((Prompt: Spike witnesses something he won't soon forget.))
“All right, Spike, it's been twenty minutes.”
Spike looked over the top of his comic book at Twilight, and then over to the clock on the wall. “Already? That felt like five minutes, tops.”
Twilight's eyes widened. She drew a short gasp. “Oh no. Do you think maybe I've been casting time spells without noticing them?”
Spike's comic slipped from his grasp. “Y-you couldn't cast something like that without noticing... Could you?” He chewed his lip, glancing again at the wall-clock.
Twilight laughed and shook her head. “There weren't any time-spells, Spike.” She lit her horn, picking the comic book off the floor and putting it back on the shelves. “You simply got into your comic book and lost track of time. Which is exactly what we needed for this part of the test.” She brought out her notepad and dipped a quill in ink.
“Oh, right.” Spike nodded, his eyes flickering to the comic book one last time. He had been in the middle of a very exciting part, and had quite forgotten that it was a part of a test. “Um, what are we testing, again?”
“A memory spell,” Twilight said, scratching a note on her pad. “If it works, it should improve your ability to remember things by at least forty percent. Now, try and remember the cards I showed you twenty minutes ago.”
Spike scratched the back of his head. “But you haven't cast anything yet. How am I supposed to remember the cards if you don't cast the spell first?”
“This is a control test,” Twilight explained. “We need to have an accurate measure of how good your memory is before the spell, so that we know how much, if any, the spell improves it.” She cleared her throat, her pen hovering over her note pad. “Now then, the cards, Spike. As many as you can remember.”
Spike put his claw to his chin and furrowed his brows. He tried to recall the cards Twilight had showed to him earlier. “Let's see... there was the one with a yellow sun on it. And the one with the brown pegasus.”
Twilight nodded and scribbled notes on her pad as Spike listed off what he remembered.
“...the cat was... blue, I think? And there was the yellow sun. No, wait, I already said that one!”
Twilight set her note pad down and smiled. “I think that's enough for a baseline.”
“Did I do okay?” Spike asked.
Twilight nodded. “You have slightly better memory than the average Ponyville citizen. I think sorting the card catalog was good practice for you.”
Spike puffed his chest out proudly.
“All right,” Twilight said, wisps of magic beginning to form around her horn. “Are you ready for the next phase, Spike?”
Spike grinned. “Ready when you are, Twilight.”
“Spike?”
A purple hoof waved in front of Spike's face.
Spike turned to look at Twilight. “I said, I'm ready when you are, Twilight.”
Pain flickered behind Twilight's eyes. “Spike, we aren't at the library anymore.” Her ears lowered. “Do you know where we are, Spike?”
Spike blinked. White walls. Gold-trimmed windows looking out over gleaming spires and broad plazas. “Canterlot...” he said at length. “We're in Canterlot.”
A weak smile formed on Twilight's lips. “That's right, Spike. We're in Canterlot. We're waiting to see Doctor Forceps. You remember Dr. Forceps, don't you?”
Spike nodded. Of course he knew Dr. Forceps. He'd been in Canterlot to see him every week ever since—yellow sun, brown pegasus, blue cat—
His head hurt. That... that was what he was here to see Dr. Forceps for. “He's... going to help me forget,” Spike said.
Twilight squeezed him close. Spike could feel wetness on his head where she nuzzled him. “I'm sorry, Spike,” she whispered. “I'm so sorry!”
Spike closed his eyes and let himself just be hugged. Twilight's warm fur tickled his scales, and he could feel her chest rise and fall with her breath.
His eyes came open again as he remembered something he was supposed to do. Something important, something he was waiting for. He pushed away and grinned up at Twilight.
“Ready when you are, Twilight.”