//------------------------------// // Accidentally on Purpose // Story: In the Absence of Sunset Shimmer // by MyHobby //------------------------------// Twilight gripped the steering wheel tight. She headed for the edge of the city, into the darkness left by a dwindling number of streetlights. It would be an hour’s drive to the portal, which wasn’t all that much considering it could have been anywhere. The rain had slacked a bit, becoming a dull thrum against the windshield. “Twilight,” Sunset Shimmer said pointing down a road they’d just passed, “the kennel is the other way.” Twilight mulled over her answer, tapping her thumbs against the wheel. “I know. I’m not taking Spike there.” “Then where?” Sunset propped her cheek up on her hand. “He can’t just come with us to…” Her forehead furrowed. “No.” “What?” “No!” Sunset glanced at the dog sleeping in the small backseat. “No, no, no. Twilight, we can’t bring him to Equestria. He’s… It’s not…” She clenched her fists and growled beneath her breath. “He has a double, too.” Twilight Sparkle huffed. “Can you please just tell me everybody who has a double and get it over with?” Sunset blinked. “Uh. You, Spike, our friends, the principals, the Apple Family, Flash—” “What.” “I know, right? Actually, I’m pretty sure even President Cadenza has a double.” Sunset ran a hand through her damp hair. “Never met either of them, personally.” Twilight’s eyes flicked to her friend. “Cadence, huh? Makes me wonder if she babysat the other Twilight, too.” Sunset Shimmer gave Twilight a double-take. “You’re telling me you were babysat by the future president?” “These politicians have to start somewhere.” Twilight Sparkle turned her high-beam headlights on when she left the city, rolling onto the highway. “So, what about you? Do you have an alternate universe double floating around somewhere? An evil twin? A shattered reflection of the goodness in your heart?” Sunset sighed. “Are you making fun of me?” “Yes.” “Then no. None that I ever met. I looked for a few years, but…” Sunset adjusted her seatbelt to sit lower on her thighs. “Urgh. But I never found anything. It stopped being important to me, right around the time I met you.” She tilted her head. “There were more important things to do.” “So it’s possible, at least.” Twilight Sparkle moved into the fast lane to pass a slower car. “What does any of that have to do with not bringing Spike?” “Because his double is a dragon.” Twilight spent the next few minutes laughing hard, right from the belly. She slowed the car as she tried to keep them on the road. Sunset gripped her armrests tight, praying fervently that the slick rainwater wouldn’t be the death of them. Twilight regained control of the car and her laughter. She giggled, gritting her teeth together. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.” “It’s a start,” Sunset whimpered. “How’s about I drive?” “Sorry. No dice.” Twilight Sparkle caught a mile marker flashing in her lights. Twenty-or-so miles to go. “So the sweetest dog you’d ever meet is also a giant, fire-breathing, town-destroying dragon right outta Daring Do and the Scales of Leviathan?” “No, he was a baby the last time I saw him.” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her wedding ring. “I’m looking at this from his perspective. He’s a dog. He doesn’t have to worry about high-concept stuff. Imagine what he might do if one day he woke up and he was suddenly a different species.” Twilight’s eyes went to her rearview mirror. She could see Spike resting peacefully, his side rising and falling with gentle breaths. “Not sure I follow.” “You and I, we’re sapient.” Sunset Shimmer counted down on her fingers. “We can remember. We can learn. More than that, we can think. We can reason. We can be convinced that something is not worth panicking over.” “Some of us can,” Twilight muttered. Sunset reached back and placed a hand on Spike’s head. “Spike here is not sapient. He’s sentient. He can’t reason; he can feel. He responds to outside stimulus. He lives according to his instincts.” Twilight arched her back to relieve a growing stiffness. “And? What does that have to do with—?” “What are Spike’s instincts going to say,” Sunset said, “when he gets there and finds himself in a new body? His brain isn’t going to be able to process ‘I’m no longer a dog.’ He’s going to panic. Have you ever seen a dragon freak out?” Twilight’s shoulders slumped. “Can’t say I have.” “But you can picture it.” Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms. She shook her head. “It wouldn’t be fair to anybody. Not to the people wherever we’re going, and not to him.” Thunder rumbled in the distance. Twilight took a quick look at the sky to see the rainclouds rolling. The storm was about to get worse. “But I have to try.” “Wait, what?” Sunset shifted in her seat, turning towards Twilight. “Did you not listen to a word I said?” “I did. But I have to do it anyway.” Sunset’s mouth fell open at an angle, her eyes flashing in the dark. “Are you nuts? We’re talking about a dragon, here! A gem-crushing, fire-blasting, bone-crunching—” “It’s Spike!” Twilight shouted. The wheels lost traction with the road. The car twisted to the left, then the right, the rear fishtailing. Twilight hit the brakes and slid the car over to the side of the highway, inches from diving into the ditch. The car they’d passed rolled on ahead, honking its horn. Twilight fought to keep her breath under control. Her chest heaved as she gripped the wheel tight. She rested her head against the seat, using every breathing exercise she knew. Sunset swallowed hard and stared ahead. Her fingernails dug into the leather armrests. Her stomach was flipping around like a drunken tumbler. “Excuse me.” She unlocked the door, slipped outside the car, and heaved into the grass. It took Twilight a second to realize that Spike was barking. Her shout had woken him, and the sudden movement had sent him flying into the side window. She unbuckled herself and reached back for him. “Shh, Spike, it’s okay.” She hugged him close, petting him in an effort to calm the both of them down. Her door opened. Sunset Shimmer loomed over her, her face almost as dark as the clouds overhead. “I’m driving. Get out.” A protest died in Twilight’s chest. “That’s probably a good idea.” They switched seats, their knees shaking with a rush of adrenaline. Sunset Shimmer adjusted the mirrors, and then set off for their destination once more. She flicked the cruise control on with a grunt. “Why do you want to take Spike so badly?” Twilight pulled her fogging glasses off of her eyes. They hung from her fingertips, dripping with water. “Spike is dying, Sunset. And magic…” She scratched behind Spike’s ears. “You said magic can do anything I could imagine. The immortality spell—” “Wouldn’t work on him.” Sunset’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry I mislead you. Magic can do anything you can imagine… to a point.” Twilight tensed up. “What point is that?” “He’s dying of old age, Twilight.” Sunset Shimmer decreased their speed as the rain grew harsher. “We have age-changing spells. But they can only be cast by the most powerful mages, and only last a day. If he was sick, we could fight to find a cure, but…” She felt Spike sniffing her jacket. “But he’s just worn out.” “But…” Twilight stuffed her hands in the pockets of her long coat. “I have to save him. I have to try.” “Save him from what?” Sunset reached across the car and gripped Twilight’s elbow. “It’s okay. He’s had a good, long life. Filled with love. He’ll be gone, but he’ll always leave something behind in our hearts.” Twilight looked at Spike. He looked back, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging. She blinked tears away. “Do you think dogs have souls?” Sunset Shimmer frowned. “What do you mean?” “Do they have something… more?” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Or are they just bags of flesh and instincts?” Sunset let out a low “hmm.” She flashed her friend an uneasy smile. “‘Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.’” Twilight scoffed. “Leave the movie quotes to Scootaloo. It’s not you.” Pain crossed Sunset’s face. She gnawed her lower lip, placing her gaze dead ahead. “Yeah, sure. Leave it to Scootaloo.” She clicked the right turn signal and took an exit. One side of the road was thick with overshadowing trees, while the other was dotted with farmhouses. Another right turn took them out of the rural area, the only sign of civilization in this part of the county. The land they entered was thick woods and rocky ground, not quite mountainous, but on the cusp. “Turn here,” Twilight said, consulting her phone’s GPS. She pointed to a dirt road that was unmarked on the map. “It’s down that way.” The road was more of a two-track. No paving or gravel, and only the regular hikers to wear it into a recognizable path. Mud slurped under the car’s wheels. Twilight briefly worried about getting stuck, but Sunset halted the car. “I’d say we’re close enough,” Sunset Shimmer said. “Right.” Twilight Sparkle reached for the handle. “Twilight.” Sunset touched her friend’s shoulder. “We’ll scout it out. We’ll see if there’s any sign of Adagio. Then we’ll pile back into the car and take Spike to a shelter. I’m sorry, but we can’t take him with us.” Twilight sucked in a deep breath. She hugged Spike, who stared out the windshield with his eyes wide and his floppy ears perked as much as he could get them. “Okay.” Sunset turned the key, shutting the car off. “About what you said… Spike loves you.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. “I don’t know if he has a soul, or if that means he goes somewhere when he dies or just sleeps or what. All I know is that he loves you, and love is not an instinct. He’s got something magical.” Twilight pulled her glasses out of her pocket and set them on her nose. She smiled. “Thanks, Sunset. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.” “I mean it.” Sunset laughed lightly. “Probably not the best conversation to have when tracking down a murderer, huh?” “Maybe just the right one.” Twilight Sparkle pushed her door out. “Now let’s do this—” Spike leaped over Twilight and bolted into the rain, barking up a storm. Twilight stared after him as he disappeared into the trees. She turned back to Sunset with a choked giggle. “Uh-hum… Oops?” “Follow him, follow him, follow him!” Sunset jumped out of the car and nearly stumbled into a mud puddle. “Don’t lose him! I think he senses something!” Twilight half-ran, half tripped through the forest, chasing the sound of Spike’s rapid barking. She slipped on moss, she stubbed her toes on rocks, she nearly slammed into a tree or two, but she kept pushing through the darkness. She moved between two trees, and the world fell out from under her. Her legs went in the air and her head swung towards the ground before she slid on her back into a deep valley, screaming. She groaned in her own personal mud pie, which squelched as she sat up. She reached up with grimy hands to wipe rainwater from her glasses. “Sunset? Sunset!” “Up here, Twilight!” Sunset called out. She stood at the top of the hill, her hand blazing with light. The rain sizzled against her magical flame. “I’m coming down!” “Careful, it’s slippery!” Twilight stood up and almost fell flat on her back. She gripped a nearby sapling like her life depended on it. “I lost Spike! Do you see him?” “Yeah, his barking is coming from down there!” Sunset leaned on a branch, using it to lever herself downward. “You sure you don’t see him?” “No!” Twilight strained her ears. Over the hiss of the rain against the leaves, she could just make out an echoing woof. “I know what you mean, though. It sounds like he’s coming from…” Sunset Shimmer slipped the last few steps down. Twilight caught her with both hands. Sunset lifted her hand, illuminating the immediate area. Twilight sighed through her nose. “It sounds like he’s in there.” She pointed ahead, indicating a dark, mossy cave mouth. It was overgrown, easily missed unless you were right next to it. Long grass dangled before the opening, while jagged rocks lined the bottom. “Inside the mysterious cave,” Sunset groaned. “Yeah, that’s par for the course. Did you bring a flashlight?” Twilight reached into her trench coat. Past the gun lay a deep pocket, from which she pulled a long, heavy flashlight. “I kinda figured your magic had us covered.” “Well, if it gets any brighter than this it’ll start setting things on fire.” Sunset nodded at the dark mouth. “Kinda nice to have a backup if I get tired, you know?” Twilight crept to the entrance. She set a foot inside, flicking her light on. The ceiling was low, so they both had to bend over to walk through. “Fair enough. I have spare batteries, too.” Sunset flipped the collar of her coat down as she moved out of the rain. “You have anything else interesting in that trench coat of yours?” “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Twilight said with dancing eyebrows. At Sunset’s muttered curse, she added, “Not too much. Just my pistol and a couple protein bars.” Sunset eased past her, her flickering hand held high. “And a metric ton of notepads and pencils?” “You know me too well…” Twilight closed her mouth as her voice echoed within the tunnel. “Do you hear that?” “Hear what?” Twilight doubled her pace, balancing herself with a hand on the rocky wall. “He’s not barking anymore.” After a few near-slipups, they reached the end of the tunnel. It opened up into a house-sized cavern. High overhead, the stalactites shimmered in their light. Far below, a pool of water rippled outward. Twilight Sparkle flashed her light around the room. There were no other entrances. “He’s gotta be in here.” Sunset Shimmer clenched her hand tight. She let her fire die down and wiggled her fingers. “Twilight, douse your flashlight.” “Douse it? What is this, the eighteen-hundreds?” “Just trust me.” Sunset closed her eyes and took in a long, savoring breath. “Turn it off.” Twilight took one last look around the cavern. She jumped at a dark shadow, which soon revealed itself to just be an odd rock formation. “As you command, ma’am.” She clicked off her flashlight and nearly jumped out of her skin. The water was glowing. Not the faint, vanishing maybe-glow of glow-in-the-dark toys. Not the odd shimmer of bioluminescent lichen or animals. It was bright light spewing forth from the heart of the pool like a dazzling, bright-blue spotlight. The cavern walls reflected a strange turquoise flicker in return. Sunset Shimmer’s red and yellow hair turned purple and green in the light. She knelt beside the pool and dipped her hand in the ripples. “‘Where the brambles are thickest… there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines. Into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared. And she solemnly sweared not to be scared…’” She looked down into the water, at her own face mirrored in its depths. “‘At the prospect of being doubly mared.’” Twilight Sparkle stood behind her, a hand on her hip. “What the heck’s all that supposed to mean?” “It’s nothing. Just a silly nursery rhyme.” Sunset paddled her hand in the water before standing up. “I keep trying it any time I see a pool, just to see if it’s real or not. Call it a habit.” “Smoking is a habit.” Twilight hugged herself. “This is… a little terrifying. Where’s the portal?” Sunset gestured to the pool. “You’re kidding.” Twilight scowled. “You’re kidding, right?” Sunset shrugged, a small smirk on her face. “You said you came through a mirror.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “And the other side of the portal came out of a high school’s statue. My gosh, can’t these things ever stay consistent?” “We should hurry.” Sunset got down on her hands and knees at the edge of the pool. “Spike probably already went through. Who knows what’s happening on the other side?” Twilight Sparkle clasped her hands beside her mouth, extending her index fingers over her lips. “Yeah. Yeah, we should get him back.” Sunset cupped water in her hands and let it dribble through her fingers. She looked up at Twilight. “Are you ready for this?” Twilight knelt on one knee, propping her elbow on the other. She reached for Sunset’s hand, who took it with a smile. “Alright,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I’m ready.” The two of them fell over into the water. *** Sunset Shimmer screamed as she fell through the spinning vortex of light. Magic ran in torrents through her body. Her limbs prickled as she was forcibly molded from a human body to a pony. Her fingers disappeared first, followed by her toes. Her arms and legs shrunk while her spinal column realigned. It wasn’t painful, she was thankful to say, it was just excessively weird. There was a pop, a tingle, and a flash as her horn appeared on her forehead. Sunset grinned, suppressing a squeal. That had been missed. She exited the far side of the portal, setting her hooves on firm, rocky ground. She looked around the room, a domed cavern exactly mirroring the one they’d just left. She took a step forward and kicked a pebble across the floor. A smile crawled across her face as she lifted it with her magic. Another pebble lifted into the air. Then another. Then several others. Her grin widened while her horn flickered and sparkled with energy. It flowed from her quickening heart to her limbs, eventually spouting from, her forehead. She directed the pebbles in a dance around her, flying around in an intricate dance. She kicked up her hooves and laughed aloud, giddy from having such a strong connection to her magic again. “Where the heck are my fingers!” Sunset Shimmer spun around. She beheld a small, thin unicorn mare cloaked in a long trench coat. The unicorn stared at her purple hooves. Her gaping, disbelieving mouth gathered air for harsher profanity. “Twilight,” Sunset said. “Please calm down.” She couldn’t help it anymore. She burst into a series of light giggles. “We’re in Equestria! Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” Her horn flashed with spiraling streaks of light. “I forgot how good this feels! Isn’t it amazing?” “I have no fingers!” Twilight Sparkle tried to stand on her hind legs, but soon fell to all fours. “And I can’t stand! And my—” She looked to her rear. “I have a tail! What have you done to me?” “I didn’t do anything.” Sunset completely forgot herself and pranced around the room. “It’s just something that naturally happens when we move between this world and ours! Isn’t it cool? Isn’t it awesome?” “Are you high? I have no fingers!” Twilight screeched. “I can’t survive without my fingers!” Sunset was about to reply, when she noticed an uncomfortable itch over her entire body. She looked down at her jacket and jeans. “Aha! That’s gotta go.” Twilight Sparkle stared in mystified fury as Sunset Shimmer pulled off her pants. “Why in the name of everything everywhere are you stripping?” “Duh. The fabric’s messing up my coat.” Sunset cast her clothes to the side in a bubble of magic. “It’s okay, Twilight. As humans we need clothes to be decent, but everything’s covered up when we’re ponies.” “You’re naked! Nothing’s covered up!” Twilight blinked. She looked down at her own chest. “Sunset… Sunset, where are my breasts?” Sunset blushed a bright red. “Urgh. Well—” “Actually, don’t answer that.” Twilight tried to slap her forehead with an open hand, but clocked herself in the eye with her hoof instead. “Ow! You know what? I actually thought you were just a weirdo with a horse fetish. I had no stinking idea that you were actually a bug-eyed, nudist alien from the planet Crayola!” The buzz in Sunset’s horn began to die down under Twilight’s onslaught. “It’s Equestria, actually.” “The planet?” “No, the country, but—” “The country!” Twilight Sparkle smiled with a mad gleam in her eye. “Dare I say that makes you an… Equestrian?” “Actually yes, but—” Twilight tried to take a step forward and fell to her knees. “Is your entire world built on stupid puns, or is it relegated to you pony types?” Sunset Shimmer squirmed. “The minotaur and cow homeland is called ‘Beefland…’” Twilight’s glasses sat askew on her nose. “I changed my mind. That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.” Sunset tapped her hooves together. “Does this mean you’re not taking off your clothes? You’d be a lot more comfortable without—” “Aw, shut up.” Twilight reached up to flip her collar over her neck. Her blunt hooves were unable to grasp the fabric, naturally. She glared at the limbs. “This isn’t what I expected when you described a land of magic and dragons.” “Sorry.” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her foreleg. “I kinda thought you knew. Or guessed. Or…” She shrugged. “Sorry.” Twilight Sparkle sat on her rump with a sigh. She held her forelegs out. “Whatever. Help me up. It’s time to learn to walk.” Instead of grasping her hooves, Sunset walked around to the back and nudged Twilight’s rump. “Yipe!” Twilight hopped up. She wobbled a few feet forward. “Watch where you’re sticking your schnoz!” Sunset Shimmer smirked. “Well, are you walking or aren’t you?” Twilight looked down at her feet. She furrowed her brow and took a deliberate step. When she moved her rear legs, one got in the way of the other. Sunset caught her in a flash of magic. “Easy. Don’t think about it so much. It’ll just come naturally.” Twilight frowned. She spread her legs out and waddled. Sunset coughed. “You’re walking like you’ve got a stick up your—” “Shut up, Sunset.” Sunset came alongside her friend. Twilight tottered like a foal, but was at least mostly mobile. A nudge here and there kept her on track. “Please stop touching me when you’re naked,” Twilight said. “It’s only weird if you make it weird.” “I’m actually begging you to put your mom jeans back on.” Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes. “No. Just try and accept that this is the social norm around here.” “Twenty-six years, Sunset,” Twilight growled. “Please accept that after living twenty-six years in a society with a nudity taboo, I think I’d like to remain dressed.” “Your loss,” Sunset mumbled. Twilight stopped with a little difficulty getting her hooves aligned. She glanced around the cave, examining the tunnel ahead with narrowed eyes. “Do you know where we are?” “I might when we reach the outside.” The tip of Sunset’s horn blinked. “I can pick up a faint something, but I’m not sure if it’s another pony, or a creature, or what.” Twilight pressed her lips tight. “Is it Spike?” “How the hay should I know?” “Because of the two of us,” Twilight said, “you’re the one who’s a magical unicorn wizard.” Sunset smiled. “It sounds silly when you say it like that.” “Imagine that.” Sunset nodded at the passageway. “Only way to find out is to take a look.” Twilight looked at the darkened hallway. She leaned against her friend and swallowed hard. “Yeah. To boldly go where no human has gone before.” Sunset nudged her forth. “Now who’s quoting movies?” “It’s a TV series.” Twilight locked her eyes on the ground between her hooves. “Totally different.” Sunset felt the presence get closer. Somebody else was using magic nearby, but she was too out of practice to say exactly what sort. “While you’re down there, keep an eye out for signs of Adagio. She had to have come this way.” “Recently, too. The murder was this morning.” Twilight lifted a hoof to point, and almost rolled head first into the ground. She was stopped by Sunset’s foreleg. “Thanks. There, on the ground. A footprint.” Sunset bent low. In the dust of the cavern, the faint imprint of a hoof could be made out. “How did you even see that?” “It’s my job.” Twilight pushed her glasses up to her forehead and squinted. “Made not too long ago, by my count. It probably belongs to our pony.” Sunset lit her horn, illuminating the dim tunnel. More hoofprints appeared as the light grew brighter. “Some of these are scuffed. Was she in a hurry?” “She could have b—” Twilight Sparkle choked on her next words. She sat on her rump and gestured at the wall. Sunset looked up. Deep furrows ran through the rock in patterns of four. Cracks spider-webbed around a deep indent, the sign of a heavy impact. She took a hesitant step closer. “Claw marks?” Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “What could be strong enough to make claw marks in solid stone?” Sunset Shimmer gulped. “A drago—” “Spike!” Twilight toddled down the tunnel. “Spike! Here boy!” “Twilight!” Sunset hissed. She hopped up to her friend and clamped a hoof over her mouth. “He’ll hear you!” “That’s the idea—” Twilight Sparkle’s eyes popped. “Oh crap. You were right, weren’t you?” “I usually am.” Sunset bounced on the tips of her hooves, her lips pulled back in a grimace. “Oog. We need to go after them.” Twilight gritted her teeth. “And then what?” “And then hope Spike didn’t just eat our suspect!” Sunset galloped down the corridor, leaving Twilight hobbling in her wake. “Wait!” Twilight stomped a hoof. “Dang it, Sunset!” Sunset Shimmer skidded to a stop. She blew a loud breath through her lips and flicked her horn, encasing Twilight in a magical grasp. “As undignified as it is…” She draped Twilight Sparkle across her back. “Desperate times call for stupid measures. Now hang on tight!” Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Sunset’s shoulders. “You are really naked, you know that?” “Get over it,” Sunset hollered, gasping for breath, “and keep a look out!” The tunnel twisted and turned, leading them upwards and outwards. Cool air blew past them, guiding them to the exit of the cave network. A roar echoed in their ears, sending chills down their spines. “That sounds suitably dragon-esque,” Twilight whimpered. Sunset merely charged on, her chest burning from the exertion. Faint light appeared ahead of them. “The exit!” Twilight yelped. “Go, go, go!” “I’m going!” Sunset said, her voice hoarse. “Pipe down, you freeloader!” They passed the cave mouth and found themselves on a rocky ledge. A very brief, very sheer rocky ledge. Sunset reared up to keep herself from going over. The weight of Twilight on her back dragged her backwards and sent them both tumbling to the ground. Looking up, they saw a starry sky, a brilliant silvery moon, and two large, green eyes. Twilight screamed. She rolled to her hooves and bolted on instinct. She ran smack-dab into a wall of purple scales. Though dazed, she tried another direction, only to trip over a long, snaking tail. She tottered on the edge of the cliff, looking at the valley hundreds of feet below. She let out one final yell before she went over the edge. “No!” A massive, scaly hand snatched her out of the air. Sunset watched as the dragon lifted his arm to his face. She kept her horn charged with magic, but she had no idea what to do. She’d never dealt with dragons before. She’d rarely even seen one in her whole life, let alone one this unspeakably big. He was as tall as a two-story building, verging on a third. His tail was thick, but tapered to a point about a bus-length down. His claws could crush cars and his mouth could bite aged trees in half. His eyes glinted in the dark, lit from within by dragonfire. He pressed its nose against Twilight’s side and sniffed deep. She whimpered and curled up into a ball. “You smell like Twilight,” the dragon said. Twilight opened her eyes and Sunset opened her mouth. “Uh…” Twilight cleared her throat. “I do?” “Yeah. And you sound like Twilight, too.” The shimmering emerald eyes blinked. “But you don’t look like Twilight.” Sunset Shimmer shook as she addressed the dragon. “What… what does Twilight look like?” The dragon lifted his free hand above his head. “She’s tall! Huge! She’s got glasses…” He narrowed his eyes at the little purple unicorn. “Just like those. And her eyes sparkle when she’s happy and she laughs and gives me treats… And…” The dragon paused. He shut his eyes tight, wrinkling his nose. “And she’s always there when I really need her.” Twilight Sparkle reached a hoof over to touch the dragon’s thumb. “Spike?” The dragon gasped. He looked down at his body, then at the little pony in his gentle grip. “You really are Twilight, aren’t you?” He sniffed the air, bringing his head close to Sunset. “And I know you, too. You’re Sunset! You belong to the little boy!” “That’s one way of putting it,” Sunset mumbled. “And… his name is Sunny. And the really pretty lady is Rarity! And the lady on television is Rainbow Dash! Hey!” Spike gave them a toothy grin. “Hey! I can say all your names! I… I can say my name!” A blank expression overtook his happy one. He stared off into space, his eyebrows low. “I can talk. When did I learn how to talk?” Twilight could only babble. “Ah… guh…” “Spike,” Sunset Shimmer said, “we all just went through a portal into another world. We all changed, but it’s clear that yours was the most dramatic.” “You can say that again,” Spike chuckled. He swished his tail around behind him. “When I first jumped into that lake, I felt really tingly. But nothing happened until after I jumped out. Then I started growing, and my bark got louder, and fire started coming out of my mouth! How cool is that?” Sunset nodded. “You might not want to do that around people.” “Yeah! Because fire’s hot and hot stuff can hurt!” Spike itched his chin. He looked down at his hand. “Ooh! I can really scratch myself with these babies!” Sunset Shimmer bit down hard on her tongue. “Ahuh. You do that. So, was anybody else there when you jumped out of the pool?” Spike’s head bobbed. “Yep! There was this really weird lady who was yelling at me, but I don’t know what she said. When I started growing and breathing fire, she screamed and ran away.” A faint dark tinge touched his cheeks. “I thought she was playing a game, so I chased after her. I don’t think she really liked it. I’m sorry.” He pointed down the mountain, at the forest below. “She left that way. It was a long time ago, I think. I didn’t really know what else to do, so I was napping.” Sunset lay down and let her hooves hang over the edge. “A long time ago, huh? Did she leave anything behind?” Spike frowned. “Yeah. She dropped her bags a couple of times. A couple of little rocks fell out. They’re probably still in the tunnels.” He tilted his head to the side. “What do you need them for?” Sunset walked to the cave entrance, her horn lighted for a thorough search. She thought hard before answering Spike. “They might help us find her. She hurt somebody really bad, and we’re gonna make sure she won’t hurt anybody else.” The scales around Spike’s eyes shifted as he frowned. “I’m helping.” Sunset looked up at him. “What?” “I’m helping you. I’m not gonna let anybody hurt you guys. Not you, not Twilight, not Sunny, not anybody.” He snapped his fingers. “I know! I can guard the entrance while you guys search! I’m a good guard dog.” Sunset pressed her lips tight. She didn’t really know how to answer that one. Twilight Sparkle’s head popped up from behind Spike’s thumb. She giggled distractedly, her eyes glazed. “Sunset?” “Yeah, Twilight?” Twilight grinned. “My dog is talking to us.” With that, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she flopped over unconscious. Spike’s brow wrinkled in concern, before his smile returned in full force. “Look, Sunset! Twilight learned to play dead!” Sunset Shimmer slowly, firmly rubbed her aching temples. “Put her down gently, Spike. She fainted.” Spike’s thin ears flopped down. “Is she hurt?” “She’ll be fine.” Sunset took a step back to give the dragon room as he set the purple unicorn down. “She just needs some rest.” Spike crouched before his friend. His eyes flicked between Twilight and Sunset. “Is there anything I can do to help her?” “Watch over her.” Sunset trotted into the caverns. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Sunset slowed her pace to a cautious walk. The Equestrian side of the cave was larger than back in the mirror world. There were far more rooms, and they were much more spacious. She followed the claw marks to keep track of the correct route, only moving off the path when a stray hoof-mark caught her attention. There! A thread of fabric, snagged on a stalagmite. She lit her horn and lifted the stitch on a current of magic. She searched her memory and soon came up with a spell that could deduce the composition. After a moment, she realized she didn’t really remember how the spell went. She groaned and continued looking. The next clue was a pony-sized mark in the dust where somepony had fallen over. Scattered rocks and pebbles lay around the outline. Most were the normal dull gray and brown she could find on any mountainside, but two in particular stood out. The first was a tiny, translucent blue fragment. A little green was added into the shade, making it closer to cyan; the same color as the bright light in the portal. A quick once-over with her telekinetic touch revealed pathways etched into the stone, where magic could flow around and through the material. It was enchanted to carry magic currents to some sort of activation or ignition device. “Did she want to take a piece of the portal with her?” Sunset muttered. She rotated the chipped fragment in front of her face, examining it from every angle. “Is it from this side or the other side?” She floated it along beside her, next to the thread. The second stone caught her eye and sent a sharp prickle down her back. It was a shattered, red gemstone fragment. It had etching similar to the portal stone, but was made for a much different purpose. It channeled negative energy into the user, adding to their power. It could modulate the wearer’s voice to be hypnotic on a level far above mere suggestion. In its prime, it could give its owner access to magic utterly unknown to most scholars. Unknown and alien. Mysterious and dangerous. It had been shattered by the Elements of Harmony ten years before. It had lost its power. What was Adagio carrying the pieces around for? Sunset wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. *** Twilight Sparkle’s eyes popped open as she came awake. “Huh? What happened?” Spike’s razor-sharp teeth came into view. “Hi, Twilight! You’re awake!” Twilight moaned. She tried to sit up before she realized her muscles probably weren’t built for that anymore. She rolled onto her belly and rested her chin in the dirt. “Hi, Spike.” Spike flicked his tail back and forth. There wasn’t enough room to lie down on the ledge, so he leaned against the mountainside. “Why are you sad?” “Huh?” Twilight’s head came up. “I’m not sad.” “Yeah, you are.” He brought a finger to his cheek and pulled his eyelid down. “You’ve got your mopey face on.” Twilight sighed. “Am I that easy to read?” “I can tell what you’re feeling. Some of the time, anyway.” Spike crushed a stone between his fingertips. “You get this pouty lip thing when you get angry. You tap your fingers when you get excited. And when Big McIntosh comes over, you smell really, really weird. Like a flower, but times a bajillion.” Twilight’s cheeks grew warm. She snickered. “That would be the lavender perfume, I guess.” Spike stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth. “When you’re frustrated, your back gets all tense. Like now.” Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “Yeah, well… I’ve been looking forward to this day for years. I didn’t think it would be like this. It’s a little… confusing and disappointing and amazing all at the same time.” She clomped her hooves together. “I don’t know how I feel.” “Choose excited!” Spike’s tail wagged, knocking boulders down the side of the cliff. “Excited is a good choice! Being excited feels great!” Twilight scoffed. “I can’t just choose how I feel.” “But you can try, right?” Spike sat on his haunches and propped himself up on his front claws. “You’re Twilight Sparkle! You can do anything if you try hard enough!” “Yeah?” Twilight looked up at the unfamiliar stars. “Anything I can imagine…” Spike lifted his head. He sniffed hard, a frown overtaking his face. “Huh? You smell that?” “No?” Twilight stood up on shaky legs. “Not really.” Spike scratched deep furrows into the stone. He sucked in a deep breath through his sensitive nostrils “It’s just plain weird. It smells like—” His eyes widened. “You.” The flutter of wings and the melody of twinkling magic caught their ears. They looked up saw a winged pony fluttering down from the sky. Her coat was a bright shade of purple, her mane a bit darker. Her eyes sparkled as she looked down at them, as if they carried silent laughter. She smiled and waved a forehoof. Twilight and Spike waved back. The new pony settled down next to Twilight and bent a knee in a shallow curtsey. A quick flash of her horn adjusted the blue scarf around her neck. She took a sheet of paper out of her saddlebags alongside a feather pen. She scribbled a quick message before handing it to Twilight. She smiled and waited quietly for Twilight to read the message. Twilight gaped at the sheet of paper. She read it over and over again, but she never quite brought herself to believe it. Hi! You must be Sunset’s friends. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to help you track down Adagio. It’s nice to meet you! I’m sure we’ll be great friends!