Hours passed after Twilight's leaving, and because of her word, Spike was left behind with Malakhar while she took time to think about one of the most important decisions of her life. For most of the time, Spike felt bored and hungry. Of course, Malakhar did give him some spare food he had, but Spike didn’t each much of it. He’d rather scarf down some of those delicious Saddle Arabian gems. Unfortunately, Malakhar didn’t have any on him. Spike wasn’t exactly in the mood to eat for some time anyway.
Sometime at around eight o’clock, Malakhar was getting ready to go to sleep. However, Spike had many things on his mind about Twilight’s future as well as his own. Just when Malakhar was about to head off into his room, he turned around to face Spike.
“Baby dragon? I mean, uh, Spike, do you have a moment?”
Spike looked up from the floor and turned his back to look at the stallion. “Yeah, sure. I’m still concerned about Twilight, so I’m sorry if it seems like I’m sad or something.”
“I understand,” Malakhar said with a nod of his head. “She’s actually what I wanted to talk about.”
Spike was wondering what Malakhar had to say about what was going on with Twilight, or at least what she was dealing with. He learned a lot in the short amount of time he spent in Saddle Arabia, though mostly about genies. He never imagined going through a vacation where his best friend would get transformed into a mythical being only thought of to be heard of in child’s books.
“Look, I know I have said it multiple times already, but I’m so very sorry for putting you and Twilight in this whole situation. If it weren’t for me, you two would’ve been able to fully enjoy your stay here without major complications holding you back. All my doing shaped Twilight’s vacation, and if she so chooses to ultimately stay a genie, her own life.”
Spike rubbed his stomach, feeling very uncomfortable about the situation at hand. Malakhar noticed this, and turned for the door. “Perhaps you need some fresh air. Let’s take a walk. I’ll have more to explain while we do so.”
Spike nodded slowly, and stood from his spot. He was walking alongside Malakhar as they walked outside the hut into the city. The bright, pale glow of Princess Luna’s moon loomed overhead as they walked along the desert sand of the city.
“I know Twilight is no longer angry as she was initially...” Malakhar started.
“Come on,” Spike interrupted, trying to reassure Malakhar. “She already forgave you about the whole thing. While she still thought what you did wasn’t right, at least now she has a choice to turn back to normal if she wanted.”
“I thought you didn’t want her to turn back. If she stayed a genie, she would get to live with you for all of your life.”
“Yeah…” Spike admitted. “But that’s not my choice. That’s hers. And whatever she chooses, I’m supporting her one hundred percent.”
Malakhar chuckled at the baby dragon’s puffing out his chest while saying that. He continued to walk forward into the empty marketplace.
“I can see you’re very loyal to her. Is she your best friend?”
Spike sighed, though it was out of content and happiness. “The closest best friend I could ever have. She raised me from an egg. She was there my whole life up to this point. I want to be there for her whole life as well. On one hand, if she stays a genie, she’ll get to live with me for the rest of my dragon life. However, dragons don’t live forever. Eventually I will die off, as all of our other friends will, and she’ll be left alone... except for being able to still be with the Princesses, I mean.”
He then sighed again, but out of discontent and woe, and looked down at the sandy ground. “However, if she wants to go back, she’ll have her normal unicorn life again, and her life will end around the same time as our other friends. I’ll still be living, but without the one pony that was always there for me. Sure, I’ll still have Princesses Celestia and Luna to look up to, but honestly, they don’t mean as much to me as Twilight does.”
Malakhar could tell from Spike’s expression that he was taking this just as hard as Twilight was. He now wanted to make sure to appease not only Twilight for his actions, but also Spike.
“I’m sorry. I thought this was only affecting Twilight Sparkle. I had no idea you were taking this hard as well. What I said earlier, I just wanted to finally fulfill what my family wanted for so long. I finally found that chance when I heard Twilight was visiting Saddle Arabia.”
He sighed afterward. “But that was rather selfish of me. Whatever Twilight chooses, even if she chooses to go back to being a normal unicorn, I’ll respect her decision. At least, if she does stay a genie, she’d be a source of pride for Saddle Arabia even though she wouldn’t be staying here. I could even pull a few strings...”
He looked back down at Spike, his arms crossed and looking more annoyed with Malakhar than usual. He rubbed his temples with his hoof as he chuckled nervously.
“Sorry, Spike. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about this. But there are two sides to this. It would benefit both you and Twilight, and Saddle Arabia as well.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Spike muttered, bringing his arms back to his sides. “I just have this huge feeling she won’t stay a genie. I mean, even though it was forced on her, though she could change back, this whole genie situation gave that opportunity where she could stay with me my whole life to be an actual reality.”
Malakhar nodded in acknowledgment, totally understanding his feelings. By then, they were past the market place and just walking past the hotel Twilight and Spike were staying at, and where Twilight had gone to think during her final hours.
“Hey, I have something to ask you,” Spike inquired. “You already told us why you made Twilight a genie in the first place, to upkeep your family’s wish to finally make a genie. But, remember when that guard called you outside, and when you came back in, you saw that I had already opened Twilight’s bottle?”
“Yes,” Malakhar answered. “What of it?”
“What would you have done if I wasn’t there to open the bottle? You would’ve been Twilight’s... um... master.”
Malakhar looked away, knowing fully how Twilight reacted upon hearing that word, and being considered that’s what she was to Spike on account of her transformation. But he took a hold of himself and relaxed.
“To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure. I wasn’t actually aiming to be Twilight’s master myself. Perhaps, if I had thought of it at the time, I would’ve released her myself and wished that a worthy pony could become a good one. For example, I could’ve had Princess Celestia herself, or even one of her friends, the other Element bearers, have Twilight’s container.”
“Oh, so at least you would have a valiant effort of making sure she was still with somepony she was safe with.”
Malakhar nodded. “I figured she’d still be distressed with what I did to her, so the least I could’ve done was make sure she’d have the comfort knowing that the first wishes she would be granting were of those of her friends or family, or in the Princess’ case, her mentor.”
They walked past Kubuya’s library next. Spike turned to face it, and he perked up a bit. “Hey, that’s Kubuya’s library.”
“Kubuya?” Malakhar inquired. “She’s the librarian, right? I believe Twilight told me about her. She the mare you two retrieved those books from, I believe.”
“Well, I thought you knew, since you know, you told me to get the book from here?” Spike retorted with a raised brow and his hands on his hips.
“Hey, in my defense, I only knew about the library. I didn’t know the mare that ran it. Is she nice?”
Spike dropped his hands and smiled. “Oh yeah, she’s very nice! You really should meet her if you get the chance. Just like you, she also loves and knows a lot about genies.”
“Hmm...” Malakhar stood in thought for a moment. He wasn’t really the one to go out and socialize, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. “I’ll think about it.”
He began to move forward again, and Spike followed.
“Back to what we were talking about. Since you were there to open Twilight’s bottle, she became your genie. I wasn’t counting on you being there, so when you released her, it scared me a bit because I didn’t have time to prepare an explanation to her. It didn’t help that she started yelling me as soon as she saw me...”
“You can’t really blame her,” Spike said. “Almost anypony would be furious if they were forced into a bottle and were told they were tricked just to try out something.”
“In hindsight, it didn’t sound good,” Malakhar admitted, lowering his head in shame. “But I at least learned about one being that would be a perfect fit. That would be you, of course. Looking at how you and Twilight talked and interacted hours ago showed me you were capable of being Twilight’s mast... uh... I can’t really think of another word other than master. Sorry. But it was because you two had such a strong bond.”
“But what about all of our other friends?” Spike asked. “There’s also Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy.”
“Let me ask this of you, Spike. Who do you think she knows you share the closest bond with?”
Spike was about to say something, but his mouth was left wide open by the realization. He now knew what Malakhar meant in his explanations. How it wasn’t obvious before, he didn’t know.
“Twilight is the closest friend I have. All of our other friends all love her just as much, and although they all like each other the same, the one pony who matters to me above all else is Twilight.”
Malakhar nodded, finally glad Spike realized the truth of the matter. “She is having a hard time choosing because she is dealing with two rather difficult choices. Either moral rights, or getting to live with you for all of your life.”
“Twilight’s choosing... all because of me.” Spike looked down at the floor, utterly shocked at the revelation. “I didn’t know I was that important to her.”
“Most of these facts only matter if she decides to stay a genie. And I am going to make a promise to myself. After this whole thing ends, I shall never try to trick or force anypony else into becoming a genie unless they really wanted to, and were willing to, and only if they are worthy enough to be genies in the first place.”
“Sounds like a good lesson to learn,” Spike reassured. “Would make a good letter to the Princess.”
Malakhar stared at Spike confusedly. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. Anyway, It’s getting pretty late.”
“Wasn’t it already late?” Malakhar questioned.
“Oh, right,” Spike chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck.
A few more minutes of casual talk later, and they ended back up at Malakhar’s hut. After they entered, both of them stretched out their stressed muscles and yawned. The day was long for both of them, and they definitely needed the rest.
“It’s about time we hit the hay. I’m sorry you won’t be able to sleep with Twilight tonight, as she’s back at the hotel.”
“That’s alright,” Spike scoffed as he waved a claw. “She needs the time to herself, and it’s just one night. She’ll be back in time to make her decision, right?”
Malakhar nodded in agreement. “I don’t really have much for you, and my bed isn’t really large enough to fit both of us...”
“You sure you can’t find even a bit of space for me to fit in? Not like it will be comfortable, but it’s better than the floor.”
“True… we’ll see about it.”
Malakhar led Spike into his room where they both would be sleeping for that night. They both had a long day from the stress of the genie situation Twilight was going through, and her difficult decision to either stay a genie, or revert back to her normal unicorn self. Twilight had just under twenty-four hours left to make her decision, and it was weighing down on her.