//------------------------------//
// Going Back Over 
// Story: Destiny Sparkle 
// by Spirit Guide 
//------------------------------//

*Twilight POV*

Steven hurried back home, but I wish he would've walked faster. I was so excited I could barely stay quiet inside the backpack. The talks, the sounds, the friendships! It was too much for me to keep bottled up. The similarities I found between my friends in Equestria and the five friends Steven had made that night were unbelievable. And all I could do was bounce up and down in place to express myself.

When I heard the click of the housekey in the door, I quickly jumped up and pulled down the bag's zipper, not even waiting for Steven to put it down before leaping out and onto the table. "That was the best night ever!" I cried joyfully, dancing around the table.

Steven hung up the backpack and pulled out the jug of cider I'd been sharing space with. "Best night of your time here, you mean. We both know you've had better nights in Equestria."

I sat down. "Well, maybe...."

"Maybe nothing." Steven put the jug in the fridge, pulled up a chair and sat down opposite me. "Nothing more than a night of friendship."

"Exactly. That was indeed a night full of friendship."

Steven and I just sat there, staring at each other in silence. Occasionally his gaze would drift, focusing on some far-off invisible object before returning and focusing on me. Although I'm not sure how I could have interested him more than.... whatever it was he kept seeing; just an out-of-place little purple pony.

Then again, that was the kind of thing Steven loved.

"So what did you think of the other bronies?" Steven asked, lacing his fingers in front of his face.

"Ohmygosh, Steven, they were amazing! Their playfulness, carefree nature, undeniable compassion. It was all there." I pranced about the table, unable to sit still, which was unlike me but I didn't care. And neither did Steven, if his peaceful smile was anything to judge by. Finally, I leapt up into the crook of Steven's arm and wriggled into the folds of his sleeve.

Steven grabbed me by the scruff and put me back on the table. For a brief moment, I was worried I'd done something wrong. But Steven's smile told me otherwise. "Come on, Twilight. I'm refusing to do anything, least of all cuddle you, when you're covered in crumbs and icing." He held out his hand to me. "So let's get you washed and clean."

I jumped into Steven's open palm without hesitation. I could just imagine what this was going to be like: warm water, bubbly soap suds, Steven's gentle fingers carefully dripping the water over me...

"Let's do this!"

From the table we went upstairs to the bathroom and for a second I was afraid Steven would try to bathe me in the tub; not such a great idea for a tiny pony. But then he turned and put me down on the sink. I looked down at the drain below, happy that it was there and keeping me from possibly tumbling down the pipe.

Steven bent down, picked up a bowl from the floor, and fitted it into the sink basin. "Think this'll do?" he asked, pointing at the bowl.

I made a calculated jump into the bowl and paced around the inside of it. It reached over my head at its rim and was roughly the size of a small pool for me, but it would do fine as long as it wasn't filled to the top.

"It should work okay," I told Steven, secretly eager to get everything started.

"Okay then." Steven picked me up and put me back on the sink. He then turned the tap on, letting water flow into the bowl. He put his fingers under the running water. "Do you like your baths cold, warm or hot?"

"Warm, please." That's how I'd been doing it since before I came to this world.

Steven and I waited a minute, then when steam started to rise from the water in the bowl he put his fingers back under the tap. "It's warm now, but that's just me." He held out his wet fingers towards me. "See if you like it."

Nodding, I raised a hoof and dipped it into the thin layer of water coating Steven's fingers. It was cold. There's not enough water on his finger for me to feel the temperature properly. I'm not going to be able to test the water unless....

"Wooo!"

With a joyful cry, I leapt over Steven's hand and splashed into the bowl in the sink. I found the water temperature pleasant: not too hot and not too cold. Just the way I liked it. "This is great!" I cried out, splashing in the water like a filly.

Steven sighed. "I'm so glad." He turned his back to me and grabbed a washcloth from the bathtub. "Now let's get things going."

I sat down in the running water as Steven held the washcloth under the faucet, then moved it towards me. He gently placed it against my back and slowly moved the cloth back and forth. The water soaked through my coat and left me feeling heavy, but the warmth emanating from what felt like everything in my vicinity made me ignore the sinking feeling.

"Okay, Twilight," Steven said, lifting the washcloth over my head. "I've gotten the icing out of your back. I'm going to try and get the stuff out from your mane so hold still please."

The cloth descended in between my ears, wrapped around Steven's index finger. With the same effort and care one would utilize when handling a newborn foal was how he handled that cloth, brushing it through my sticky wet mane and fringe. The caressing feeling felt so good, so relaxing, so....

"Twilight?"

"Mmm?"

"Why did you roll onto your back?"

I opened my eyes, not even noticing I'd closed them. I was indeed lying on my back in the water, looking up at Steven with his puzzled expression. His hand with the washcloth was in the water an inch to my left, lacking a target. For now.

"Sorry, Steven," I apologized, smiling nervously up at him. "I guess I kind of, heh heh, umm...." Wow, this is getting embarrassing.

Steven blinked slowly, then his mouth stretched into a smile. "That's all right. Your tummy needed washing anyway."

The washcloth rose from the water, trails of droplets leaking out of the lowest edges, and drifted over to me. I felt the drops trickled onto my belly, warm and wet. They tickled a bit, but were nothing compared to what I felt when Steven let the washcloth touch my underside and slowly brushed it back and forth through my soft stomach fur.

My concentration vanished as the amazing feeling of the washcloth rubbing my belly filled my tiny being, pushing away all other thoughts. As Steven scrubbed my tummy, I wiggled and rolled about, splashing the water with my hooves and flank. However softly Steven was trying to clean me up, I was not making it easier for him.

Finally, he gave up. "Right. That's it."

The washcloth went up and I came back to myself, quite disappointed. "Wha? Bu-bu-but-"

"No, Twilight," he said gently but firmly, leaning his hands on the sink. "I have no problem with you enjoying your bath, but your wriggling is making this much harder then it has to be."

I bowed my head and my ears flopped. "You're right, Steven," I said, trying not to feel down as I knew that's not what he wanted. "I can't really help it; belly rubs just feel so good."

Steven looked away as a thoughtful look crossed his face. "There is something we can still try. It'll let me clean you up and not complicate things when you move around."

"Really?" I practically cheered, leaping to my hooves with a splash. "What, what, what?

The next thing I knew, Steven's other hand descended upon me, four leg-sized fingers wrapping around my barrel and a thumb sitting across my belly alongside my left front and hind legs. It was a restraining but surprisingly comfortable position, for me anyway.

"Are you okay with this?" Steven asked. His eyes moved down from my face and stared almost hungrily at my stomach.

I nodded. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Okay." Steven held up the cloth and brought it directly beneath my rump. He wrapped the tip of the cloth around my dock and squeezed just enough that it soaked everything through. He then dragged the cloth through my tail, combing out the now-damp pieces of cupcake and icing stuck between the hairs.

"Coming along nicely," Steven said upon reaching the end of my tail. He brought the cloth back up to my dock and started down again. "You doing okay, Twilight?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Going... going great. Feels really great." I flicked my tail and it slipped out of Steven's washcloth grip.

"Hey hey, hold still!" Steven made a grab for my tail. "I still need that."

I flipped my tail back into his hand and giggled. "Sorry."

"Hmph." Steven started brushing out my tail again, though he was unable to hide the amused smile on his face. Or maybe he just wasn't trying. "I'm beginning to think you're causing trouble just so this will drag on for as long as possible."

"You think?"

"I'm thinking that. What I know is that I'm done with your tail."

Steven softened his grip. I sat up in his hand and looked down at my tail. Gone were the crumby pieces of cupcake. I swished my tail upwards and grabbed it, feeling the clean silkiness I was so familiar with. "It looks beautiful," I murmured in awe, brushing my hoof through the strands. "Thank you, Steven."

"It was my pleasure," he replied.

"So...." I let my tail down and looked up at Steven. "Am I clean?"

"No. All we did was remove the mess from your tail." He carefully put me back in the bowl, where the water level rose above my flank. "Now we're actually going to wash you. With soap." Steven reached over with the washcloth, held it underneath the liquid soap dispenser on the sink and pushed down the top. He soaked the soapy washcloth under the running tap, then began to lower it towards my head.

"Close your eyes, Twilight," he said in my ear. "The last thing I want is you reeling in soap-stinging pain."

"Oh, right." I put my hooves over my face and, for good measure, cast a screen of magic over my eyes. "I'm ready."

The first drop of water gave away the inevitable approach of the soaped-up washcloth. I tensed a bit as the wet cloth touched my back, but I quickly relaxed. Steven scrubbed my back, soap bubbles rapidly forming and spilling over my shoulders into my lap. Any remaining specks of cupcake were instantly washed out of my coat as the warm water drenched me. I sat as still as possible, focusing all my attention on maintaining the magical barrier protecting my eyes.

Which proved to be very difficult with the only human I know practically bathing me.

The feeling was there. Hidden in the background, but still there. For the most I felt relieved that I was getting the sponging I deserved, but somewhere in the back of my mind I felt somewhat embarrassed to be bathed by somepony else. The feeling was made especially noticeable as it was a male who was hosing me down, doing so carefully but nonetheless a male.

No, I reasoned with myself. Steven is my friend he, and would never have offered to wash me if he was thinking of it like I am. Maybe he feels just as flustered. I looked up at Steven, who pulled the washcloth out of the way and gazed back at me. His expression was calm and content as he gently scrubbed my back, without a trace of fear or unease.

Wonder what's got him so calm, I wondered briefly. Must be me.

Finished with my back, Steven reached around with the washcloth and started rubbing my belly with it. It tickled with all the bubbles rolling down my chest and I shuddered. With my magic screen still active, I opened my eyes and watched Steven's hand move up and down my chest, effectively removing all dirt and making me feel incredible.

The last thing Steven cleaned were my hooves. Oh sweet Celestia, it was intense. He wrapped the washcloth around his finger and gently poked the underside of my right hind hoof. A feeling much like an electric shock rushed up my leg and left my brain all numb, so it didn't matter that Steven was washing my other hooves. I was already miles away.

"Okay, Twilight. I'm done scrubbing."

Then, all too soon, it was over. The heavenly feeling faded, leaving nothing but the warm water on my back. I opened my eyes and found myself being steered in Steven's grip towards the running tap. Then I was under it. What felt like bucket after bucket of water came pouring down on my head, each second leaving me more and more drenched. The forceful artificial waterfall washed all the soap suds out of my coat.

"Wow," I muttered half dreamily as the water gushed out over me. "This feels great."

I heard Steven exclaiming in agreement, followed by a short gasp. "Steven?" I called up, turning my head and trying to see through the torrent. "What's the matter?"

Once I'd finally gotten my head out from under the crashing water, I looked up at Steven. He was watching me concernedly, his brow furrowed above his eyes. His eyes were focused on me in wonder, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. That's probably how he looked when he first saw me in the street during the hurricane. But why would he have that look in his eyes now?

"Twilight," Steven asked slowly, "are you feeling all right?"

"Yes." I turned about and examined my bath bowl. When I got in, I remember it being a few inches over my head. But now the rim was at my eye level and, as I watched, slowly getting lower.

No, the rim's not getting lower. I'm getting bigger!

And so I was. After using the shrink spell, I was approximately four inches tall. Now I was at least a foot and still growing. My head bumped against the tap opening and, in a split second, sprayed water everywhere.

"Aaaaah!" I yelled, squirming out from underneath the faucet and leaning out of the bowl. "Steven, help!"

My friend was at my side in an instant. Steven lifted me out of the bowl easily, as I was only around cat-size, his hands clamped around my barrel, and carefully dropped me into the empty bathtub. I stood up and looked over the top of the tub at Steven, who was kneeling beside it and watching me intensely.

"So," he said in quiet voice, folding his arms on the rim. "The Equinomicon's reverse spell is working."

I looked around the bathtub, comparing the top to myself. For some reason, I had stopped growing. "Steven, what happened? Did the reverse spell stop?"

Steven leaned further in. "Yeah. You do still look smaller."

"I'm certainly not my original size." I sat up and put a hoof on his arm. "Did we do something wrong?"

"No. We stopped it too early. The spell goes on a plain bubble bath, no herbs required. You've still got soap suds in your mane, Twilight."

I ran a hoof through my fringe and found that there was indeed foam still up there. "Okay then." I unhooked the shower head from its perch above us and offered it to Steven. "So will you be able to get the rest out?"

Steven smiled and took the shower head from my levitation aura. He switched the setting to its softest and turned on the water. A gently spray drizzled out of the nozzle and swept over me. The feeling was just as amazing as all the ones I felt while bathing in the sink. I sighed blissfully as the water washed away the last of the soap.

"This is amazing....."

"Good news, Twilight," Steven said, putting his hand under the nozzle. "You're reaching your full size."

I looked around. Yes, everything looked all right, just as it should from my normal height. "Looks like the Equinomicon did right by us," I stated, getting up on my back legs to get out of the bath. But I overlooked the wet basin and slipped back inside, banging my head against the bottom.

"Ow!"

A flash of pain struck me as I slid prone into the wet tub. Almost instantly, I felt a soft warm surface gather underneath me and lift me out of the bathtub. I looked up at Steven's concerned face as he carried me out of the bathroom and into his bedroom.

"Are you feeling okay, Twilight?" he asked gently as he sat me down on the bed, along with the towel he'd picked me up with. He laid his hand against the back of my head "That was quite a blow you took to the noggin. Is your horn hurt or something?"

I felt a slight sting at his touch, but nothing else. "I think it's fine, Steven."

Steven nodded and dropped his hand, reaching instead for a spare towel. With me sitting on the first to catch dropping water, he started to dry me off, starting with my mane. He wiped the towel back and forth through my sapphire blue mop, removing all the moisture and leaving my mane shining.

Aaaaaah. This is great. What a friend.

After my mane was done, Steven started to ruffle my coat dry. Any time the hairs stuck up, he would focus only on that small patch and work it until he flattened it down. Once he had finished rubbing my hooves and belly dry, Steven ran the towel through my tail. When my tail was finished and brushed right, we went downstairs and Steven retrieved Iron's cider bottle from the fridge. I grabbed two cups and we sat down beside one another on the couch, each sporting a glass of cool cider.

I drank from my cup and sighed. "Mmm. This tastes almost as good as the Apple Family's cider."

"Really?" Steven inquired. He took a swig from his own glass. "Wow, this stuff is good!"

"I love this. It's like a little piece of home."

"Does it make you homesick?"

"Not really," I replied sincerely. "It brings back memories of walking through the orchard, talking to Applejack, helping her and the family beat the Flim Flam brothers."

"That was one heck of a showdown," Steven commented, draining his glass. "Aah. Good stuff. I'm going to thank Daniel next time I see him."

"That'll be tomorrow, won't it?"

"Yep."

I leaned my head into Steven's lap and looked up at him, my cider floating to my left. "Could I come with you to work tomorrow?"

Steven looked away uncomfortably. "I don't know, Twilight. Even with the new spell, I don't think it would be safe to take you to the construction site. Maybe even more so. All those big, heavy pieces of junk; you'd get hurt easily, forget about being seen."

Looking into his eyes, I tried to imagine the hazards at a human construction site, exerting my mind further to see how dangerous it would be at a small size. The image was not so pleasant.

"You're right. Maybe we should save the spell for more pleasant trips."

"And in the meantime, you'll stay at home?" Steven asked, a hopeful, concerned tone in his voice.

"Reading books, watching TV, raiding the fridge for lunch and looking up terms on the Internet."

Steven looked at me, his expression fascinated. "Really? Terms like what? Try using something you learned in a sentence about today."

A challenge. That's what it was. A smarty, know-it-all, egghead challenge. I wasn't about to back down from this. I took a drink from my glass as I mentally went through all the different concepts I'd learned thanks to the Internet, trying to pick out when to best describe tonight. Finally, a close match came to mind.

"Steven, on this night, I've got to say we've really seen the elephant."

The look my friend gave me then was so twisted, so confused, I almost spilled my drink laughing. Steven's eyebrows flew so high up, they made his eyes look like Owlowiscious'. His moth was a blank frown, his nose scrunched to one side, but his eyes told me everything: what is this outlandish, impossible phrase this silly pony has cooked up?

But instead, he simply said, "What does that mean, Twilight, 'to see the elephant'?"

I was happy for an opportunity to explain. "The phrase has roots way back in your late fifteen-hundreds, and was mostly used for when people gained international or worldly experience. One source is from when people were traveling on trails and hoped to see elephants, which were a rare sight and always an awesome one. " I stopped when I realized something. "I'd like to see a real elephant. Equestria has a lot of amazing fauna, but your world has so many more."

Steven wrapped his arm around me and hugged me close. "Twilight, I promise that one day, I'll take you to see an elephant."

I decided the best way to express my thanks then was in a physical manner. To be accurate, a hug. "Boy, I hope I got all my facts right. It would be a bummer if everything I told you was incorrect and I failed your challenge."

"You're getting way too into this," Steven decided, accepting the hug heartily. I finished off my cider and floated our empty glasses to the sink. "It's getting late, though. You should go to bed."

I looked up at him and pouted. "But Mom, I'm not sleepy." After saying that, I promptly gave a loud yawn.

Steven lowered me onto the floor and gave my flank a gentle push towards the stairs. "Come on, Twilight. Go get ready. If you're done fast, I'll tell you a story."

The prospect of a story before bed got me going. I managed to get through all my bedtime preparations in just under ten minutes, which for me was really speeding it up. When I got back downstairs, I found Steven sitting on my sofa-bed, clicking the remote and changing the channel by the second.

I sat down on my bed beside him. "Looking for something particular, Steven?"

He jumped to Nat Geo Wild, which currently had on a documentary about a variety of hoofed animals with horns. "If I was, it wouldn't be something that can get you home, unfortunately," he said with a tinge of regret.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up about it, Steven," I said encouragingly, putting my head in his lap. "You took me in during a storm, offered me shelter, and protected me from the world in the best way you could. Don't try and find me a way back to Equestria like this."

Steven switched off the TV. "You seem to be comfortable here. Of course, you'll want to find a way back eventually."

"Hmm..." My voice trailed off as I contemplated this. "Well, I'm okay right now. Sure, I'll want to get home some time in the future, but I feel like now isn't the time. All I'm worried about are my friends. If it's really been almost a month now, they must be out of their minds. The Princesses have probably sent out scouts all across Equestria. My family's probably distraught..." I felt my eyes beginning to water.

"Shhh," Steven insisted, brushing his fingers through my mane. "We will find a way, Twilight. One way or another, it'll come to pass and you'll be able to return home. But for now, you should sleep."

Brushing the barely-formed tears from my eyes, I leapt up and hugged Steven. My hooves didn't quite reach all the way around, but I didn't care. Steven held me close and hummed the show's theme right into my ear. The familiar and surprisingly heartwarming tune soon calmed me down and I sat back down on the bed. Steven scratched me behind the ear, leaving me purring with pleasure.

"Yeah, that's great," I muttered, rolling onto my back.

After a bit more scratching, Steven insisted I get into bed. I got under the covers and Steven kissed me on my forehead before getting up and turning off the lights. I turned towards him. "Steven?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for everything. Especially tonight."

He looked a bit surprised. "Why tonight especially?"

"Because tonight, you reminded me of how reluctant I was to accept friends into my life. You think you're no good at it, but Steven, you're better at making friends than I first was. You're going to go far with your new friends, I can feel it."

Even in the dark room, I could still make out Steven's smile.

"I certainly hope so. Goodnight, Twilight."

"Goodnight, Steven."

I watched my human friend climb the stairs and then turned over, looking into the dying flames in the fireplace as I let my mind wander. Surely what I said was true, right? I was definitely stubborn at first when it came to making friends and turned them down every time, but Steven? Just as he did with me, so did he do with the bronies. Friendship is certainly his cup of tea. No wonder I get along with him so well.

My head started to feel heavy. Thinking after hours really made me sleepy. With any luck, tomorrow would bring more great things. I closed my eyes as scenes I thought up from the inside of Steven's backpack reappeared in my mind and slowly lulled me to sleep.