Spike ran his eyes over the various books in the library, mentally announcing to himself that everything was in order. Then he looked at the plant next to the door, it was an interesting plant, something that could hold his attention for a good fifteen seconds before his eyes wandered over to the windows.
“So you’re just going to ignore me, huh?”
The dragon gave a little jump and turned to look at the unicorn sitting on the chair in the library’s reading nook. She had come to the library mere minutes after Spike had flipped the closed sign to open, demanding to see Twilight about an incident that happened during Trixie’s magic show the day before. However, since few ponies came into the library so early in the morning, Twilight had been down in her lab and needed to start the rather long process of resetting the numerous wards that protected it just like every time she came and went from the room for any long period of time.
The pink unicorn didn’t seem to like the lack of attention. But then, she didn’t seem to like much of anything in equal amounts, so Spike was able to find some contentment in the fact she at least hadn’t gotten any angrier in the past several minutes. So, Amethyst Star just sat there was a frown on her face that had been there since she came in. The ill tempered unicorn rolled her eyes at Spike’s nervous reaction and sighed. “Go ahead and ask.”
“Hmmm? Oh right, your name,” Spike replied. When the unicorn had come over, Twilight had been referring to her as Sparkler, but Spike had met every pony in town, and he knew the unicorn with the pink coat had introduced herself as something else a few days ago. “So, if your name’s Amethyst Star, then how come Twilight’s calling you Sparkler?”
The unicorn’s mouth twitched in irritation and she looked over to the other unicorn in the room as Twilight continued to reset the seals of magic on her lab to keep out anypony who tried to pry around. “It’s because it’s my real name. Although how she knows that-”
“I like to talk to your mother,” Twilight said without turning around as she continued to work her magic on the door.
Amethyst/Sparkler’s eyes widened in shock and she turned her head to look at Twilight. “W-What?”
A second later, Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and she trotted over to stand next to the seat Spike was using. “I talk to your mom. You…came up in conversation when I accidentally asked Ditzy if she had any children; using the plural I mean. She…kind of let it slip. Then she told me about you.”
“She…she knows who I am?” the other unicorn asked softly, her level of confusion showing her as completely lost plain as day.
“Well, I think the age difference confused her at first…not to mention me,” Twilight added. “Ditzy says you’re only supposed to be sixteen years old, but if you’re living on your own then you’ve got to be at least eighteen.”
The other unicorn broke eye contact and slumped in her seat. “Um…yeah…that,” she mumbled without any of the usual steam.
Twilight tilted her head. “I’ll admit, I am pretty stumped on that. Ditzy may be…well, ditzy, but no mother would forget something like her daughter’s age. So…what happened? If you don’t mind me asking that is.”
Sparkler crossed her forelegs and sighed. “Well, when you’ve been bounced around in the system for as long as I have, you learn how it all works. A little form here, a name mess-up there, put down one number instead of sixteen in a little box, a few days working as a janitor at a new orphanarium until Amethyst Star has a birthday, and boom. I’m on my own early and happy for it.”
The explanation had Twilight giving the unicorn a disbelieving look that Spike had seen one too many times back in Canterlot when she had performed an experiment without getting the results she wanted. This time the confusion was evident on her face, like the anger in her voice. “You can’t honestly tell me this is all a result of some…some clerical error!”
“Of course not,” Sparkler assured her. “I forged the papers myself. Copied the magic seal and everything.”
“WHAT?” Twilight shouted. “How in the hay…you can’t just do something like that! How did you do it? There…there’s got to be some kind of system or…checks…or…something!”
Sparkler rolled her eyes. “Oh please, it’s not like anypony cares enough to check to see if everything matches up once you‘re actually in the system,” she said before her tone became noticeably darker. “A few unicorns from Canterlot will come around a make sure a few foals everypony can see get shipped off to some hole in the wall where nopony will bother to look! Then there’s a grade school education, and Equestria’s child care centers have an endless supply of cheap labor since everypony thirteen and up is expected to work.”
From his spot on the sidelines, Spike could only watch as the pink and purple unicorns conversed. While Twilight just sputtered over the information, trying to cite things about donations to the orphanage from Canterlot ponies and a few notable unicorns who’d been orphans yet gone on to do amazing things, Sparkler had an answer to everything like ‘a million bits divided fifteen ways and handed out only every few years didn’t amount to much’ and ‘yeah, the ones with magic talents who got adopted’.
As Twilight seemed to hit a wall in the conversation, a thought occurred to Spike. They had mentioned the gray mailmare at the beginning of the conversation, but the younger unicorn had successfully sidetracked and distracted Twilight in a way that she wouldn’t be righting anytime soon. “So um…if you and your mom are in Ponyville,” Spike spoke up, “how come you haven’t gone to see her? I mean, you came here looking for her, right?"
As Spike talked, the mare’s expression went through a myriad of emotions. First she seemed almost surprised when he began talking, then afraid, and anger replaced fear when Spike asked his final question.
“Are you kidding me?” she shouted when he finished. “I didn’t bucking know she was here! This was just the closest place to Canterlot and the train tickets cost the least. Plus, ponies come to small towns like this cause they want to breed, which means foalsitting jobs. It’s the only thing I learned how to do while in the system that doesn’t make me want to gag.”
Spike found his gaze drifting to Twilight for a moment as the unicorn stood there silently, then back to Sparkler. “Then why don’t you go see her?”
“WHY THE HAY SHOULD I?” Sparkler demanded. “She…she just bucking gave me up!”
“She only did that because it was what was best for you!” Twilight told her. “She couldn’t take care of a foal on her own!”
“THEN WHY DOES SHE HAVE DINKY?” Sparkler wailed, causing Twilight to step back when the other unicorn looked into the purple one’s eyes. “If she couldn’t take care of me, then why does she have another filly now?”
The question seemed to cow Twilight, making the purple unicorn droop her ears and her stance. “Well…maybe…I…well…I’m not sure. I…I didn’t really ask him too many questions along those lines,” she mumbled with a lowered head.
Spike took a deep breath, and took some time to think about how to explain something to the pink unicorn. After a few minutes, he was ready.
“Twilight is my mother,” the dragon said, causing the aforementioned unicorn’s head to whip around with wide eyes before he dropped his gaze to the ground. “But she hatched me from an egg when she was five years old. She couldn’t even really take care of herself, let alone me,” he said in a low voice. “But we got lucky, and Princess Celestia took care of me till Twilight was ready to look after me for most of the time. Even then, I thought of her as more of a sister than anything else. But since we’ve come to Ponyville, and it’s just been us, she’s checking on me, and making sure I eat right, and go to bed on time, and dozens of other things, and…I have to make a conscious effort not to call her Mom these days.”
Twilight mumbled the dragon’s name, but whatever she said to herself afterwards was completely covered up by the other unicorn's irate tone. “So do you have a point, or are you just bragging?”
“I said we got lucky when Princess Celestia took me in, so I could be with my mother until she was ready to actually be my mom. I know it must not seem fair to you, but…I think your mom is ready now. If you…want her, I mean.”
Sparkler’s face went from pure anger to a soft frown, and she looked down at the floor before she let out a sigh. “I…”
When Sparkler just froze after her first word, Twilight came over to place a hoof on the teenager’s shoulder. “It’s not like you have to decide right now Sparkler, but…I think you should know the option is open for you. And…I know for a fact nothing would make your mother happier than getting to call you her daughter again. And something tells me, you’d like to call her Mom.”
The pink unicorn looked up at Twilight with a frown that Spike was starting to think was her natural expression. She let out another long sigh, and seemed to deflate as the angry tension just leaped out of her. “I…I’ll think about it,” she said before becoming hesitant. “Umm, are you going to tell anypony? About how old I am, I mean.”
Not even a second passed before Twilight shook her head. “No. Although, I would like to make a trip to your house to…check on things. Make sure you’re settled in and all that.”
“Why?”
“You’re Ditzy’s daughter, and she’s my friend,” Twilight answered her simply, as if those few words could explain everything.
Apparently, it was enough for Sparkler, who turned to look at Spike quizzically. “You know, you seem a little smart for a baby.”
The comment got a groan from the dragon. “Oh for crying out…I’m a dragon! I look young cause I’m small! Twilight hatched me almost fifteen years ago!”
Sparkler’s eyes widened as she looked over to Spike’s mother. “He’s rounding up a little too soon. He’s just fourteen and change really.”
“Then why do you call him a baby?” the teenage unicorn asked.
Twilight giggled and moved over to hug the dragon and kissed him on the head. “Hey, he may grow too big to fit in the library one day, but even when it’s him carrying me around on his shoulder or in a claw, Spike will always be my baby.”
“Mooooooom!” the dragon whined while the pony nuzzled him with affection.
Chapter 3: Here There Be Dragons
It was in the much too early hours of the morning that Spike found himself being dragged out of his bed by his mother. Despite his attempts to stay asleep, the purple unicorn removed him from the mattress that had replaced Spike’s basket bed and set him on her back. As if that awakening wasn’t bad enough, the moment Twilight opened the window to let some air in, the Music of Harmony began to play and promised Spike he wouldn’t be getting back to sleep anytime soon.
Morning in Ponyville shimmers
Morning in Ponyville shi~nes
And I’ll make absolute certain
That everything will certainly be fine!
There's the Mayor en route to her office
There's the sofa clerk selling some quills
My Pony~ville is so gentle and still
Can things ever go wrong?
Not if I have a say they will
And there’s the Time Lord, practicing his trade
With Sparkler making nice my debt to him has been re~paid
Morning in Ponyville shimmers
Morning in Ponyville shi~nes
And I’ll make absolute certain
That everything will certainly be fine!
Every po-ny I meet, is scared and on the run
Panicked about the smog that just blocked out the suuuuuuuuuuuuun!
“Morning in Ponyville-wait, smog?”
Twilight blinked and the music of harmony came to a screeching halt as she noticed the huge cloud of smoke coming from a distant mountain. The lavender unicorn let out a loud groan. “Bucking dragon squatters,” she mumbled.
“Say Wha-BURP!” Spike managed to get out before a bust of fire erupted from his mouth.
The second the scroll appeared in the air, Twilight snatched it up with her magic and opened the letter from the princess. “”Dear Twilight, bla bla bla…” the unicorn said to herself before the paper erupted in flames not of Spike’s make and the already unpleasant scowl on Twilight’s face became one of pure rage as she let out a snort that practically bellowed smoke.
With all the trepidation he could muster, Spike looked over to his mother and gulped. “So…um, what's the princess have to say?”
“Apparently, our all-powerful princess protector plans to have me take a baker, a seamstress, a farmer, and an animal caretaker to go fight off a dragon,” Twilight grumbled. She spent a few more seconds just looking at nothing, and then turned her head to glare up at Canterlot. “I can’t believe she just expects us to just canter right into a dragon’s cave and ask him to leave! It’s like she’s trying to get my friends…” Twilight stopped and her frown turned pensive. “No, even Celestia wouldn’t do that.”
Spike frowned at the comment. “What wouldn’t Princess Celestia do?”
Twilight turned her head to look back at her son out of the corner of her eye, and smiled. “It’s nothing Spike,” she assured him. “Just our glorious sun goddess of a leader being a total moron again.”
It was a little disturbing to Spike how easily he had gotten used to Twilight badmouthing Celestia when she did nothing but sing her praises a few weeks ago. But, after meeting Sparkler and seeing how she acted before the unicorn had gotten back together with her pegasus mother, Spike was willing to chalk his own mother’s attitude towards their ruler as some kind of late blooming rebellious phase brought on by Celestia’s absence.
There was also something else on the dragon’s mind. Judging by what Twilight had said, Celestia had wanted the Elements of Harmony to go take care of the dragon, but there was a job missing on the list of employment descriptions. “What about Rainbow Dash? Aren’t you mad about her being told to go fight?”
“Well no,” Twilight told her son. “Me and her can handle a dragon.” Then, the unicorn looked back up towards the mountain and frowned. “And it’s not like I don’t want to give this jerk a piece of my mind! I marked that cave as your lair weeks ago!”
“W-What?” Spike said as the angry declaration rang in his ears. The image of his mother throwing Spike into some dank cave ran through his mind, bringing a severe amount of dread as he imagined Twilight just casting him aside. “You’re planning to kick me out and make me go live in a cave?”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Twilight’s eyes widened, and Spike found himself being floated to the ground before Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her son. “Oh Spike,” she told him before the hug ended and she held him at leg length. “It’s for when you get too big to wander around Ponyville, and that’s not going to happen for another two hundred years.”
While Spike digested the unicorn’s words, Twilight Sparkle used her magic to set him on her back again. “Now let’s go get the girls and make some plans.”
As she turned her head around, a thought ran through Spike’s mind. It was a thought that sometimes came up every now and then over the years, but he did his best not to pay it any mind. Two hundred years…that’s right…I’ll live to be two hundred…and Twilight…won’t.
“And that’s what’s going on,” Twilight said to the ponies assembled at the liberty. “So to sum it all up, Princess Celestia apparently can’t be bothered to save Equestria from eternal darkness again, and she stuck us with the job, AGAIN.”
As usual whenever the subject of Celestia came up, the purple unicorn looked about two shakes short of a volcanic eruption. Applejack quickly found something interesting on the floor to look at to avoid Twilight’s glare. Although in truth, the farm pony did kind of understand where Twilight was coming from. Applejack had been raised knowing that Celestia watched all over all of Equestria and would always be there to protect each and every one of the ponies.
Only…when Nightmare Moon appeared, she hadn’t done anything. Now there was a dragon causing trouble, and Twilight Sparkle was the one left to tend to the problem again.
For one who followed Celestia like Applejack, it was a hard realization wouldn’t be there to help them out of jams when they needed her. But it was also a bit empowering to know the sun goddess trusted the farmer and her friends to stand on their own.
It was pretty obvious to anypony that looked Twilight was in the former camp 100%.
“I’ll prepare my ensemble immediately darling,” the white unicorn said.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rarity and her willingness to volunteer. “That’s very nice of you Rarity, but I assure you all, Rainbow Dash and myself will be enough to handle this,” she assured the unicorn.
“No!” Rarity told her. “I have no intention of just waiting around in my shop while my friends rush off into danger. If you do not have a task for me Twilight, then I am going with you.”
The argument stunned Twilight for a moment. She raised an eyebrow at the other unicorn. “You know, it’ll be a hard trek up a mountain, and the dragon lives in a cave. A dirty, smog filled cave with who knows what-”
“Dirt,” Rarity began before she shivered for an instant, “washes off. Besides, if we hope to have any hope of talking this dragon into relocating, I am by far the most charming. And, if we must resort to bribery, I can offer him my gem finding skills as payment.”
Apparently conceding to the other unicorn, Twilight looked over to the pink pony. “Pinkie Pie, the ponies in town will be worried and I need you to help keep their minds off the dragon. Can you do it?”
“Rodger dodger ma’am!” Pinkie said as she saluted. As soon as Twilight looked away, she lowered her head and muttered to herself so softly only the earth pony standing next to her could hear. “And I wanted to make a Skyrim joke when we met the dragon.”
Then, the purple pony turned to Fluttershy, who was still trembling from hearing the news about the dragon. “I know we said its not a fire, but when animals see smoke, that’s going to be their first thought. Can you keep the wildlife around Ponyville calm while we’re gone Fluttershy?”
For some reason Applejack couldn’t understand, the news the task of dealing with crazed animals whipped into a frenzy by the fear of fire seemed to calm the butter colored pegasus. She stopped shaking entirely, and even stood up straighter than she normally did. “I can handle that.”
“Applejack,” Twilight said “I need you to-”
Seeing where this was headed, which was probably some assignment to go watch the farm, the orange pony cut the unicorn off. “Ah’ll pack us plenty of supplies and meet ya’ll there,” she said before Twilight could finish.
“Ap-”
“Ah’d better be goin,” Applejack continued before Twilight could protest. “Sweet Apple Acres is on the way there, so there’s no reason Ah should come meet up with ya’ll in town.” Then she quickly headed out the door and turned a corner so Twilight couldn’t magic her still.
“AAAAAH! THAT STUBBORN PONY! I THOUGHT WE FIXED THAT!”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? Last chance before we start climbing.”
Spike frowned at his mother’s question and leaned over to look her in the eye from his place on her back. “You’re going to try and talk a dragon into leaving his home, don’t you think you should be taking a dragon with you when you do?”
Of course, Spike wasn’t going to tell Twilight he was also going because he wanted a chance to finally meet another dragon. Ever since Twilight’s lecture to the foals on dragons, Spike had been curious about meeting a real one instead of just getting the information secondhoof from his mom.
He had heard dozens of stories about them in Canterlot that varied from tales of monstrous beasts to civil dragons like himself. It wasn’t till Twilight explained to all the foals about dragon greed that things started to make sense. Now Spike was thinking that all the stories might be true, despite their contradictions. Apparently, dragons could grow up rather fast by giving into their baser instinct of greed, but would be little more than oversized brutes not even capable of speech.
Spike shuddered at the thought of becoming like that.
“Are you cold Spike?” Twilight asked him, drawing the dragon out of his musings.
For a moment he just shook his head, but realizing Twilight couldn’t see him, Spike made to answer verbally. “Uh, Mom, I breath fire. Cold isn’t really a problem when you’ve got an internal heater. But I was wondering…is this dragon feral?”
Thankfully, Twilight didn’t seem to notice his nervousness at the thought of a wild dragon that was little more than a rabid eating machine that liked to collect junk. “Probably not, he just came in last night and didn’t make any noise that would have awoken the town like roars to carve out his territory.”
Spike nodded, then thought that over for a moment. “So…that means he doesn’t have a hoard?”
“WHAT?” Rarity shrieked.
The outburst grabbed Twilight’s attention for a moment, then she looked back to Spike. “Not necessarily. He could just be looking for a place to nap away from the rest of the flock…herd…pack…dragon-flight? Come to think of it, I’ve never really asked a dragon what they call their social gatherings,” she mumbled before turning to Rarity. “And why should it matter if he has a hoard or not?”
“Oh come now Twilight, I’ve heard that dragons keep the most beautiful gems within their lairs,” Rarity explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Just think of all the ensembles I could design.”
Twilight’s eye twitched at the explanation as her tone soured. “You got to be kidding me. You’re here for loot?”
“Well, it would be a nice bonus,” Rarity admitted with a little blush coloring her cheeks.
From her place beside the white unicorn, Applejack scoffed. “Rarity, if we’re going to be taking anything home, it should be decided with Need before Greed!” the farm pony explained. “And my family has a powerful need to pay off the mortgage.”
For her part, Twilight stopped trotting to face-hoof at her friend’s conversation. Then she looked up to Rainbow Dash with a frown. “Please don’t tell me you’re here for bits too.”
“Nah,” Rainbow assured her as she crossed her forelegs and shook her head while floating in the air. Right as Twilight sighed in relief, the pegasus finished her thought. “I’m here for the title: Dragonslayer Rainbow Dash! It’s like, twenty-percent cooler than just my name alone, and I think I can add The Awesome in front of it.”
“Wow…just…wow,” Twilight mumbled as she slumped to the ground and shook her head. “Okay, Rainbow Dash! You’re going to be kicking the dragon out of the cave, not slaying it! Rarity, we are not here for swag! And AJ…look, if you need help with the farm, well…I can write Princess Celestia and see if she can help out since we did save the bucking world.”
The farm pony held up her hooves. “Now hold on there Twi, that was different than this.”
The unicorn stomped her hooves and glared AJ in the eye. “Yes! It was a much more dangerous mission where the fate of the world rested in the balance! This is just Equestria! Buck, the last time Princess Luna and Celestia saved the continent, the ponies made them fullon royalty instead of just glorified guardians!”
“Hmmm, Princess Rarity,” the unicorn mumbled. “I have to admit, the idea does strike me as…pleasant.”
“Feh, are you kidding me? Having to sit around and listen to boring ponies yak all day about nothing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Plus, have you seen how wide Celestia’s flanks are? The things probably creates a drag when she flies thanks to that royal diet and all her sitting. No thanks!”
Rarity let out a gasp. “Rainbow! You do not call a princess’s flanks wide!”
For a second it looked like Applejack was going to add her own comment, but Twilight interrupted her. “BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Spike let out a startled cry and abandoned his ride as Twilight fell onto her side and clutched her stomach while she let out an uproarious laugh and rolled around. After what had to have been at least two minutes, the purple unicorn finally stopped laughing and started gasping for air. Once she was fully recovered, Twilight looked over to the others and grinned. “Oh mare did I need that,” she said before letting out another snicker. “Air dragging flanks, only you Rainbow. Hehehehe.”
“Yeah I know I’m cool, now let’s go buck a dragon out of Spike’s retirement home,” she said, “or whatever it is.”
Sometimes, it really bucked to have ground bound ponies as friends. They couldn’t come to a cloud house to hangout, didn’t understand the sensitivity of a pegasus’s wings, and always grumbled about the cold before throwing logs on a fire to turn a perfectly comfortable room into a sauna. But the thing that annoyed Rainbow Dash the most, epically now, was that they were so bucking slow!
Twilight, Applejack and Rarity trudged up the mountain, with Spike riding on his mother’s back while reading a map and giving directions every now and then since he was the navigator.
Rainbow Dash groaned as she flapped her wings at the slowest pace she ever had to keep pace with the others. It didn’t help her mood at all that the destination they had was just a two minute flight away. In two measly minutes, she could fly up to the top of the mountain and take care of everything!
In fact, that’s what I’m gonna do, she reasoned before beginning to increase her speed.
“So when are we going to get to see your Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash?”
The question made Rainbows wings spasm and she found herself falling for a moment. Thankfully, she wasn’t above the mountain path and the pegasus only dropped fifty feet instead of landing on the ground like a total loser. When she got back up to eye level with the others, the pegasus found Twilight just looking at her with a neutral expression. “Uh, sorry, wing cramp.”
She quickly regretted the cover up, as Twilight’s eyes went wide, and the next thing she knew, a magenta glow surrounded the pegasus and jerked her over until there was ground under her hooves. “Whoa!”
“Are you okay? Are your wings hurt? You haven’t been practicing the Sonic Rainboom in secret since I mentioned it last week, have you?” Twilight asked at a pace faster than Rainbow could keep up.
The last one made the pegasus stop her struggling in Twilight’s grip. Mostly because she was absolutely right. “W-What? Why would I need to practice the Sonic Rainboom? I did it when I was a filly and-” The weird magical aura of Twilight’s glowed brighter, and Rainbow Dash found there was no more sound coming out of her mouth.
“Twilight…how are you doing that?” Rarity asked as she examined Rainbow's face.
“I neutralized the vibrations in the air that cause sound around Rainbow’s mouth,” she replied without looking away from the pegasus. “And Rainbow it’s okay, I know you can’t do the Sonic Rainboom anymore.”
Inside Twilight’s magical grip, Rainbow Dash visibly flinched before she tried to argue with the nerd. Once again, nothing came out of her mouth no matter how loud she tried to yell. ARG stupid Twilight! This is so not fair! How in the hay am I supposed to argue with her when I can’t talk!
There was also the fact that Twilight just went out and told everypony Rainbow Dash’s biggest secret, the failure she had been so careful to hide from everypony in town. That stung worse than the time she crashed into a hornet’s nest.
She could already see other ponies laughing about how she had been a better flier as a filly than she was now. In fact, the first one of the lot was snickering from beneath her hat. Although Rarity had found something else to put her attention on. Then there was Twilight for sticking her in this position. She was…
…glaring at Applejack?
“Cut it out AJ,” she told the mare evenly.
The earth pony looked over to Twilight and raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“I don’t like it when anypony laughs at another pony,” she said.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Oh come on Twilight, RD just floating up there kicking like a helpless foal is-”
“I don’t remember Rainbow Dash laughing when I made you look like a helpless foal back on your own farm,” Twilight interrupted, “or when Trixie dressed you up like a pig with an apple in its mouth. The rest of the town was laughing and cheering at your humiliation, but your friends were silent. So you will show her the same courtesy!”
Then Twilight looked over to Rarity for a moment, who was looking at a rock wall she apparently found fascinating. “Umm weren’t you laughing at Princess Celestia’s-”
“Do you see Princess Celestia anywhere around here?” the purple unicorn nearly shouted. “No? Good! Because what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“And you!” she said before spinning to face Rainbow, “I know you can’t do the Sonic Rainboom because I’ve been to each of your showoff sessions since I came to Ponyville, and you haven’t tried, or even mentioned it.”
Her expression softened and she let the pegasus go to float in the air. “And I want to help you do it again. I want to see it again…or, for the first time really, since I just heard it the first time and was caught up in its wave of positive energy,” Twilight said with a small smile. “I just want to help you Rainbow.”
The explanation and the offer cooled Rainbow’s temper. Of course she does, the pegasus told herself. Ever since she came to Ponyville, all Twilight seemed to do was try and help other ponies when she wasn‘t cooped up in her lab. A few days ago she had even gotten that derpy mailmare and one of her kids back together, Ditzy hadn’t stopped singing the unicorn’s praises since. I didn’t even know Ditzy had another unicorn filly.
“Look Twilight, thanks for the offer, but-”
“I’ve read three books on aerodynamics, five on pegasus flight, two on the magic of pegasi themselves, and written a book-I mean, written a paper on a book I, uh read about the Sonic Rainboom itself,” she told Rainbow before the pegasus could utter another word.
Rainbow Dash blinked…several times. “There’s a book about the Sonic Rainboom?”
The question seemed to throw Twilight off for a second, as her eyes widened and she shook her head. “Oh! No, no it’s a uh…scroll! Yeah a scroll, all the way back from when Equestria was founded. You see, Commander Hurricane and…um…Clover the Clever! Yeah, the pegasi commander and the unicorn arch-mage worked together to publish a scroll about the commander’s greatest achievement. She thought it would help inspire other pegasi.”
“That…that might actually be useful,” Rainbow Dash muttered after mulling it over for a few moments. Sure the rest of that stuff didn’t appeal to her, but if the last pegasus to do it had written an instruction manual on the Sonic Rainboom, then she might be up to it. “Thanks Egghead.”
Surprisingly, Twilight just beamed at the insulting nickname.
An extremely excruciating hour of flying slower than a snail later, and they finally reached the dragon’s cave. As per the plan, Rainbow Dash used her weather expertise to blow away the smoke and create an area of fresh air close to the ground.
Once the air cleared and she could see inside, Rainbow Dash took a quick look around from the entrance. As far as caves went…she didn’t really know how this one ranked since she was hardly an expert on the subject, but there were a few natural pillars that and other half-formed pillars she thought were called stalag-somethings.
She could also see the dragon, the very big…red…snoring dragon, who looked like he could swallow a pony in one gulp. Okay, maybe this whole go buck a dragon thing wasn’t such a good idea. But, it wasn’t like she could back out with her friends standing there, watching her. “Uh Twilight, you sure Princess Celestia didn’t send a care package with the Elements of Harmony with your orders?”
The purple unicorn stared at Dash for what seemed like forever with wide eyes and a stunned mouth. Then, she reared up to shake her hooves beneath her head in an angry fashion and let out a frustrated yell while Spike tumbled off her back. “GAAAAAAAH! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?”
“Uh…Twilight...darling?” Rarity asked when he unicorn began to bang her head against the nearest rock.
“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
When all of the other ponies looked on in confusion, Spike sighed and shook his head. “Yeah…she’s been doing that from time to time lately.”
“Okay, let’s go buck this dragon in his-”
“NO!” Twilight yelled, apparently recovered from her earlier bout of insanity. She rushed up to grab Rainbow Dash by her shoulders and held the mare in their grip for a moment. “First I’m going to try and talk to him, then we buck him out, or offer him a bribe like Rarity suggested if he’s at least willing to talk.”
Rarity raised a questioning eyebrow. “Pray tell, why do you think why are you so sure we’ll be needing to resort to the second option anyway darling?”
“Because this cave was already reserved for Spike,” Twilight explained for the second time that day. “No dragon with any manners would sleep here unless they were very inconsiderate.”
“Then why are we even botherin’ to talk to-”
“Because I’ve got to set a good example for Spike,” Twilight replied before she put the dragon on her back again and trotted into the cave while the others watched from the entrance.
“Excuse me Mr. Dragon,” the purple unicorn called out, awakening the creature from its slumber. “Yes, I’m here on orders from Princess Celestia, and would kindly ask you to take your nap somewhere else. You see, this cave is clearly marked as belonging to Spike here and-”
The dragon looked down at the purple duo and frowned.
“This little thing claims this cave? In that case, he won’t have a problem when I crush him into paste.”
A new, bright light filled the cave, and Twilight’s voice seemed to reverberate inside Rainbow’s skull despite the distance.
“Oh, you did NOT JUST THREATEN MY SON!”
“Whoa Nelly, I know what’s coming next,” Applejack said before she got away from the entrance to avoid any crossfire from whatever wrath of Luna that Twilight was about to visit upon that poor critter.
But instead of the mountain well…exploding, or something, Twilight just appeared outside the cave in a flash of light, then floated Spike over to Applejack with her magic. “Keep Spike safe AJ. Rainbow, you’re with me,” the god-mode unicorn said before they both disappeared in a flash of light.
Although she was away from the entrance, Applejack could still hear the voices.
“Now you’re going to feel a weird tingle, but just go with it.”
“Huh? Whoa I…
“WHAT THE HAY?”
“Yeah yeah, you always wondered and all that, let’s just hit him!”
What the hay was-Applejack managed to think before a rather loud bang, lots of crashes, and what sounded like a dragon roaring made her whole body shake.
“PIN HIS TAIL, HIS TAIL!”
“Hey! This is the first time I’ve had these weird things, okay?”
“Then use your feet!”
“WHAT ARE FEET?”
There was another crash, followed by a few roars, and a gout of fire came out of the cave, followed by the red dragon running on all fours.
“Y-You big bullies! I was just trying to nap!”
Applejack blinked in confusion at the comment, wondering what in tarnation had been going on in there. A few seconds later, she got her answer.
A dragon slightly larger than the first stuck her head out of the cave and raised a closed claw to shake it at the retreating dragon. The really odd thing was the blue coloring of the dragon’s scales, and that each of the spines on her back was a different color that ran the full spectrum of the…rainbow.
“YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!”
No…there is no bucking way, Applejack told herself as her eyes tried to pop out of her head at the sight.
Rarity didn’t seem to be faring much better. She simply stood there with her mouth hanging open.
A second later, another dragon poked her head out of the cave. This one was of a purple color with a long horn sticking out of the middle of her head and glowing eyes. She let out a groan and face-clawed.
“Rainbow the thumb goes outside the other claws when making a fist.”
Applejack was only aware of her legs going out from under her when her plot his the ground. “R-Rainbow? Twilight? But…you…HOW?”
The purple dragon looked back down with her creepy glowing eyes.
“Hm? Oh, I know a spell that lets me turn ponies into any nearby creature. That reminds me, Rarity can you come closer? It’s easier to change back when I have a template to work off of.”
The question seemed to shock Rarity back to reality by the way her neck snapped up. “What? Oh! Right! Yes, of course darling. Be right there,” she said before trotting over to the glowing eyed one horned purple pony-eater…if Twilight ate ponies that is.
A second later, Twilight the dragon was replaced by Twilight the unicorn. Then, she stretched and got several pops in her back. “Ugh, transformations are always bad on the spine. Okay Rainbow, you’re up, we just need Fluttershy to…uh oh.”
“What?”
Twilight gave a nervous laugh, and looked back up at Rainbow Dash. “Um…you may be kind of a little, tiny bit…stuck like that until we can find a pegasus to help change you back….sorry,” she apologized with a sheepish grin.
“Meh, it’s okay Twi….I…oh I got me some ideas for this new look anyway.”
Although she knew it was her friend saying that, the grin filled with carnivorous teeth bigger than her own body sent a shiver down Applejack’s spine.
“Oh no you don’t! You’re staying here until I can get another pegasus to come up here and help change you back!” the unicorn exclaimed.
“AWWW come on, Cloud Kicker has been annoying me with all her talk about banging and-”
Twilight glared up at the dragon and acted as if to hop up, then looked at her empty back with a frown for moment before turning her attention back to Rainbow. “ABSOLUTELY NOT! YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR PONYVILLE LOOKING LIKE THAT! DO YOU WANT TO GIVE EVERYPONY IN TOWN A HEART ATTACK?”
The much larger dragon recoiled at being berated by Twilight, then let out a sigh of defeat.
“Fine.”
With Rainbow Dash promising to remain in the cave for the time being, and Rarity staying there to watch her, Twilight motioned Applejack to follow her back to town. A tug on her mane reminded the earth pony of her passenger, and she looked over as Spike’s gaze lingered on Rainbow, then moved to Twilight, then back to the dragon for a few more moments before he looked down at himself.
“Everything okay Spike?” Applejack asked.
“I…um…yeah,” the dragon answered with an absent tone. “I was just…thinking is all.”