//------------------------------// // Dogs Suck, Cats Are Better // Story: My Twilight Facade // by axelsempai //------------------------------// Days after the competition, Spike and I were leaving the library. "I'm going to Rarity's, see you later!" Spike said, bidding farewell. "Have fun over there. I'll be running at Whitetail Woods." We waved goodbye for the time being, and went our separate ways. I wasn't privy to any of the details of Spike's obvious crush on Rarity, but hey, things might change today. He might confess his feelings, after all. Then again, that would leave a heartbroken Spike to deal with. Maybe I should get some gems while I was out. Anyway, this was the day that I would work on my cardio. I've done a little running before then, but I still needed some work. I figured that if I could run the trail in Whitetail Woods and barely get winded, I'd be in good shape. So I was running the trail, and planned to for a while. I got to Whitetail Woods, and how else can you describe it besides green? The foliage was as thick as the Everfree, but not as sickly looking, with the added bonus of being nowhere as annoying to travel. Unlike the Everfree, Whitewood's trail was maintained very well. Little debris from the surrounding trees were on the path, and it was clear of the vines that plagued the forest. With all that in mind, Whitetail Woods was perfect for a little running. I started on the path, running with reservation. I was working on my endurance; my speed could improve later. I would say that I ran with no problems, but as I stated before, this body wasn't used for any physical pursuits. I'd bet the real Twilight has never exercised before, because I felt like I was unaccustomed to running for so long. And by "for so long", I mean two minutes. C'mon, I've seen ponies on treadmills for hours at a time! You mean to tell me that Twilight was so out of shape that she can't even go for a few minutes? Yeah, as long as I'm in this body, that's going to change. I pushed myself as hard as I could, thundering down the path like I was on a mission. That was partly true, as I was on a mission of sorts, but I meant a more urgent mission. Like the woods were on fire, or I was being chased by a giant falcon, or something like that. Try as I might, I couldn't last longer than five minutes without my legs buckling from under me. So I tumbled onto the ground, coming to a rest a little down the trail, panting at the mercy of my aching lungs, legs, and spirit. Yep, this day of exercise was a true killer. I'll have to do it again, sometime. I may have run for five minutes, but I didn't catch my breath for ten, during which a few ponies stopped by to ask if I was okay. Eventually, I made it back to Ponyville. I bought a sports drink, the red one because I have taste, and drank it on my way back to the library. On my way, I found the most beautiful thing I've seen in months: a bar. Yes! Alcohol does exist! Pinkie Parties, prepare to get a lot more interesting! Until then, I was still really tired from my run, so I took a break from walking home. I plopped onto a bench, sitting like a human being. I didn't care; I was tired and I wasn't really thinking about appearances. Occasionally sipping at my drink, I didn't fail to notice a mint green unicorn give me a look. She cantered over and plopped onto the bench, sitting exactly as I was. "You too, huh?" She asked with a smile. I didn't know what to think of this. This stranger of a unicorn sits right next to me as if we were old buddies or something. And what was with that question? "You too?" Did that mean she sits like this as well? Wait, what is it about this seating position? I only sat like this because it's how a human normally sits. But this new girl shouldn't be sitting like this, because she isn't a... Oh my God. With a new level of understanding for this mare, I nod. "Yeah, me too." The green unicorn laughed with good nature. "Wow, I didn't think anypony else sat like this." I thought that was a weird statement, but I thought nothing of it. Seriously, I still couldn't get used to the word "anypony". The unicorn extended a hoof in greeting. "They call me Lyra Heartstrings." I smiled knowingly and accepted her hoof. "They call me Twilight Sparkle." With a shake of our hooves, she sat back and settled in. "So you've been here for a few months now, huh? How's Ponyville been treating you?" I shrugged. "It could be better. I've been getting a handle on my magic, but I think I've been making some breakthroughs." "So you're studying magic? That's good. A unicorn needs her magic." I nodded my agreement. "Yeah, I know just how hard it is to be a unicorn in this world without knowing how to use it. That was pretty painful stuff." Lyra chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, we all know what that's like at some point in our lives. When I was a filly, my parents could keep the cookie jar on the counter, since I couldn't reach it without a step-ladder." Damn, "Lyra" was in this form since she was a foal? Considering her current age, she was here for years! "So you've been here for a while, huh?" I asked sympathetically. "Mm-hmm." She nodded vigorously. "Ponyville's my home." So she's been here for so long that she's given up on leaving? What a trooper she must be! "So what kind of magic do you do? I found that I'm good with lyres." I mentally saluted this brave woman for her bravery in the face of true adversity, and proudly proclaimed my specialization. "I have discovered my affinity for transmutations." Lyra gasped in excitement. "Wow, really? So can you turn into a human?" I shook my head with disappointment. "Not yet, I'm afraid. I've only been able to make temporary wings." Lyra's expression fell. "Aw man, and I've been wanting to see a human up close, too." Her statement caught me. You mean to tell me that she wasn't a human in the same situation as me? She's just some unicorn in Equestria who's favorite mythical creature is a human? That was... such a shame. And here I thought I found a kindred spirit. With that bit of dashed hope, I figured I would just get out of there. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Lyra, but I need to get back to the library. See ya around." "Bye!" She waved goodbye and I cantered away faster than usual. I didn't have anything against Lyra, it's just that I was a little upset with how my conversation played out and I wanted to isolate myself back into relative peace and quiet. I made it back to the library and I summoned my keys back from inside the house. Just as I inserted the key, I was distracted by someone running up to me from behind. It was Spike, and he looked really out of breath. He huffed and puffed, trying to catch his breath in order to tell me something. Realizing that he was getting nowhere fast, I offered him my sports drink. "Want some?" He greedily snatched it away and gulped the rest of it down with impressive speed. Tossing away the empty bottle, he regained his breath to speak his mind. "Quick, Twilight, help! Rarity was taken away by diamond dogs! We gotta save her!" My mind was blank at the revelation of Spike's. Considering there were dragons that occasionally terrorized Equestria, it was hardly a surprise that there would be raiders somewhere in the world. I just didn't didn't expect them to be so close to Ponyville. What really sparked my thunder was that one of my friends was allegedly abducted. I didn't need to be told anything else. Spike was there, and he must have seen it happen himself. I threw him onto my back and broke into a full sprint down the road. I was going to gather my friends, get Rarity, and make these bastards pay. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thundered along the road, instructing Spike to call for the girls as I passed. I wasn't going to stop running; we were on the clock. We found Pinkie first, which was fortunate as she was the best at finding other ponies. I followed her, and we found the others very quickly. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack followed along, as Spike explained what happened in a bit more detail. Spike was helping Rarity dig for gems, when they were confronted by one of these "diamond dogs". They were after gems, but from what Spike told us, it sounded like they wanted Rarity to find gems for them. "We hunt for gems. But you are a better hunter. So now we hunt... for you!" That sounds an awful lot like slavers, to me. I skid to a halt at our destination. We stood near the only trees in the area, beyond us was nothing but dirt and rocks. The only thing noteworty about this barren land of nothing was the holes in the ground. I've spent the whole day up to that point running, and my ragged breathing was apparent. The others took notice of my overwhelming fatigue. Rainbow voiced her concern first. "Are you alright? You don't look so good." I roughly shook my head. "I'll be fine... let's just focus. Rarity needs our help." "Maybe you should take a breather, Twi. You look like yer ready to pass out." Applejack suggested. I stomped defiantly forward, desire to save my friend taking priority over me. "I will not rest for as long as Rarity is held by slavers! Once she's rescued, then we'll talk about naptime." Considering my behavior up to that point, no one thought to question me. Rationally, I knew that our chances would have been better had I rested, but I was far from caring at the time. I was restless. With no other options in mind, I peered down one of the holes. I couldn't see the bottom. How deep was this goddamn hole? I would have tested that had I not been interrupted by a pair of glowing yellow eyes glaring up at me. Suspecting I knew who the owner of those eyes, I glared right back. "Come on up pussycat, or I'll come down there and neuter you!" The eyes narrowed in anger, and they threw a patch of dirt in my face. I stepped back and quickly shook it off. When I opened my eyes again, the hole was completely filled in. I couldn't believe it. Somehow, that fucker could work fast enough to fill a bottomless pit in the time it takes me to recover from getting blasted in the face with some sand. But if he could close these holes that fast... I yelled out to my friends. "Quick, find a hole and descend before they're all closed!" We scattered about the field, running for any of the holes. I dove after another, but I crashed into a sudden mound of dirt. I landed on my face, go figure, and I looked around to see how my friends were doing. They weren't faring any better. Applejack was running straight for them, but she wasn't fast enough. "Arrgh, we can't just muscle through!" She growled. Rainbow Dash, self-proclaimed fastest pony in Equestria, took that as a challenge. "We'll see about that!" She rose high into the air, and shot down like a torpedo. As fast as she was, she was no match for the speed of the diamond dogs. She stopped inches away from colliding with a recently filled hole that was empty just a moment before. With Fluttershy not even getting close to the holes before flying dirt startled her away, and Pinkie face-planting every single time, it was obvious that we were getting nowhere with this plan. Looking around, Applejack sighed. "Now ah'm used to pickin' myself up and dustin' myself off, but Rarity won't even touch mud 'less it's imported. Ah can only imagine what she's goin' through, right about now." The others stared up in thought, presumably imagining just that. While they shuddered at the musings of their own minds, I was pretty sure that Rarity would be alright for at least another hour or two. If we were lucky, Rarity wouldn't even be touched until tomorrow morning. By now, I got my breath back and I looked around for another hole to try. There were still plenty to choose from. Think "Twilight", think! We know we can't use speed to overcome them, so what else should we try? I thought that if they we faster than us, then what if they didn't know to react? That's it! We'll use stealth! I slowly crept towards one of the remaining holes, careful not to make a single noise. I peered down into its depths. Perfect, I couldn't see anyone! I jumped into it, and fell for a little while. Things were going swimmingly for me, until something suddenly grabbed me. "Nice try, pony." It commented with a gravelly voice. Whatever it was threw me back outside. I fell back down after some impressive air-time, and landed right back down onto a newly filled hole. I punched it in frustration, shooting pain up through my hoof. I didn't care; I was getting too pissed. Being sneaky was usually my go-to strategy for everything, and it just failed. I went over to my friends, who were making another plan. Applejack came up with another plan. "Ah say we try diggin' 'em out!" The others voiced their agreement with this, but I silently shook my head. What did we just establish about brute force? If subterfuge wouldn't work, then why would strength? With my noodly arms and legs, I doubted I would be much help digging, but I could watch over my friends as they worked. If the dogs wouldn't let us just jump down, there was no way they would let us dig to them. As I suspected, once they began digging, I noticed a few of the dogs popping up. It figures that the name "diamond dogs" would be halfway literal, as they were monstrous dogs with big claws. They looked mean, too. If ever there was a punchable creature, this was it. I knew he would interfere, so I ran straight at him. He pulled Pinkie's tail and snapped it back into her like a rubber band. I lunged at him, but he retreated back into the earth before I could grab him. Pinkie was okay, so while she got her bearings, I watched for any more dogs. I barely heard Fluttershy squeak when one of the dogs picked her up. I rushed over as fast as I could, but he dropped her and retreated before I could even pounce. Rainbow and Applejack were playing a pitiful game of whack-a-mole, before eventually colliding with each other. "Okay, this isn't working either." I sighed. I expected as much. Force was never something I was good at. "Oh, what can we do? These scary monsters are everywhere! I can only imagine how scared Rarity must be." Fluttershy worried. I rolled my eyes as everyone imagined just that with worried expressions, staring up into space. So they were being distracted again, so it fell to me to think of something. We've tried speed, force, and stealth, so what else could we possibly try? Magic, maybe? That would work, since magic is the ultimate cheat mode, but the only problem with that is that I don't know any spells that could really help. Well, not unless there's a door that needs locking. I could use an Energy Beam, but I would need them to sit still long enough for that to work. "I got it!" Spike proclaimed. I looked over, startled to see Spike with a shining blue gem I was absolutely positive he didn't have before. "Hey Pinkie, do you have a fishing rod and some string I could borrow?" "Sure thing, Spike!" She pulled the items in question out from her mane, somehow, and handed them to Spike. "I'll save you, my sweet." He muttered as he tied the gem to the rod. I rolled my eyes at Spike's melodramatic mutterings. Still, when I saw what his plan was, I couldn't help but pat him on the head and say "Good thinking, kid." We were baiting these assholes. When they grab the gem, we would either follow them down or force them to grant us entry. Depends on how this plays out, of course. Pretty impressive thinking from someone who was essentially a toddler. Spike smiled with a little embarrassment at my praise, and threw the gem over to one of the remaining holes. We sat in wait behind some rocks, watching the nothing happening in front of us. We sat there for a while. Seriously, this is why I don't like fishing. All you have to do for a long period of time is to let your mind wander. I wasn't the one who was thinking too hard, though; it was Spike who was lost in his thoughts. With the way he was swaying in place and almost muttering, I figured he was day-dreaming. Not such a bad thing most of the time, but that changed when he leaned forward with his lips out for a kiss. Important to mention here was how I was sitting right next to him, and he was leaning in my direction. Of course his eyes were closed, otherwise he would have stopped when he noticed me freaking out. I placed a hoof on his head to stop him, and he opened his eyes to see me giving him one of those looks he so casually sends my way. "Dude, relax." Spike smiled sheepishly and returned his attention to the task at hand. Just in time, too, as he got a bite. I only knew this because he screamed "Whoawhoawhoawhoa I got a bite!" as the pole dragged him away. Now, I wasn't just gonna let Spike get abducted by these hounds, so I grabbed a hold of him and tried to stand firm where we were. Considering these dogs can throw a whole pony like a smaller than average stone, would you be surprised if I said that my assistance was no help? Applejack grabbed me next, but she didn't help much, either. I tumbled down the hole with Spike at this point, but I could still tell that the others were trying to pull us back. If Applejack, of all ponies, couldn't over-power a diamond dog, then I doubted Fluttershy was the game changing strongman to turn the tides. Looking from the outside of the hole, I wouldn't have expected much from the tunnels. Now that I was going through one, I could fully appreciate how archaic diamond dog tunneling patterns could be. Most species with some sort of mining protocols would have shafts with ladders or platforms leading down to allow easy travel in either direction. Judging by the diamond dogs' layout, they said "fuck it" and just dug down into the earth in such a haphazard way as to accidentally make slides. After a minute of fearful screaming and Pinkie's inappropriately silly giggling, most of us ground-bound folk face-planted on the unforgiving rocky floor. As for the pegasi, those fortunate ponies alighted with the softest of steps. At least physical trauma seems negligible in Equestria, otherwise I would have been a cripple in at least three separate instances by this point. "Ha ha, it worked! We're in! Now we can finally save Rarity!" Spike cheered, even more unfazed than the rest of us. We were in a small chamber with many tunnels leading out, flickering torchlight illuminating the caves. Not all of the exits to the chamber were level with us. "Which way do we go?" I wondered out loud. "Ah guess we'll just have to search 'em one by one." Applejack suggested. "Ugh, that'll take forever! There has to be a way to narrow it down." Rainbow groaned. "I'll bet they have her down the tunnel with the most gems." Spike guessed. "Alright, does anyone here know how to do any prospecting? Because otherwise, we'll have to resort to other methods." I said. "Don't you know any gem-finding spells, like Rarity does?" Spike asked. "I don't even know a single divination." Spike gave me a perplexed look. "Don't you know a spell that detects magic?" I narrowed my eyes in frustration. The things I have to deal with when living with this guy... "I don't know any useful divinations. At the very least, we can exclude searching any of the elevated tunnels, since even they would have trouble carrying Rarity up there. That narrows it down to five tunnels. If these dogs are as dumb as their tunnel structure indicates, they shouldn't be too labyrinthine for us to follow." "Laba-what?" Rainbow asked. I sighed. Sometimes it sucks having a huge vocabulary. "Winding or complex in layout. Meaning it won't take very long to search five tunnels." "Then we'd best get to lookin'!" Applejack declared. "Lead on!" I followed Applejack down one of the tunnels. Hey, I was just glad that someone else was taking the lead this time. With any luck, we would find Rarity soon. We traveled down the tunnel keeping a sharp eye on our surroundings. There wasn't much to look at, but consider we were in the territory of a species who was really good at burrowing. At least I was the only one on edge about possible traps, the others didn't seem to consider this. There's little to say about these same-y corridors and blank walls. They were rock walls in a cave, what else can I say? That no matter how far we go, I can't find the torches giving off light? That they were gray? I was just glad that we haven't been jumped yet. I couldn't say just how long we walked down a blank, empty corridor, but we finally got some confirmation that we were going the right way. Down the way, we heard sobbing from a familiar source. "That's Rarity! Let's go!" Rainbow declared, breaking into a sprint. We ran after her, eager to rescue our friend. We came across a chamber with even more exits than the first. One of the exits was blocked by a door with a conspicuous lock. I growled in frustration. "Great, now we have to find a fucking key." Before anyone could say anything to that, we were jumped. Upon each of us, a diamond dog hopped on and put ropes over out muzzles. "More work horses." One dumbly declared. Holy shit, was I offended by that. I was a pony (at the time), so how else could I react to something that was probably a racial slur and a declaration of my captivity? "You did not just say that, you dead motherfucker." The others took my defiance to mean that we should buck these guys away. Sure, while they did the standard pony thing and shook them off, I just levitated a rock the size of my head. There's no more satisfying way of dismounting a bastard than smashing his face with a rock. The other diamond dogs flew off my friends, and decided that they had no balls, and scampered off. The guy who assaulted me, sporting a nasty bruise on his snout, was not so quick. He was too busy being disoriented from my attack. Prone on the ground and out of his wits, I snarled at his fallen form. I wasn't done with him. The others watched me curiously, as I stalked over the fallen dog. He shook his head to regain his bearings, but for naught as I punched him right in the bruise. He yelped and tried to scramble away, but unfortunately for him, I knew that I could use my levitation on living creatures. I effortlessly dragged him by the ankle back to me. I punched him in the ankle, and he yelped in pain. While he grabbed his hurting ankle, I stomped his other ankle. He pushed me away with one arm and tried to scramble away again, but I wasn't going to let him escape. I lunged at him and smashed into his chest. This latest attack took his breath away, which opened him up for any amount of punishment I saw fit. That was good, since I wasn't too happy about him trying to enslave us, and I wanted to hurt him a lot. So I threw punches at whatever was open: his face, his stomach, his pelvis (I didn't say crotch! I promised not to do that anymore!), whatever. If it was open, I punched it. It was almost sad how helpless he was to my assault, especially considering how strong diamond dogs are. It got to the point where he couldn't even hold up his arms to defend himself, yet I still kept punching him. Thinking things were getting excessive, Rainbow and Applejack pulled me away kicking wildly at the dog. "Whoa whoa, take it easy, you got him!" Rainbow said, trying to calm me. "I'm not done, yet! I won't stop until he's the only dog wearing an eye-patch!" I struggled to break free, but Rainbow and Applejack easily kept me in place. It was just then I realized how out of breath I was. "Look, I get that yer upset about Rarity and all, but now's not the time to get all worked up about one dog! Let's just get Rarity, and leave before you do somethin' you regret!" Applejack ordered. I stopped struggling, panting while nodding. "Alright, we'll do it your way." Convinced I was done, they let me go. I feigned as if I was going to follow them to the door, but I turned and ran at the fallen dog again. Before either of them could react, I lunged at him again and punched him across the face. "There, now I'm done." Applejack glared slightly at me, but our attention was grabbed by a cacophony of shattering glass past the door. Worried about my friend inside, I ran for the door. "Oh shit, Rarity!" I rattled the door, but it would open. "Shit! How are we going to open this without the key?" I looked around the room for something I could use, and my eyes fell on the fallen dog. I couldn't help but smile evilly. "Hey Applejack, remember how I said I was done with that dog?" Applejack eyed me suspiciously. "Yeah, why?" I marched over to the dog and tried to lift him. But he was too heavy, so I grabbed him with my levitation. I dragged him to the door, and smashed him through it. "I lied." Applejack glared at me, but said nothing. I charged through the now open door, my friends following me in. What we found was... not what we were expecting. Three diamond dogs ran at us and fell to their knees, pleading. "Save us! Please, save us! Make it stop! Please!" I was understandably confused at this sudden turn of events. "What the hell are you talking about? We came here to kick your asses!" "Do whatever you want! Just please, take her away!" One begged. "She's so picky!" One whined. "And critical!" Another added. "She won't stop talking!" "And crying!" I looked back to my friends questioningly, but they merely shrugged. The one we came to rescue, Rarity, walked over to greet us with a nonchalant smile. "Hello, girls! You're just in time to assist me." "With what?" Applejack asked. "With those." Rarity pointed at six carts filled way over the top with valuable gemstones, glittering enticingly. I nodded my approval. "Well I'll be damned. You made these dogs want you gone more than anything, and you managed to take a king's ransom worth of gems all on your own? Rarity, I think you're my favorite friend." Rarity chuckled bashfully. "Oh, you're just saying that." The dogs in the room winced at that phrase, for some reason. I shrugged. "If you say so. C'mon girls, let's rightfully steal these gems from this colony of bitches." "I doubt there's a need for such vulgar language." Rarity commented. I hooked myself up to one of the carts, the others following suit. "They're dogs. It was more a pun than anything else." Rarity rolled her eyes, and we pulled the carts away. The dogs conveniently told Rarity where the exit was. How nice of them. Rarity noticed the unconscious diamond dog from earlier. "Oh my, what happened to him?" I was about to answer, but Applejack spoke first. "Don't ask. Twi here can be awfully scary when she wants to be." Rarity looked at me for confirmation. "What? They attacked us first." I said in my defense. As we walked forward, everyone chatting, I thought about what lead up to this. Rarity was in that barren area looking for gems, but why? Couldn't she find gems anywhere else (and that's a question I can only ask in Equestria)? I decided to ask, even if the answer would be underwhelming. "So Rarity, why did you go gem hunting past the woods? Couldn't you have gone somewhere easier?" "Well, I could have, but I just wanted to make sure I found enough gems. They are very copious around here, you know." She replied. "It sounds like you have a special project in mind." I observed. "What're you working on that needs so many gems?" "Oh, I was just running low, is all." That was a suspiciously simple answer. Rarity was definitely hiding something. "Is that really all? Because I still think you're working on something big." Rarity half-smiled. "True enough, I suppose. I just wanted to apologize for the Young Flyer Competition, so I thought I would make something fabulous for you." I sighed. "You don't need to do that. I'm not angry at you." Rarity wasn't going to accept that. "But I ruined the competition with which you were working so hard to help, and you got hurt! I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to make up for it!" "I get hurt all the time." I countered. "Besides, you're my friend, and we all make mistakes. Really, it's okay." "I'd feel better if I could do something, though." "Well I'd feel better if we could move on." Rarity's face contorted into a pout. "Please? I just want to apologize." "I don't want you to feel like you have to buy my friendship." I resolved. "If you're worried that I'm still upset about the competition, then let me show you that I'm not. Let's just spend some time together and you'll see that it's far and away from my mind." Rarity smiled. "That sounds lovely. But at least let me buy lunch." I glanced back at the many gems we were hauling with a chuckle. "Yeah, okay." We nodded to each other in understanding. While it seemed that things between me and Rarity would be alright, I noticed Spike was staring at me from the corner of my vision. I was used to the looks he gave me on occasion, but he's never been so intent on me before. I could only hope that he wasn't catching on, but that was likely a lost cause by now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike lay in his basket, wide awake despite the late hour. All was quiet in the bedroom, even Twilight Sparkle lying on the side of her face. The room was nearly pitch black, with the exception of the moon's light filtering through the window. Spike could see very well in this light, of course. All the better for him to stare at the object of his perplexity. Twilight Sparkle. She was being very odd, lately. Spike knew this. Ever since they first arrived in Ponyville, she's been acting differently. At first, Spike chalked it up to meeting new ponies or getting some fresh air for the first time in forever. When she was blunt and curt, he merely thought it was because she was asocial and didn't know any better. When she got really angry to the point of starting fights, Spike just assumed that she wasn't used to dealing with anger. Twilight Sparkle was strange, but that didn't explain how she could be so cruel. In many ways, it seemed like Twilight became a lot more friendly and outgoing than she used to be. She went on adventures with her new friends, went to the gym, practiced new magic, and mellowed out considerably. Spike just assumed that was all because of her new friendships. But friendship doesn't explain how she could savagely beat someone. Fighting was one thing, but Spike absolutely refused to believe that Twilight could ever attack a helpless victim. Or should he say, the real Twilight. If this "Twilight" was an imposter, it explained everything. No obnoxious checklists, not freaking out over unorganized work spaces, the explosive anger, the constant swearing, the absence of re-shelving day. Spike was personally glad about that last one, but it was awfully strange of Twilight to never even consider it. It would explain why Twilight seemed to hate magic more than anything. It would explain why she kept saying these weird phrases that insinuated that she was actually a guy, or not even a pony. Once Spike considered this, he just couldn't stop looking at her differently. She's been acting the same since two months ago, but something just seemed sinister about "Twilight's" actions now. She accepted Rarity's apology easily, but that now seemed like "Twilight" was forcing cohesion between them. At lunch, when Sapphire Shores approached Rarity for the luckiest work order of her career, "Twilight" joined in on the jubilation. But with the thought of "Twilight" savagely beating a helpless diamond dog, Spike doubted the sincerity. No, Twilight would never beat down an injured creature for any reason. Whoever this... creature was, they were wearing a mask, putting on a flimsy facade that only runs skin-deep. Spike stared at the imposter unicorn with the same question that was on his mind since leaving the caves. "Who are you?"