When Amy had reached her destination, the first thing she did was clean her cheek in the bathroom. Drying her face off, the dragoness noticed the scales there now shined a little brighter than the rest of them. With a sigh, Amy set to work on wiping down the rest of her body. She may not have been one for getting fancied up, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to look decent for a fancy party in her honor.
Wiping away the last bit of dust that had built up over the day's events, the dragoness left the dampened washcloth in the sink and exited the bathroom, scales shimmering under the chandelier. "How long we got until it's time to get this party started, Prim?" asked Amy as she shook out her cloak and threw it over her shoulders.
"Thirty minutes, Madam," was the curt reply.
"Really? What am I suppose to do until then? Jog around the castle?" Amy asked rhetorically.
Not missing a beat, Prim & Proper answered, "The princesses will already be there overseeing the preparations; you could join them in the task."
The dragoness thought about it and came to the conclusion that it was a pretty good way to past the time. "Well, okay then, take me down, Prim," the dragoness said.
"Very well, this way, Madam," said the butler pony as he once again began to walk away.
Amy was tempted to say something about the habit, but figured there was no point. Instead, she decided to get some information, "So, what kind of ponies should I expect to see there anyways?"
"The nobility will, of course, be attending as well as much of Equestria's elite. Business ponies will be in attendance, such as Filthy Rich of the super market chain, Rich's Barnyards Bargains, and Fancy Pants-," as soon as he said the name, the dragoness behind him snorted loudly and missed a step. "Is something wrong, Madam?"
Amy pounded on her chest a few times and coughed, "Fine... Just... didn't expect that name is all."
Prim looked over his shoulder, "Have you heard of him? He is one of the most active and well-known entrepreneurs in Equestria. Fancy Pants has quite a few dealings outside of the kingdom as well if I remember correctly."
Disguising the chortles as a clearing of her throat, Amy spoke, "He sounds like somepony I should talk to then. Fancy Pants, was it? Yeah, I'll look for him."
"Well, if you are going to be greeting guests at the door with their Highnesses, then you should have no trouble meeting him," the stallion said before nodding forward. "And speaking of doors..."
The dragoness looked down the hall to see ponies buzzing in an out of a small doorway, many of them either carrying or pushing decorations. The two of them had to weave through the herd to get through, entering into what looked to be the back of a very large room. All around her, Amy could see modest decorations being hung up via pegasus wing or unicorn horn as well as various tables being laden with food and drank.
In the middle of this stood Princess Celestia, giving out orders in a loud, but agreeable tone, "Yes, put the punch near the dance floor; we don't want ponies getting thirsty. Oh, you there, adjust that drape; it's hanging lower than the rest." When the solar diarch saw Amy approaching, she flashed a brilliant smile. "Ah, Amy, it's good to see you! I apologize for all this, a surprise visit from a certain Spirit of Chaos resulted in some work having to be redone," her mood visibly soured when she spoke of this, but it quickly became friendly again. "So, how was your day? I hope you found Canterlot accommodating."
The dragoness didn't really want to tell her friend the trouble her subjects had caused her, so simply said, "Well, there were a few bumps in the road, but I enjoyed myself well enough." Amy looked around the room, noting the dark purple and green draperies arching across walls and pillars, as well as the ones that converged at one point in the middle of the room, colors alternating and all hanging perfectly level with each other. The dragoness couldn't help but feel a little flattered and whistled to show it, "You didn't have to theme the place after me, ya know? Though I have to admit, it gives the ballroom some real class."
"Of course we did, all of this is in your honor, after all," replied Celestia. "Besides, Sister insisted we do it this way."
At the mention of the lunar diarch, Amy once again started looking around, "Where is Princess Luna anyways? I was told you were both down here."
The elder alicorn put a hoof to her chin in thought, "I believe she said something about overseeing the kitchen staff."
Just as she finished, a pair of double doors flew open as a blue blur came flying through them. "And stay out!" shouted a heavily accented voice. Soon after, a large, grey griffon came out, a fierce scowl formed at the base of his beak, though it was made slightly comical by the grandiose, curly-Q mustache sprouting from his face. Below the tall toque, the griffon's dark eyes shooting daggers at the moon princess, who had made some distance sliding across the floor on her tush.
Her own eyes spun in their sockets a moment longer before she stopped them with a vigorous shake of her head, followed by her own glare back at the griffin. "How dare you toss a royal princess of Equestria as if she were some vagrant! You will be going to the dungeons for this, Chef!" Luna yelled at her feathered adversary with a pointed hoof, the threat losing some weight because she was still sitting on the floor.
The griffon's response was a ladle being waved threateningly in her direction and the words, "Try it, and you will feel the full wrath of Chef Gustav!" With that, he disappeared into his kitchen, mutterings about culinary assassins and no respect as he did.
Celestia and Amy approached the rising alicorn, hearing her murmuring curses long lost to time under her breath. When she was on her hooves, she noticed the silence and all eyes on her. "Return to thine duties, we must make haste if we wish to finish before the guests arrive!" Luna barked. She turned to her sister and friend, her scowl only loosening a little, "I demand that cur be punished, Sister, he assaulted me!"
"We both know Gustav is too valuable to fire. There are very few chefs in Equestria willing to handle meat, after all, and that griffon is one of the best," the elder sister reasoned. "Besides, you're not hurt and I'm sure Gustav had his reasons for being angry."
Though she did not say it, Amy could hear the accusatory tone, and from the slight coloring of Luna's cheeks, she could as well. "He most certainly did not! I was gracious enough to donate my royal palette to the task of taste testing this evening's fare, and that loon started yelling at me! If anything, he should have been grateful to have our royal taste buds at his disposal!" asserted the younger alicorn.
Celestia rolled her eyes and said, "I am not going to punish a chef just because you can't keep your hooves out of his work."
The moon princess narrowed her eyes, "You only refuse to punish him because he makes the best tiramisu in Equestria."
"... Be that is it may, my point is still valid, Sister," Celestia countered, her own cheeks coloring at the accusation.
When it looked like Luna was about to retort, Amy piped up, "Uh, hey princesses... I'm still here, ya know."
Her words had the intended effect as both alicorns turned to her with abashed looks on their faces, the younger more so than the elder. "Oh, how rude of me, my apologies Amethyst, sometimes my sister and I get so engaged in our debates that we forget the world around us," Luna said sincerely.
"No problem Princess, it happens to the best of us," the dragoness said before focusing on something behind the two. "Although... it looks like we'll have to talk later."
Both princesses looked to see what Amy was talking about and saw a pair of well-dressed ponies enter the ballroom. Princess Celestia sighed and said quietly, "So much for being fashionably late," before looking back to Amy and asking, "Are you ready to greet some of your potential financial backers?"
"As I'll ever be... talk to you later Princess Luna," was the answer.
Luna nodded, "I look forward to it, but until then, I'll tend to the last of the preparations."
The dragoness waved over her shoulder, but her heart wasn't in it. Amy was more focused on the ponies who she would be interacting with for the duration of this shindig, and worried the new arrivals would form a trend. Amy vaguely recognized the two from some of the ponies who glared at her in the city, and judging from the shocked looks on their faces, they recognized her as well.
"I just had to jinx myself in the library, didn't I? Welp, nothing to do about it now but smile and wave," the dragoness thought, following her own advice afterwards. Unfortunately, flashing a toothy grin and holding up a hand in greeting at two nervous ponies when you have a mouth full of razor sharp fangs and lethal looking claws is not a good idea. On the contrary, when trying to seem non-threatening, it is the complete opposite. The mare fainted, eyes rolling back into their sockets and forehoof flying dramatically to her forehead as she toppled over. The stallion did nothing for his companion as she fell, too busy staring wide-eyed at the dragoness walking side by side with Princess Celestia.
One was unconscious while the other's jaw was dangling loosely and pupils shrunk down to pinpricks. Amy couldn't help but quietly comment from the side of her mouth, "Well, I think we can cross those two off the list for potential backers."
The sun princess only stared, her own eyes slightly widened in surprise at the guests' reactions. Silently, she agreed.
~8~
The day had been... interesting since the princesses took their leave that morning. After going over how they would confront Amethyst, Twilight and Spike had a long while to wait and nothing in particular to do. Of course, the egghead unicorn had suggested that the best way to spend the time was in a library, and not having any better ideas, the young dragon agreed under the condition that Twilight would be putting her own books away.
The mare had immediately went to find all the books containing information on dragons when they had reached the library, stating that she wanted to reread them in case she ended up doing a paper when all was said and done. Though it bugged Spike a little that Twilight was thinking about writing a paper on what could be the most important moment of his life, he was able to forgive the book-obsessed unicorn as he knew doing research was how she calmed her nerves.
Stopping to exchange small talk with Dewy Decimal, a stallion he had gotten to know fairly well when he and Twilight still lived in Canterlot, Spike eventually decided to do some of his own research. The start of this was to ask his lavender friend what discoveries Amethyst Thistle was credited for. After sitting through Twilight's lecture about the history of archaeology and its recent finds, Spike eventually had a list of things to look up. Asking Dewy for his help in digging through the archives, the young dragon soon had a stack of old newspapers and scholarly journals piled high on one of the many desks in the library.
His intentions were to learn more about the mysterious dragoness who had, quite literally, come bursting into his life. As he had already learned all he could from the princesses, Spike figured the next best source would be articles revolving around what she had discovered. Unfortunately, her name was only mentioned in passing and, in some cases, not at all when reading about her work in the field.
In most articles he read, Spike saw some pictures of a pegasus mare shaking hooves or standing behind podiums, though even these were few and far between. In these cases, Lore Finder, as Spike soon found out, was often giving small apology speeches on behalf of Amethyst for not being able to make it to this or that unveiling and accepting awards in her stead.
If Spike gained anything from his research, it would have to be the swelling pride in his chest. Simply hearing the names of the discoveries she had found was one thing, discovering the significance of what some of them held was another thing entirely. The young dragon's blood relative had altered history books with the knowledge she had uncovered and potentially saved thousands of lives by getting dangerous artifacts under lock and key.
He was in the middle of reading about one such artifact, an amulet capable of converting souls into magical energy, when a voice from behind asked, "What are you reading there?"
Jolting a little at the sudden sound, the young dragon turned strained eyes to the one who had spoken, "Don't do that Twilight! You almost gave me a heart attack."
The unicorn watched her surrogate brother pat his chest with clear remorse, "I am so sorry Spike, I didn't realized you were so engrossed in your studies of... whatever it is you're studying." When Spike said he forgave her, she beamed and asked excitedly, "So, what are you reading anyway!? From the stack of material, I take it you really are doing research. Oh, I'm so proud of you Spike! You're finally taking an interest in academics instead of those silly comic books!"
"Hey! The Power Ponies are not stupid!" Spike said defensively before adding, "And I'm looking into the stuff Amethyst has done."
Twilight cocked her head as she came to the young dragon's side, placing her own pile of books on the desk as she looked down at what he was reading, "Oh, what have you found?"
Spike's frown instantly flipped upside down when given an opportunity to share the amazing things his kin had done. "All sorts of stuff! Amethyst is a real-life Daring Do!" the dragon said exuberantly as he turned back to the newspaper he was reading. "Look here, this is an article about how she stopped this bad guy from using the Amulet of Ammit to suck out the souls of the gem jackals in Iwiwgypt. How cool is that!?"
"Yeah, besides the fact that all those people almost had the life sucked out of them, pretty cool," the unicorn said with a stern look, though Spike heard the teasing undertone.
The young dragon gave the mare a playful shove, "Ah, come on Twilight, don't spoil this for me. I mean, my sister's a hero!"
Upon hearing Spike say that, Twilight gained a sardonic smile. "She sure is; Amethyst Thistle is pretty great," the unicorn said with false cheer.
This was the first time anyone had actually said out loud what both where thinking. To the unicorn, the act of speaking the words made real the fact that, yes, Amethyst Thistle was Spike's real sister. Twilight couldn't even use anger towards the dragoness to help soften the blow anymore because, after hearing the princesses sing her praise, the unicorn doubted there was anything malicious behind Spike's appearance in Equestria.
The young dragon, of course, saw most of this churning in the mare, for even if she didn't have the worst poker face in the kingdom, Spike had still known her his entire life. Standing in his seat, the dragon wrapped his arms around Twilight's neck and whispered, "Yep, both of my sisters are awesome heroes."
The unicorn couldn't stop the happy tears from falling from her eyes as she brought a foreleg up to return the embrace. "And our little brother is the sweetest dragon I know," Twilight whispered back, both his words and the hug washing away her fears.
It's hard to say exactly how long the two would have stayed like this if they had gone on without distraction. As it was, a gurgling noise rumbled forth from Spike's abdomen, causing both their eyes to open. "Aaand the moments gone; good going Spike," said Twilight with some humor.
"Hey, it's not my fault! I haven't eaten since breakfast and reading works up an appetite," Spike shot back with false indignation before asking, "Mind if we go to the kitchens and see if they'll make us anything?"
The mare removed herself from the hug and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. "They're probably pretty busy with tonight's preparations, that's why I came looking for you, to ask you a question. Do you want to go into the city and get something to eat?" Twilight asked.
"Can it be Pony Joe's?" he asked back.
Twilight rolled her eyes and poked the little dragon's plump belly, "Don't you think you get enough sweets from Sugarcube Corner?"
Spike pushed the hoof away and said, "Hey! Joe serves more than just doughnuts, ya know? You ever think maybe I was going to get something different?" When Twilight deadpanned in response, the young dragon sighed, "Can we go or not? I haven't had a Pony Joe doughnut since the Gala."
Twilight smiled triumphantly and said, "Sure, let's put all this stuff away and then we'll go."
Spike smiled when the unicorn proceeded to pick up a stack of books in her magic and trot away... until he realized she had left all of his things on the desk. The young dragon face-palmed as he remembered the terms of the agreement for coming here. The one time Twilight agreed to put her own stuff away and Spike just had to make work for himself instead. "Am I ever going to be able to go into a library without having to clean up after a research binge?" the dragon silently asked the powers that be before grabbing the top part of his pile and taking it to its proper place.
~8~
Amy was glad that the first two guests were the minority in terms of how guests had reacted to her. Taking a lesson from that encounter, the dragoness had kept her hands under her cloak and kept her smile close lipped while she greeted ponies with "A pleasure to meet you," and "I'm glad you could make it."
For the most part, those arriving kept their composure well, some openly gasping while others simply widened their eyes. All of them, however, returned her greeting with their own as they entered into the growing crowd behind her and the sun princess. Amy's sharp hearing could pick up a few traces of conversation, most of it about the guest of honor being a dragon. Said dragon was somewhat happy that the number of negative remarks about her species was fairly low, only the snootiest ponies remarking about the supposed insanity of letting a beast into Canterlot. Other than that, the only negative comment she picked up was on her poor fashion sense, which even Amy would admit to. She knew a travel cloak wasn't appropriate for fancy parties, but buying a dress was the last thing on her mind when she was coming here.
Once all the guests had arrived, both the princess and dragoness went to mingle with the crowd, Celestia whispering that the speech wouldn't be for awhile longer. Making sure to avoid those giving her dirty or hostile looks, Amy was surprised to find herself enjoying the company of these high class ponies.
She was first approached by a light blue mare with a white mane. The dragoness knew she would be an odd one just by looks alone, what with wearing a black and white striped dress and sunglasses with huge, pink lenses. The prediction turned out to be spot on as the earth pony walked around her, looking the dragoness up and down. When the blue mare stopped in front of her, she got up on her hind hooves and threw open her cloak. Ignoring Amy's indignant shout and scanning her with a critical eye, the mare started talking in an accent the dragoness would place from somewhere in Germaney, about her body.
It was only the facts that the mare was complimenting her figure as, "Lithe but strong," and saying her scales were "Smooth un' beautiful," that kept Amy from decking her. Really, the odd stranger was lucky the dragoness hadn't grown up in a clothed culture or they would have some serious problems. Before things started to get out of control, however, another earth pony approached and pulled the mare down onto all four hooves. He was a grey stallion with a silver mane, and like his companion, he was wearing large shades as well. He apologized for his date's rude behavior, ignoring her denials of fault and introduced himself as Hoity Toity.
Despite the rough start, Amy found Hoity Toity and the mare, Photo Finish, to be agreeable; talking about foreign fashions she had seen and even being offered a modelling gig. Declining the offer, the dragoness bid the two goodbye and eventually found herself talking to another group of ponies.
This one consisted of the earth ponies, Filthy Rich, Silver Plate and their dates, who were in fact their little fillies. The brown stallion soon began telling Amy about his plans of expanding his business chain outside the borders of Equestria and the dragoness told him what she knew to be in short supply outside the kingdom. Silver Plate asked her about less business oriented subjects, explaining that the Silver family was what many would call "old money".
The fillies were less interested in meeting a dragon. The pink one, Diamond Tiara, actually made some offensive remarks about how Amy only did what she did for the gems before being reprimanded by her father. After that, the group wandered off, Filthy Rich probably taking his daughter aside to better punish her for embarrassing him, and Amy soon found herself looking for another pony to talk to.
It was in this search that she came upon a beautiful, white unicorn mare with a light pink mane and her date. They both seemed very nice, which is why the dragoness put extra effort into not laughing when they introduced themselves as Fleur De Lis and her fiance, Fancy Pants. Succeeding, Amy kept a straight face as she greeted the unicorns and even told the blue-maned stallion that she had heard good things about him. Though it was a little exaggerated, it got things going and it wasn't long before Fancy Pants was showing interest in financing her exploits.
"Yes, and even if I do not achieve direct financial gain, I'm sure being credited with assisting the recovery of history would help in many other ways," said the stallion to a broadly smiling dragoness.
"Exactly! I mean, I don't want to brag or anything, but I've been known to save the day when I go out on expeditions, so by helping me, you can be part of that," Amy said happily. She would be the first to admit that she wasn't the best when it came to smooth talking big-shots, but she really needed to get this pony to help her out or Lore Finder would throw her out, and she would prefer to avoid such a situation. Her apartment was only a few steps up from being a dump and her friend's couch was far comfier then her own bed.
She was, of course, telling the truth, but the dragoness could tell Fancy Pants didn't believe her, though it was probably her fault for sounding like a braggart. Even so, he smiled genuinely and said, "Yes, I believe that would look good on a list of achievements; 'Helped save the world,' would go well with entrepreneur and dating the most wonderful mare in Equestria." He finished the statement off by nuzzling the unicorn next to him.
"Really, Fancy? And in front of the guest of honor?" Fleur said in response, nuzzling him back regardless. Amy waited uncomfortably for the two to finish their show of affection, but after nearly five minutes of it, the dragoness cleared her throat loudly.
That got their attention and the two blushed profusely when they remembered where they were. After apologizing to Amy and her telling them it was okay, they got back on topic. "So yeah, just get in touch with my friend, Lore Finder, and she'll set everything up," the dragoness said in conclusion before looking around the room. "Uh, I'd write down the contact information, but I don't have anything to write with... Maybe a napkin and some sauce."
"That won't be necessary, I'm sure I can find the information," Fancy Pants said.
Amy cocked her head a little, "You sure? I'm sure that red sauce there won't smear too much."
Before the stallion could insist any further against the messy idea, a servant approached their little group and said to Amy, "Princess Celestia is preparing to give the speech and she wishes for your presence, Miss Thistle."
"Oh... Uh, okay. I guess I'll talk to you later. Bye Fancy Pants, Fleur," Amy said as she started following the server pony.
"I look forward to it Miss Thistle," the stallion called back, smiling when she reminded him to call her Amy.
With that, the dragoness turned her eyes forward as she and her guide wound their way around groups of chattering ponies, many of them greeting her as she passed. Doing her best to return them, she almost didn't notice when Celestia came into view. As they got closer and the servant left her side, Amy could see that the solar alicorn was talking to a white unicorn stallion with a blonde mane. While the princess was wearing a benign smile, the dragoness could tell it was forced, and judging by how irate the stallion looked, the dragoness could guess why.
"But Aunty, she's a beast! I doubt she even accomplished what she claims! You can't thank this creature for something some brave pony discovered! If anything, we should have her interrogated until she reveals the truth!" the stallion said, punctuating the statement with a stomp of his hoof.
"Blueblood, I know it is difficult for you to believe, but I assure you, Amethyst Thistle is fully deserving of both Equestria's thanks and respect," Celestia said as if she were trying to explain something to a child on the verge of a temper tantrum. The princess spotted Amy approaching and her smile turned from forced to apologetic. Focusing again on Blueblood, the alicorn said, "If my words are not enough to assure you of this fact, than please, see for yourself."
When he looked at her with clear confusion, Celestia nodded to something behind the unicorn and he followed her gaze. The dragoness didn't really know what to do, her default response of insulting those who insult her not being available in the current situation. When the prat pony's eyes widened and he took a step back, Amy said the first thing she could think of, "Yo."
The non-threatening word seemed to bring Blueblood from his fear and he scowled at the dragoness, "Don't think I'm not onto you, beast. I know you're not the one who discovered Unicornia; only a unicorn is capable of such an achievement. There is no way a dragon could ever accomplish so great a task. Mark my words, when I find the pony who truly discovered the greatest civilization in history, I shall make sure you are punished for your lies."
Amy was gritting her teeth by the time the stallion finished his long-winded accusation and Celestia had face-hoofed. Calming her nerves with tried and true breathing exercises, the dragoness let the swelling of her inner fire comfort her. "Well, ya got me, I don't deserve all the credit for the discovery," she began, bringing a triumphant smile to Blueblood's face before continuing, "My partner, Lore Finder deserves at least equal credit... though she's a pegasus so you probably wouldn't believe that."
The smile soon returned to a scowl upon hearing the sarcasm and the stallion stomped off, practically repeating verbatim what he had said before. When the stallion was out of earshot, Amy approached Celestia, "Well, wasn't he a fun one to be around? And did I really hear him call you aunty?"
"We're not related by blood if that's what you're thinking. I adopted one of his ancestors long ago and that pony's descendants have called me such ever since... well, after I put a stop to grandma," the sun princess said. "It was soon after the... incident, with Luna that I adopted the first Blueblood as my son. Oh, he was such a darling colt with a heart of gold."
"I take it that trait wasn't hereditary. I mean, I'm pretty sure that guy was a tribalist. That's, like, as far from 'heart of gold' as you can get," the dragoness observed.
Hearing this caused the alicorn to sigh, her shoulders to slump and even her wings to droop a little, "Yes, Prince Blueblood has some less than ideal views of ponydom. I try to explain to him the faults in his logic, but he just doesn't want to listen... One would think he'd put more stock into the words of a millenniums-old ruler."
Amy looked at Celestia as if she were crazy, "Prince?"
"Don't worry, he is a prince in title only; he does not hold political power," the sun princess assured. "But enough of this depressing talk; it's about time for the speech. You'll share a few words too, won't you?"
The dragoness rubbed the back of her head and said, "I don't know, I don't really have anything prepared."
"Surely you can think of something," a third voice said. Turning in the direction of the newcomer, Amy and Celestia saw Luna walk up.
The dragoness nodded in greeting before speaking, "Yeah, I guess I could say something, just don't expect a grand speech or anything."
"I'm sure you'll do fine, now let's get started, shall we?" the elder alicorn asked as she led the way a little further into the ballroom. They soon reached the point where the room opened up to a garden, only ivory pillars separating them from the outside. Set up here was a podium that Celestia wasted no time in getting behind.
A set of Solar Guards who had been standing on either side of the stand came to attention and announced loudly that Princess Celestia would be speaking. The sun princess nodded to each of them in thanks as the room fell silent and all eyes turned to her. Amy and Luna stood behind Celestia as she began in her magically amplified voice, "I am very glad so many of my little ponies could make it to such an important event, for we are not just honoring a great explorer, but also thanking her for an invaluable gift she has given to all of Equestria."
"The discovery of Unicornia not only returns to us much of our lost history, but also knowledge and powers thought lost forever. The unearthing of this kingdom and castle will be marked as one of the most important moments in recent history, and we are here to thank the one who has made it all possible, Amethyst Thistle!" as she said this, the solar alicorn stepped back before whispering to the dragoness, "Just say whatever you think is right."
With that, the elder sister stood by the younger and Amy stepped up to the podium hesitantly, "Uh, I guess I should start off by thanking you all for coming here tonight. I will always do my best to uncover the history of the world regardless of what people think, but I have to say it feels pretty good to have my efforts be appreciated and it means a lot to me... Um, well, this is kind of a new experience for me so I can't think of much else to say besides to thank you. Sooo... thank you."
The room was silent and the dragoness could feel her face heat up. Luckily, Luna started stomping her forehooves in applause and her sister did the same, leading the whole crowd into following their lead. Amy knew that most of the ponies were only applauding because their rulers did, but seeing the friendly faces of ponies she had talked to in the crowd, even the constantly popping up Prim & Proper, made her spirit soar. It really was nice to be acknowledged for her work.
~8~
Spike couldn't believe how disrespectful the ponies of Canterlot were towards Amethyst. As he and Twilight made their way through the city, they weren't surprised to see the ever present busybodies whispering animatedly about the newest gossip, but didn't pay it any mind. It wasn't until they reached Pony Joe's that they heard the latest buzz.
While the two had waited for the stallion behind the counter to get their order, they heard some other patrons talking about a, "suspicious cloaked creature stalking through the city." That was all it took for the young dragon's stomach to drop and Twilight shared the same theory. When they had gotten their baker's dozen of Pony Joe's best, they bid their old friend goodbye and left the diner.
The mare he was riding the back of tried to be optimistic, claiming it could be anybody, and that they shouldn't let the words of strangers get to them. It was with this in mind that Twilight decided to spend some time wandering their old home. Eventually, the pair found a bookstore Twilight use to frequent with her parents in her foalhood. This turned out to be a very unenjoyable experience for both them. The unicorn was saddened by the fact that the kindly old mare that use to own the business had retired, leaving the store under new management, and Spike was angered by the story the clerk told them.
Twilight had to levitate an infuriated dragon out the store as he was shouting at the terrified pony, not caring about the scene he was making. He may not have known Amethyst Thistle yet, but that didn't mean he would sit idly by and let ponies accuse her of thievery. When Spike had calmed down some, his surrogate sister reprimanded him for his behavior, but her heart wasn't in it; this was like Zecora all over again and she felt ashamed of the city she grew up in.
After this, they both decided it was for the best that they return to the castle and wait for the night to arrive. Once they had made it to their room, Spike tore into the baked goods, hoping the comfort food would help cool his anger. By the time Twilight had finished her first doughnut, the young dragon had already demolished six of the glazed confections. This, sadly, did little for Spike's mood and instead only gave him an upset stomach.
Leaving no room for debate, Twilight had tucked the dragon in bed and told him to sleep it off. Despite weakly protesting that he wasn't a baby, it did not take long for him to dose off. He had no idea how long he had slept when he started to come to, only knowing that dreams after eating half a dozen doughnuts were really weird. Spike groggily sat up when he heard some movement in the room and a blob of lavender came into view.
"How are you feeling? Better?" asked the blob.
After he rubbed the crust from his eyes and blinked a few times, the blurry figure came into focus, "Hm, yeah, I'm good, Twilight. How long was I out?"
The unicorn backed up and answered, "A while, the party already started a few hours ago... I warned you about eating so many doughnuts."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you, 'Blah blah, not healthy, blah blah, make yourself sick.' You don't have to lecture me," the young dragon said, creating a hand puppet and poor imitation of Twilight's voice.
The mare gave her friend the evil eye for a moment before responding, "... Do I have to take you to the vet again, Spike?"
"What? No! I still can't believe you did that to me to begin with!" said Spike. "It was humiliating enough the first time, I'd rather not shoot for two."
"Well then, maybe you should listen to me next time I tell you not to do something," Twilight said smugly.
"It's not my fault; it's those stupid Canterlot ponies. I can't believe they would treat somebody like that just because they look different," Spike said, some of the anger returning. "Will they do the same thing to me when I'm bigger?"
"Now Spike, you have to admit that she does act a bit suspicious-"
"Oh, come on Twilight! Don't try to tell me those idiots were right!" cut off the young dragon.
The unicorn's eyes widened before saying, "What? No! The way they acted was horrible, I was just going to make the point that walking around with a cloak like that is a little suspicious and I can understand how it could make ponies nervous. But you're right, nopony even tried to talk to her before jumping to conclusions."
Spike stared at Twilight with narrowed eyes until he was sure she was being genuine. He sighed and let his shoulders sag, "Even if she did look a little scary, she didn't deserve to be treated like that."
Twilight looked upon the saddened dragon, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. When she opened her mouth, however, she was interrupted by a new voice, "What's this I'm hearing; Ponies are being discordant? Wonderful! And I'm not even the one causing it!"
Spike was startled by the voice's sudden intrusion and its close proximity. "Wh-who's there? Come out here!" the young dragon demanded as he pulled the sheets up to his nose and looked around the room. After a few seconds of not seeing anything, Spike wanted to write it off as him imagining things, but seeing Twilight's equally confused and searching eyes told him he wasn't.
"Why Spike my boy, I'm right under your snout," said the voice from very close to the dragon. With that clue, Spike slowly turned his gaze downwards until it landed on some odd wrinkles in his blanket. Huh, they almost looked like- "Have the ponies here not heard of fabric softener? I feel as stiff as a board!"
"Gah!"
"Oof! That wasn't very polite. Who just throws a guest to the ground?" said the wrinkle-face in the blanket.
The young dragon was too busy trying to get his heart rate under control to respond, but Twilight wasn't. "Discord, What are you doing here!?"
The blanket soon rose up from the spot of the floor Spike had thrown it to, appearing as if the draconequus was wearing a cheap ghost costume. "Oh come now Twilight, can't a Spirit of Chaos stop in and visit a friend of a friend out of the blue?" When the mare's glare didn't lessen he sighed and continued, "If you must know, I was just stopping by for my weekly, biannual, scheduled, random check-in with Sun Butt when I heard the two of you were here." Reaching behind himself with a cloth covered claw, Discord pulled out a card with the words "Good Deeds" printed across the top and smiley face sun stickers covering it. "Just three more stickers and I'll get one whole hour to cause as much chaos as I want!" the draconequus said before his voice got a little tighter, "It should only be two more, but apparently trying to spice up a party doesn't count as a good deed. How can bringing all the food to life not be considered better than drab, unmoving meals!?"
"Discord, we don't have time for your shenanigans right now! This is a very important night!" Twilight yelled as she reached out with her magic. "Can't you see Spike has enough on his plate without you making things worse!?"
The unicorn grabbed the blanket and yanked it away... only to reveal nothing but air. Spike looked confused. "Where'd he-"
"Boo!"
"Gah!" *thump* "Ow..."
"Spike! Are you okay?" Twilight asked, trotting up to where he had fallen to the floor and looking him over for injuries. "That wasn't funny, Discord! He could have got hurt!"
"Well sooorry, I was just trying to take his mind off his worries," Discord defended as he slithered out of Spike's pillow, revealing his serpentine body and varied assortment of limbs. "I'm never going to get those last three stickers," the draconequus grumbled, floating with his arms crossed. "What are you worried about anyways? Ooh! Did you do something to get old Sun Butt mad at you!?" he suddenly flew down to the young dragon's level and made a pillow appear under his chin. "Dish!"
"Why should I tell you anything?" questioned Spike as he used Twilight leg as support to lift himself. "I almost busted my head open because of you!"
Discord thought on it before saying, "Well, for one, it's not my fault you scare easy, and I doubt a fall from that far would be enough to break your thick skull anyways. And for two, I can make it so every gem you eat will taste like moldy chicken feathers for the rest of your life."
"You can't do that! Princess Celestia wouldn't let you!" exclaimed Twilight as she glared at the mismatched monster.
His grin grew wider, "Try me."
Spike looked at his toothy smile and sighed, "...Fine, I'll tell you." With that, the young dragon explained the basics of the situation, that a dragoness who was probably his sister was in the castle and that he was going to confront her tonight.
Spike didn't know how the chaos spirit would react to the story, but it definitely wasn't what he expected. "Blegh! I hate angsty melodrama. You're on your own kid, good luck dealing with all that sappy stuff."
"Hey! Wait! You mean after all that, the blanket, the pillow, and then threatening my gems, you're just going to leave!?" the young dragon yelled at the draconequus as he prepared to teleport away.
Discord gave him a deadpan stare, "Uh, Spirit of Chaos... What did you expect me to do?"
That actually stumped the little dragon, giving Twilight a chance to speak, "Nothing. Why don't you go turn somepony's bath water into tapioca or something?"
"Maybe I will. After all, I don't want to be around a couple of cry babies who make a big deal about meeting long lost family. It's not like worrying about it is going to change anything," the draconequus shot back. "I'm going to hang out with Fluttershy, she's a tough pony."
Then, blowing a raspberry, Discord snapped his fingers and popped out of existence, leaving an annoyed unicorn and thoughtful dragon in his wake.
"Sometimes I wonder why Celestia released that jerk," Twilight mumbled before looking over to her surrogate brother. "Are you okay, Spike?"
"Hm... Yeah, I'm fine just thinking is all," he answered.
"About what?"
Before he got a chance to say, there was a knock at the door. "Miss Sparkle, the princesses sent me to tell you it's time..." said a stallion on the other side.
"Thank you, we'll be there in a moment!" Twilight yelled. "What were you going to say Spike?"
The young dragon shook his head and started walking towards the door, "It's nothing Twilight, let's just getting going." The mare looked as if she wanted to push the subject, but decided it was best not to cause any unneeded stress... and not to keep the princesses waiting.
Spike wouldn't admit it, but Discord's words had helped some, and he wondered if that's what the draconequus had intended to happen. The young dragon would face Amethyst and accept whatever happened.