"Do you ever stop and wonder," Spike said, lowering his Power Ponies comic for a moment, "if there's other worlds out there like ours?"
Scootaloo glanced up from Three-Tribe Spells: A Theoretical Treatise on Channeling Cutie Mark Magic and back at the dragon sprawled out alongside her on the park bench. "Uhn?"
"Like. You know." One of Spike's claws lifted from the comic book and made a vague gesture in the air. "Parallel universes."
She rolled her eyes and flipped a page with one wing. "Like, in one version of reality we're all really the Power Ponies? That sort of thing?"
"Sort of," Spike said. "More like, what if they were us?"
"What's the difference?"
"Well, the Power Ponies are fiction. But we're not, and we go out and have adventures and save the world." Spike sat up straight. "Here's the thing. It seems so strange the way everything worked out for us, doesn't it? Sunset moving to Ponyville the very same day that all of us teamed up to fight off the Chocolate Moose. The way that we taught her the lessons she needed to learn to unlock the Elements and save Princess Luna. How would that have changed if any of us had been different? Like, what if you were Loyalty, like Zapp being a pegasus, and I was just the sidekick, like Humdrum being a dragon?"
Scootaloo shook her head without looking up from her reading. "Don't be silly. I didn't even have my Cutie Mark when we came into town." She pointed a wingtip to the star on her flank. "Dragons get their powers much faster than ponies. You were old enough to help, and I wasn't. Hay, I don't even know if I'm old enough to help now. I mean, my entire Mark is about chasing things beyond my reach."
Spike looked away. "Maybe not you you, then. The point is, doesn't it feel weird that I'm one of the Elements of Harmony?"
Scootaloo stopped, then closed her book, turning around to give the dragon a hug. "Oh, Spike. Don't you ever doubt yourself. Every day, just by living in pony society, you're being loyal to your friends. How could a pony beat that?"
Spike sighed, but put one arm around her shoulders. "I appreciate you saying that. It's just … I'm so different from the others. Doesn't it ever feel to you like this wasn't the way it was supposed to work out? Like …" He laughed self-consciously. "Like our universe is wrong somehow."
"Nonsense," Scootaloo said firmly. "Your difference is a source of strength, remember? Remember when Applejack needed to get rid of her old barn, and you set it on fire for her? How would a pegasus have been able to handle that? Or what about the time when Zecora came into town, and everypony was scared of her, and you marched right out because you already knew that what someone looks like doesn't determine who they are? That doesn't sound 'wrong' to me. That sounds like you stopped us from being 'wrong.'"
"Heh, yeah," Spike said. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right. What about when the six of you defeated Discord? The others wouldn't have had a chance without you, because you had no Cutie Mark for him to corrupt, and were able to get the others back to normal. Face it, Spike, if the Elements of Harmony weren't exactly who they were meant to be, Equestria would be a smoking ruin right now."
Spike glanced down, letting a bashful smile creep back onto his muzzle, then turned to face Scootaloo a little more squarely, hugging her with both arms. "Thanks, Scootaloo. I think I needed to hear that."
"Any time, Spike." She returned the hug fiercely, then froze and glanced around. "Oh, heck! Speaking of the time —"
Spike's eyes widened, and he jumped up off the bench, glancing around the Canterlot streets. "The wedding! We've gotta get to the castle!"
Easy laughter came from behind them as Sunset trotted up. "Calm down, you two. Everything's under control."
"But we're helping Princess Celestia herself out!" Spike said, fiddling with his claws. "If everything's not perfect —"
Sunset curled her neck to Spike's, then sat down. "It'll be fine — we're basically there as backup for the entire Royal Guard. They don't even need us until the ceremony starts. Honestly, I think Celestia just asked us to be there as an excuse to let us meet Cadance in person."
Scootaloo gasped, eyes lighting up. "You met her? What's she like?"
"A little rude, actually," Sunset said, then shrugged. "But she's got a lot on her mind. I'm sure it's just stress."