//------------------------------// // Recollection - Steady // Story: Elemental ReSearch // by RadicalDishonesty //------------------------------// Spike stood against the wooden meter stick. He wanted to use the wall but Twilight insisted that damaging the library was out of the question, so he taped a spare meter stick to the wall. He carefully put the pencil to the top of his head, where his head frill met his scales, and made a mark. He turned around and checked the mark. He gasped in disbelief, and pressed himself back up against the wall and held his claw up, and checked again. “Twilight!” he called out, tearing the meter stick from the wall. Spike ran through the library, calling for Twilight. He found her upstairs in her office, rearranging official royal paperwork. “Twilight! Two inches!” Twilight didn't even look away from her work. “Are you sure? Last time you thought it was an inch and a half but when I checked it wasn't any at all.” “I double-checked it myself! It's two inches!” Spike put on a pout. Twilight turned around and giggled. “Alright, I'll make sure for you.” Spike's pout immediately turned around, and he stood up straight. Twilight magically held the meter stick and verified his height. “Well Spike, you were wrong about the two inches.” He was crestfallen. “Aw, I was so careful to make sure I didn't get it too tall.” “Well you did a good job about that. It's three.” Spike gasped again. “You mean it?!” “Three whole inches.” Spike bounded about the room. “Three inches! This is great! I've been as short as I was for what feels like forever.” “Now, Spike–” Twilight's tone was wary “–remember last time you got taller? Have you been hoarding anything lately?” “What?! No!” Spike's eyes got wide. “I've been careful. We've been careful! I haven't felt any more weird urges to take everypony's stuff, and if I had I'd tell you! I'm just growing normally now.” “Alright, Spike.” Twilight ruffled Spike's spikes, although they just sprang back in place. “If you have any weird urges don't be afraid to come talk to me. We still don't know much about how dragons grow up, so we need to be prepared.” There was a knock from downstairs. Twilight's eyes widened in shock. “My 2:30! Spike, what time is it?!” Twilight glanced at her clock. “He's early! Spike, I'm not ready yet. You go downstairs and keep him busy!” She began to usher Spike out of her office. “Keep him busy? How am I supposed to do that?” Spike said as he was ushered out of the door. “Make him tea! Everypony likes tea! I just need a few more minutes!” Twilight Sparkle slammed the door shut. “I don't like tea,” Spike grumbled, and started downstairs. The knocks came again. “I'm coming!” Spike yelled, and added, “Hold your horses,” quietly. He opened the door to a white unicorn stallion with golden locks, wearing a white collar and black tie. His eyes were closed and he tossed his mane about, opening his baby blue eyes and looking into the opened door at pony height. Which, of course, was empty. The stallion blinked a bit. Spike flatly said, “Down here.” The stallion glanced down and backed away with a gasp. Spike rolled his eyes. “Come on in.” The stallion cleared his throat. “Yes, thank you. Where is Princess Sparkle?” “She's gonna be a few minutes, you're early,” Spike said as he filled up the teapot and lit a fire under it with his breath. “So...”, the stallion said. The word hung in the air for nearly a minute, while Spike busied himself with tea. 'Ugh! Another high-class stallion. Probably a potential suitor, and probably a colossal pain in the flank. You'd think that they would get the memo that they're not welcome. Well, Twilight is outta patience for these kinds of stallions, so he's gonna–' “Do you know who I am, Spike?” The stallion finally found words. “Huh? No, Twilight hasn't mentioned... You know who I am?” Spike said. The stallion managed to produce a warm grin. “Of course I know who you are, Spike. You are Princess Sparkle's royal assistant, are you not? She may be the Element of Magic but you've done your fair share of heroics. You were instrumental in the salvation of the Crystal Empire, for example.” Spike puffed out his chest. “Yeah, I'm a pretty big deal. I'm just the assistant, but it’s to the best Princess in Equestria.” Spike leaned toward the stallion, with his claw conspiratorially at his mouth, and he whispered, “Don't tell the other Princesses I said that though.” The stallion chuckled. “My lips are sealed.” Spike returned to the tea kettle, humming pleasantly now. ‘I guess this stallion isn't too bad. Probably still here to court Twilight, but maybe he's going to actually be a gentlecolt about it when Twilight lets him down.’ “Oh!” Spike remembered. “You were going to introduce yourself.” The stallion smiled. “Yes of course. I am–” “Prince Blueblood,” Twilight Sparkle said, walking down the Library's stairs. “It's good to see you again.” “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Prince Blueblood said. “It is good to see you again.” Spike's mouth hung open. 'This is that awful noble that ruined Rarity's night? The one that I agonized about jealously then had the gall to be so terrible that she agonized over him afterward. That jerk! That awful, monstrous... jerk! And he had me taken in with his tricks! I was starting to like him! Well that ends NOW.' Spike's face contorted with anger, and he stomped forward. Twilight made a panicked face, and mouthed 'no!' and gestured emphatically to Spike, before putting on a smile when Blueblood turned back to her. Spike gestured rudely at Blueblood behind his back. Twilight said, “Why don't we go upstairs to talk about business, Prince Blueblood.” “Of course, Princess Sparkle.” Blueblood turned back to Spike. “It was good seeing you, Spike.” Prince Blueblood walked upstairs. “What are you doing?! You know who Prince Blueblood is!” Spike exclaimed.         Twilight shushed Spike. “Blueblood has offered to help me with a special project I was working on, and he has valuable connections to the Canterlot elite. Besides, he's been a complete gentlecolt ever since I met him again,” she whispered back. “You can't trust him, Twilight! He's probably got some nefarious scheme or wants to marry you for some dumb reason. You need to be careful; he's crafty. He got me to like him in just a few minutes.” “Isn't that good?” “Not when it's Blueblood!” Spike whispered fiercely. The door closed upstairs. Twilight rolled her eyes. “I don't have time for this, Spike. We can talk about it later.” And she followed Blueblood upstairs, taking the heated tea kettle. Spike sat in the kitchen, stewing. 'He's gonna get his greasy hooks into Twilight and who knows what he'll do! I need help. Somepony with experience... Only one pony to turn to.' Spike ran out the door of the library, and all the way across town. When he got to his destination he knocked on the door roughly. Spike was panting heavily. “Coming!” came the luxurious voice from inside. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique where everyth–oh, hello Spike.” “Rarity... Twilight... Blueblood... library... bad...,” Spike huffed. “Blueblood?” Rarity inquired. “Spike please take a moment to catch your breath, I'm afraid I can't understand you.” Spike held himself up with a claw against the door frame. He panted for quite a while, and when he could hear the town over his own heartbeats he figured it was safe to continue. “Twilight is meeting with Prince Blueblood in the library!” Rarity's ear twitched, but otherwise she showed no outward signs of distress. “I see. I suppose it was just a matter of time before they met in some fashion. Do you know why he has come to visit?” “She said he was helping her with a special project. Something about his Canterlot elite connections.” “Yes, I understand he has cultivated those relationships quite a bit,” Rarity said idly as she trotted back into her boutique. “Aren't you worried? He could muck everything up! What if he wants her for more than business? What if he wants to court her?” “Spike dear, I know you are worried, but Twilight is a grown mare. I think if she is being courted by a stallion she does not want she is more than capable of turning him down gracefully. I understand she's been turning down stallions quite a bit lately.” “Yeah but he's crafty! He said ‘hi’ and was nice and researched me and everything to butter me up! What if he winds up tricking Twilight into marrying him but he's still Blueblood and she doesn't realize until it's too late!” “You must calm down. If Twilight has a problem I am sure that we can all help her, but she must first have a problem in order for us to help.” “Why aren't you more worried about this? Or angry about this? I mean, he's the one that ruined the perfect Gala for you.” “Spike, that was years ago. Plenty of time to stop being bitter about a bad date. Besides, we publicly buried the hatchet less than a year after the Gala incident.” “You... you did?” “Yes.” She turned away from her work to address Spike more directly. “You remember Twilight's birthday that year, right?” He crossed his arms. “How could I forget? Surprise party in Canterlot and everypony forgot to invite Spike,” he groused. Rarity smiled apologetically at Spike. “Yes well, that year I was first making the rounds with the Canterlot elite, and trying to impress them, and Blueblood came to me with a suggestion: That I publicly forgive him—after an apology, of course—for the Gala incident. The tabloids were having a field day with him after that night, and he felt that if he and I made up I would look magnanimous, as well as remind ponies that I had a date with the Prince, and he would look like he was properly humbled by the experience and grew from it. I agreed that it would be a good opportunity, so long as afterward we stayed out of each other’s way.” “So that was it? A little talk and you forgave him?” Spike said incredulously. “Of course not!” Rarity exclaimed. “I doubt he even felt humbled for a moment about it. We could hardly stand to look at each other. It was dreadful, but the plan worked well. The tabloids backed off of him, the elite seemed impressed with me, and we've kept our promise to stay out of each other’s way since then.” “Aha! But now he's involved with Twilight. That's very nearly in your business.” “Twilight may be a close friend, the closest even, but I doubt it breaks the spirit of our agreement if he's helping with Twilight's secret project. “But, I digress. Ponies seem to think that I am extra interested in gossip about Blueblood after the Gala incident, so keeping up with what was going on in his life was all but assured. The news I got was dreadful though. Legal battles, financial problems, he wasn't even invited to Princess Cadence's wedding. After the years, I just don't have it in me to hate him anymore.” Rarity gave Spike a sad smile. “But what if he hurts Twilight!” “If he does–” Rarity straightened up with resolve “–well then he's going to have to deal with all of us, isn't he. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that, however.” “I guess. What should I do?” “I suppose your job is to make sure things don't get to that terrible point. I don't think rudeness would be a good plan, though. If he's acting like he's on the level then hysterics just make you look unreasonable. If he steps out of line though, you can be sure that all of us will be here for Twilight.” Spike smiled. “Yeah!” “Now if you will excuse me, Spike, I must return to my work. Unless you'd like to assist?” Spike weighed his options. “Nah,I think I wanna be there when Blueblood leaves. Inspect him for more suspicious actions. Maybe I'll be back later, though.” “Well, I could use your help, but it’s up to you.” “Thanks! And thanks for the advice!” Spike set out across town again. Rarity smiled and shook her head. “Don't get into too much trouble, Spike,” she said softly, knowing he was far out of earshot. Spike made it back to the library just in time to see Blueblood walking downstairs. Blueblood gave Spike a warm smile. “Hello again. We heard you leave before, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to catch you.” Twilight gave Spike a worried expression from behind Blueblood, and Spike put on his winningest grin. He bet it didn't even look a little forced. Twilight relaxed a little and rolled her eyes. 'I'll play along for now,' Spike thought from behind his smile, 'but I'm onto you, Blueblood.' “So I will see you next week, Twilight?” Blueblood said. 'That's Princess Twilight to you! You're hardly on a first-name basis.' “Yep! I'm looking forward to–oh wait.” “Hm?” Blueblood paused and looked back, as Twilight inspected her calendar. “We're going to have to schedule it for another time, Princess Celestia is giving me a Princess lesson then,” Twilight said. Blueblood's face suddenly changed. His pupils shrank to dots and his lips pursed. He closed his eyes and instantly it was gone, back to his calm veneer. Twilight was facing the other way, but Spike had noticed. “O-of course.” He barely stumbled, but it was there. “I'll send you a letter, then, and we can schedule it at your convenience. I've got a flexible schedule.” Blueblood hastily trotted out of the library, nodding with a smile to Spike. Spike smiled back and nodded. ‘You don't think I saw? I did.’ He followed Blueblood with his eyes all the way out of the library. ‘I won't let you get her with whatever you have planned.’ “Spike, are you in here?” the luxurious voice rang out. Spike awoke with a startled grunt. “Oh, there you are! There are guards asking for you. They assured me that you weren't in trouble and they were just fetching you for Princess Celestia but nopony couuuuaaaaAAAAAAAAA.” the voice turned into a startled scream. Spike sat up from his sleeping place in the center of the ash pile. “Spike, this room is filthy! And you're filthy! How could you fall asleep in a pile of ash!? What have you been doing down here?” her voice rang out. Spike couldn't even get excited at the sight of the loveliest mare in the world, especially through blurry vision. His head and gut still had a dull ache from the events of last night. Was it last night? Spike moaned, “What time is it?” Rarity tentatively reached a hoof down to the ash covered floor, with a pained expression on her face, and looked at Spike. She steeled herself to step toward him. “Spike... dear... you look awful.” Spike's bloodshot eyes stared blankly at Rarity. “C-come on, Spike.” Rarity reached for Spike tentatively. “You need to get a bath. You shouldn't be meeting with royalty while so filthy.” She wrapped a hoof around Spike's claw, tugging at him gently. Spike stood up. Spike stared straight forward, nearly at Rarity's eyes. He had grown half a foot in the previous month. “Spike… when did you get this tall?” Rarity questioned. He shrugged, and he winced as a sharp pain pricked at his neck. He rolled his shoulders carefully. “Come on upstairs, Spike,” Rarity gently said. “Take a bath; the warm water will do you good.” Spike nodded numbly, and allowed himself to be led upstairs. Spike entered Celestia's antechamber, the location for semi-private meetings with officials or celebrities. Only trusted guards were allowed in this room. The kind that are paid extra to be especially quiet. Spike had seen this room a lot in his life; it had been only a year since he was here last. Celestia, Princess of the Sun, stood in this room, always regal, always collected. “Spike, thank you for coming to see me.” Spike bowed low, but looked back up confused. “I thought this was a royal edict.” Celestia closed her eyes. “Spike, I don't want orders to come into this.” Spike blinked in confusion. “So... what did you want?” “Spike... I know you've been trying to contact Twilight.” “And what's wrong with that?” Spike said, wincing at the slight harshness of his tone. “I also know you're letting it consume you. Rarity found you in a pile of ash, after not seeing you outside of the palace for a month. It's not healthy.” “S-somepony had to keep trying,” Spike said, nervous at disagreeing with Princess Celestia. “I'm her number one assistant, it's my job to assist her. Even if she's not around to give me orders.” “Spike... we don't know if Twilight Sparkle is alive.” “She's faced down the hugest threats to Equestria, of course she's not dead. So she's out there, no doubt. What kind of assistant–what kind of friend would I be if I didn't do everything I could to get her back?” Celestia looked down at Spike sadly. “R-right? Her being dead is nonsense right?!” Celestia's eyes became stern. “We have no way of knowing that, Spike.” “That shouldn't matter! I have faith she's still alive! I know it,” Spike insisted. “And I'm glad for your dedication, I truly am, but wherever she is, we cannot reach her.” “But what if we could? What if there's some method that we've overlooked?” Spike's eyes shifted around nervously. “What... what have you tried?” Spike accused hesitantly. “Spike, do you know how many different night pegasi have attempted to find their home world in the past thousand years?” Spike shook his head mutely. “Every generation there's one or two that attempt to find a method. After a thousand years that means that there were probably fifty ponies that have dedicated their whole lives to doing what you're trying to do now.” Spike's face fell, his heart felt hollow. “B-but the traitor that made the portal Twilight went through... he knew how to get there. D-don't we have his notes, or can interrogate him, or other information on his–” “No,” Celestia said. “His notes were incomplete, and the cleansing from the Elements affected his memory. It’s unclear why. The two-way link that Twilight shattered suggests that he had help from the other world, and we have no way to contact it now.” “So even if I somehow discovered the method he used to make the portal–” “Twilight may still have been lost to us.” Her voice was soft, but to Spike even that was too much. Spike's world bottomed out. A year of work. A year of hope. Gone. Celestia stepped closer to him, and gently nuzzled his snout. “Come back to the castle, Spike. I know you wanted to stay with your friends in Ponyville, but you spent a great amount of time this year secluded.” Spike stared at the floor. “But... what would I do?” Celestia smiled a warm smile. “Anything you'd like. I know you've been studying magic, and you could continue. Although there is a project I would like your assistance with; something I think you are uniquely qualified for.” Spike looked up to Celestia, his eyes filled with wary hope. “Something... just for me?” Feelings of pride, obscured for so long by loneliness and helplessness bubbled up inside him. “What is it?” “It’s not a what. It’s a who.” Spike stared at Celestia. Celestia chuckled warmly. “Come with me, Spike.” As Spike followed Celestia through the hallways, his pain battled his hope. ‘Would I be betraying Twilight by giving up? If what I'm doing is pointless she would want me to be happy. But Twilight didn't always know what was best for herself. But... she usually knew what was best for me.’ Spike suddenly found his vision dominated by Celestia's wing. “Spike, we're here,” Celestia said, and drew back her wing. They were on a balcony, looking into one of the castle's opulent dining rooms. A unicorn filly, coated in gray blue with soft yellow and blue hair, sat alone at a table and glowered at an amazingly stoic palace servant. Spike could hear her complaint from the second floor: “I said mild seasoning, not bland seasoning.” Spike wrinkled his nose. Celestia frowned slightly. “That is Dawn Gleam, and we are going to have to have another chat about respect, I see.” “So who is she?” Celestia's eyes softened. “Somepony bright and young. And idealistic, even if it doesn't look it at first glance. Somepony with potential, but somepony who needs a friend to help her see beyond herself. Something you already have experience with, Spike. I believe that you were very important to helping Twilight break out of her shell, and sticking by her even if she was being stubborn. I want you to do that again. “Dawn Gleam is my new student.” Spike's mouth twisted into a frown and he mumbled something. Celestia paused. “Come again?” Spike's eyes widened in horror. “You.. you... you...” His voice lowered into a terrified whisper. “You replaced her?” “Dawn Gleam is not a replacement, Spike,” Celestia stated sternly. “I had already been considering finding a new student before Twilight disappeared. We had discussed it. She was looking forward to holding tutoring sessions.” “And... and I would be her assistant?” Spike stared at Celestia dumbly. He wanted to shout at her. To tell her how insulting it was that she'd want to pass him off to her next student. Like he was a servant. Like he was a pet. This wasn't one of his friends though. This was the princess, and unless he could find words that weren't angry it would be better to be silent. “Assistant would be your title, but you would be doing very different things from when you assisted Twilight. Dawn is bright but she is older than Twilight was when she started, and she needs to catch up, both in knowledge and diligence. If you had not proven to have those things before this last year, I feel your study this year, while misguided, has proven you definitely do now.” Spike was silent, staring at the floor. “I understand this was sudden.” Celestia gave a warm, motherly smile. “Take some time to think about it.”