she could put a name on the cage in the back now that she had one. Hen then dug out the Greater Canterlot phone book and started thumbing through it. "Sparkle..." she muttered outloud as she searched.
Fluttershy came forward and peeked anxiously over Hen's shoulder. Eventually her co-worker shook her head, indicating she couldn't find a listing.
"Hold on, I'll try information." Hen said. She picked up the phone and dialed 4-1-1. There was a slight delay as the operator came on the line. "Good morning," Hen said. "I need a phone number for Twilight Sparkle. No, I don't have an address."
Fluttershy felt herself getting a bit more nervous. Once they had the number, she'd have to get Hen to make the call, and then when Twilight arrived, she'd need to make sure she wasn't nearby when she came to get Spike, so that she wouldn't break the promise. She heard Hen say "OK, thanks." and then Hen hung the phone up.
"Well, no luck...it must be an unlisted number." Hen said at last. Fluttershy's heart sank a bit. How were they going to let Twilight know about Spike if they couldn't call?
Hen gave a little shrug, and then said, "Well, things like this happen. At least we know he's not a stray. I'll go tag the cage and we'll just have to wait for his owner to show up. Sounds like you know her though and that will make the paperwork much more simple." With that, Hen got up with the tape on which she had written "Spike" and walked back towards the quarantine area.
Fluttershy accepted she would just have to wait, and went to resume her other tasks, cleaning and filing. As often as she could, Fluttershy made a point to head back to talk to Spike and make sure he was doing alright.
The morning eventually gave way to afternoon, and the shelter had been quiet. No calls, no visitors. Fluttershy was starting to get quite concerned. She had to assume Twilight would be looking for Spike, and the shelter was the most obvious place. So why hadn't she called? Fluttershy dreaded the idea of Spike having to spend the rest of the weekend at the shelter. They did their best for all of the animals, of course, but the cages were small and the building so lonely most of the time.
As the image of Spike whimpering through the night loomed in Fluttershy's mind, she came to a decision. Making sure that Hen was occupied in another room, Fluttershy pulled out her cell phone and made a quick call.
"Hello?" came the raspy reply as Rainbow Dash picked up the line.
"Dashie, it's Shy. I really really need your help today, can you come pick me up at the shelter when I get off at 4PM?"
"Oh, hey Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "Uhh...I guess I can, what's up?"
Fluttershy heard steps close, and noticed that Hen had returned. "I have to go, I really just need a lift back home. Oh, and would you please call the other girls and see if they can come over tonight?"
"Call the others? I...guess so, sure. What's going on, Shy?" Rainbow asked, her voice now filled with curiosity.
"Tell you later, Dashie, and thank you so so much. See you at four." With that, Fluttershy hung up the phone, unusually abruptly. She was sure that would only pique Rainbow's concern, but she didn't want Hen to overhear her plan.
As 4:00PM rolled around, Fluttershy paced nervously at the employee door. She had to be quick about this.
It wasn't long before Fluttershy heard the sound of Rainbow Dash's car pulling up. Fluttershy opened the door and waved Rainbow over.
"OK Fluttershy, what's all this about?" Rainbow Dash asked as she walked over to the door. Seeing Fluttershy's expression as she got close, Rainbow Dash put two and two together. "Wait...you're bringing home another stray, aren't you? Why so cloak and dagger about it?"
Fluttershy uncharacteristically tugged Rainbow's arm to pull her inside and put a finger to her lips to shush her friend. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, "Not a stray, and we need to be quiet. I'll go get the carrier, just clear out some space in the back seat."
Rainbow Dash started to object, but then nodded her assent. Whatever had gotten into Fluttershy to make her go through all of this had to be important, and Rainbow trusted her friend. She eased back outside and started getting the car ready.
Fluttershy walked softly back to the quarantine area, and pulled up the carrier she had found. She opened the door to the cage and leaned down. "Spike, I'm going to take you home with me," she said. "My friends and I will find Twilight for you, and I don't want to leave you here all alone. Come on, little guy, climb inside."
As if he had understood every word, Spike padded into the carrier, and lay down on the little towel inside that Fluttershy had put as a blanket. Fluttershy then closed the door to the carrier, then the cage, and removed the name-tape from it. She then picked up the carrier and made her way to the back where Rainbow Dash was waiting. With a final glance towards the front to make sure Hen wasn't coming, she handed the carrier to Rainbow and said "Quick, let's go."
Rainbow Dash took the carrier to put it into the back seat, and as she gazed inside, her jaw dropped slightly. "Whoa...is that...Spike?" she asked in surprise.
Fluttershy bobbed her head yes, and then quickly exited the shelter and hurried Rainbow Dash along to secure the carrier, and climbed into the car. Once they had pulled out of the parking lot and were headed to Fluttershy's apartment, Fluttershy could finally begin to relax.
Rainbow Dash tried to prod Fluttershy for information on the drive home, but there wasn't a lot to tell. When they arrived at the apartment complex, they could see Applejack's truck parked outside. The blond-haired farm girl was seated on the tailgate, waiting for them. As Fluttershy and Rainbow parked and got out, Applejack called out "Howdy, y'all. What's all this fuss about anyhow?"
Rainbow Dash grinned over at her best friend, lugging the carrier out of the back seat and shot back "Hey AJ...you aren't going to believe this."
Flutttershy opened the door to her apartment and ushered everyone inside. Rainbow Dash set the carrier down on the rug, and opened the door. Spike looked around tenatively, then slowly crawled out of the carrier to sniff around his new environment. Applejack did a double-take as Spike emerged, and exclaimed "What the hay?!?" Spike didn't seem to notice, seemingly more interested in exploring around the apartment.
Before Applejack could say anything else, a knock came from the front door, and Applejack went to answer it. When she opened the door, Applejack saw Pinkie Pie and Rarity standing there. "C'mon in y'all," Applejack said, stepping aside for her friends to enter. "Y'all a'int goin' to believe this."
"Why whatever do you mean, Applejack?" Rarity inquired, stepping past her friend and into the room. "I simply cannot imagine what would be so odd that you would..."
Rarity's voice trailed off as she caught her first glimpse of the small purple dog who had poked his nose under the edge of the couch. "That's..that's...Spikey-Wikey?!?!" Rushing over to Spike's side, Rarity scooped the little dog up into a huge hug.
"Ooh, ooh!" Pinkie burst out. "Spike's here? Is Twilight here? Where is she? I wanna see!" Pinkie bounced into the room full of smiles, filled with excitement to see Twilight once again.
Fluttershy came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with some sodas for her friends and tea for herself. Seeing that everyone had arrived, she took a seat on the couch, and waited quietly for the others to settle. Rarity took a seat next to Fluttershy, setting Spike down at their feet. Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat down across from them on the couch, and Pinkie Pie was still walking around, as if expecting to find Twilight playing hide-and-seek behind the curtains or something.
Fluttershy noticed that everyone else was looking at her, and said, "Thanks for coming over, I hope it wasn't a bother. I just didn't know what to do, so I need your help." Fluttershy reached down to scratch Spike behind the earsm then continued, "When I got to the shelter this morning, I found out Spike had been brought in last night. They don't know by whom."
"What about Twilight?" Pinkie interjected. "Did she come by or call or anything?"
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added. "Why didn't Twilight come looking for Spike?"
Fluttershy stammered "I..I don't know. We tried to call her from the shelter, but her number isn't listed. Something must have happened to her too."
The statement brought a round of concerned faces, and finally Rarity spoke up. "Well, if she was not able to come find Spike, then it is up to us to find her."
Applejack looked over to Rarity and said, "But we can't. We promised, remember? Twi' made it sound all important-like, an' we all promised to not try to find her."
Fluttershy sighed, it was what had been troubling her all day. The promise. Fluttershy thought back to the night of the Fall Formal, and the pledge that Twilight had sworn them all into before they had left for the dance. As the others launched into a debate, Fluttershy closed her eyes, remembering Twlight's words.
"Girls, if all goes well tonight, then I'll be elected Princess and win my crown back. Once that happens, I will have to return to Equestria. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but my Element of Harmony must be brought back, and I need to return to my own world. There already is a Twilight Sparkle here in this world, and I don't know what would happen if we were to meet."
Twilight had paused a moment, then continued in a serious tone.
"I know you all will want to find her, to share the magic that we've shared. But I have to ask you to promise me that you won't seek her out. I know how hard that sounds, but it's necessary. My friends and I were destined to be together back in Equestria, and if the Twilight of this world never came to Canterlot High, never met with any of you then I have to believe that also was destined. If I'm wrong, then she'll find her way to the five of you. But I need you to promise me....no, I need you to Pinkie-promise me, you won't try to find her. To do otherwise might upset the balance of this world."
Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked at her friends. They were still arguing among themselves over what to do. Looking down at Spike, she knew they had to break their promise. For Spike's sake.
"Excuse me, girls?" Fluttershy said, too quietly to be heard over the din. Clearing her throat a little, she said a hair louder, "Girls?"
None of her friends seemed to notice. Fluttershy took a deep breath, focused, and said more loudly, "GIRLS!!!" One by one, her friends stopped and turned, surprised by the sudden outburst.
Fluttershy swallowed, and said, "I know what Twilight said to us, but she's not here, and Spike is. And this time, he can't talk, he can't tell us what happened to him or to her. We have to help him, and help her too if she needs us." Gathering her courage, Fluttershy said emphatically, "We have to break our promise and find Twilight!" She stopped suddenly, realizing how her voice had built as she had plowed ahead, and then added quickly, "If you all don't mind that is."
Collectively, the other five girls seemed to weigh Fluttershy's appeal, and then finally Rarity spoke up. "You are right, of course, sweetie. We simply must help poor widdle Spike reunite with Twilight. And that means it is up to us to find her."
"It's totally up to us!" Rainbow Dash agreed. "I'm in!"
"Welp, I figure that if we don't help Spike, then no one else can," Applejack said. "I reckon we'll have to take a chance on what happens when we find Twilight."
"And when we do we can have a super-duper homecoming party for Spike!" Pinkie Pie added exuberantly.
Fluttershy smiled, and said, "Thank you girls. You're the best." Looking down at Spike, she said softly, "Just you wait, Spike. We'll find Twlight and get you back home where you belong." Spike looked up and gave a little yip, almost as if he'd understood. All they had to do now was solve the mystery of what had landed Spike at the shelter.