//------------------------------//
// Old School Digs 
// Story: My Twilight Facade 
// by axelsempai 
//------------------------------//

Spike and I waved as Luna flew away to find her chariot.  It was well past midnight, and we were getting tired.  Spike and I set about to cleaning up our night's activities of snacks and board games I got too lazy to clean up earlier.  Even advanced conjurative magics couldn't stop me from finding a way to be even lazier.

On that note, we got pretty close to finishing when the door slammed open one last time.  I rolled my eyes expecting to see either Pinkie or Luna.  Imagine my surprise when I saw someone else.  Someone like Lyra.

Lyra looked frustrated.  "There you are, Twilight!  You've messed with me for the last time!"

"What?  What'd I do?"  I demanded.

"You know exactly what you did!"  She accused.  "Remember on that bench when you said you'd show me what a human looked like once you figured out the spell?  Well you figured out the spell, and you didn't even try to show me!"

I only just remembered that.  "Oh, right, that.  Sorry I forgot about that."

Lyra took a deep breath.  "It's fine, I didn't really expect you to remember.  I've just had a bad night."

"No problem, I've dealt with worse."

"So, can I see it?"

I chuckled.  "No problem,"

I already told her I'd show her anyway.  At least I think I did.  I don't remember our initial meeting all that well, so she might have been planting a suggestion in my head.  Either way, it gave me an excuse to be in my human form more often, which was always a plus.  I transformed myself into a human and stood tall before Lyra.  "Now you see my true-"

Lyra interrupted me with a loud squee.  "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!  You're totally a human!"

"Er, yes.  This is what a human looks like."

Lyra hid a large grin behind her hooves.  "Can... can I look at your hands?"

I thought about that for a moment.  She was really excited about humans.  I didn't really see any reason to deny her curiosity, I just thought it was weird.  "Sure?"

I knelt down a little and held out my hand.  Lyra wasted no time it snatching it and pulling it in for a closer look, nearly taking me off my feet.  She had her back to me, so she didn't see me shoot Spike a questioning look.  He shrugged back at me.

Lyra sat there in silent fascination of my hand for a short while.  She turned it over a few times as if she was figuring out her favorite angle.  I was getting anxious with all this scrutiny, to be honest.  I was suddenly acutely aware that I haven't gotten my nails done.

A distraction of any kind would do, so I tried to ease my way into a different topic.  "So, uh, you've just recently learned that I became a human, huh?"

"Yeah,"

"What about last week?  I turned into a human in public then, but you didn't cause a ruckus."

"Yeah, that's because I was up in Canterlot for a few days."

Ah, now we were getting somewhere.  "So what did you do up in our nation's capitol?  Anything interesting?"

"Oh, you know, catching up with our friends."

I raised a brow.  "Our friends?"

Lyra turned to me and nodded.  "Yup.  Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts."

I blinked.  "Really...?"

Lyra giggled at my confusion.  "Yeah, we kinda figured you forgot about us.  Ever since you left for Ponyville, we didn't really hear from you, so you must have moved on."

Oh my god.

Oh shit!

I was looking for a distraction, and I sure as hell found one.  Twilight had friends back in Canterlot.  If Twilight left just as I possessed her, and I never left Ponyville, then Twilight never got back to see her friends.

Her old friends thought she abandoned them.  They only thought negative of Twilight for my own actions.

Lyra waved a hoof in front of my face.  "Twilight?  Are you alright?"

I blinked out of my trance.  "Uh, yeah.  Yeah, I'm fine."

"You look a little dazed."  Lyra said.  "I guess you need to get some sleep, huh?"

"Yeah, that's probably it."  I agreed, more to assure her than to actually agree.

Lyra stood to leave, finally giving me some personal space.  "Okay, then I guess we can save this for later.  You get some shut eye, Twilight."

"I'll be sure to do that."  I said with a convincing smile.

We waved goodbye and she left the library.  I shut the door behind her, returning to my pony form.

I lingered by the door, lost in thought.  After all, I just learned of yet another way I fucked up.  There were ponies back in Twilight's old home town that I left behind.  What would happen if Twilight came back?  Would she return to find her old friends disappointed in her for my own actions?  Because I didn't know she had ponies that cared about her, and I forced her into abandoning them in my ignorance?

My lips trembled at the thought.  It was bad enough that I was still here, but I kept finding new problems that were piling up.  

I couldn't let that continue.  I made too many mistakes as it was, and I wasn't going to let them fester.  I could handle this.  No matter how many mistakes I made, I would be sure to fix them all, starting with this one.

"So, are you just going to sit there all night?"  Spike asked.

I looked back at Spike with determination.  "Spike, get some sleep.  We're going to Canterlot tomorrow morning."





Spike propped up his head on his armrest, bored of the train ride already.  A two hour trip was pretty quick for reaching Canterlot, the capitol city of Equestria, but it was still two hours.  He had little to do since he forgot to bring some reading material.  At least he had ponies to talk to on the trip to Appleoosa, but that wasn't an option now because the only "pony" he could talk to was that blasted impostor.

Speaking of the impostor, he had quite a few thoughts running through his mind about it.  He didn't really think too highly of its motivations for coming to Canterlot, especially after that conversation with Lyra.  What could the impostor be planning for Twilight's old acquaintances?  Spike could only guess that there would be a quick "trash disposal" in the near future, but that begged the question of why it was bringing him along.  Did it want a witness?  Why?  Was it trying to send a message to Spike?

That didn't seem likely.  It knew Spike was onto it for months, yet the only change in its behavior was an increased effort into being friendly.  It could have dealt with Spike at any time and in any manner it wanted.  Who could stop it from eating him if it really wanted to?

No, it wasn't going to try intimidating him.  This creature of evil was too nice for that, oddly.  So what was its goal?  Perhaps it was bringing him along for directions to each of Twilight's friends' houses.  If that were the case it would perfectly explain why it was bringing Spike along.  But he knew where the impostor was going to be and when, which would make him a witness in case anything happened to them.  The impostor played it well, but it was no fool; it wouldn't leave anything to chance like that.

So what was it going to do to Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts?  Past experience told Spike that the impostor would talk to them and get them to accept the new "Twilight".  Having a wealth of allies is all well and good for infiltration, but it had no reason to expand its influence to these three random ponies in Canterlot.  If it wanted to establish a foothold in Canterlot, this was a pointless endeavor; it already befriended Luna and Celestia, so it wouldn't need anypony else for whatever mission it was trying to accomplish.  What was its real motive?

All Spike could figure was that the impostor would do something evil, but he didn't know what or why.  Why bring attention to itself and confront ponies from Twilight's past when it was doing so well by staying isolated in Ponyville?  None of this made sense from the perspective of a scheming infiltrator trying to play for power.

To top it all off, Spike couldn't stop thinking about what it had to say the other night.  It spoke of lies and regret in regards to the very scheme it was pulling now.  What did it care if its supposed friends didn't like it or not?  It wasn't a pony.  It was using them.  It wouldn't ever risk the integrity of its disguise by telling the truth.

So what did it want to talk about on the day you met Zecora?

Spike grit his teeth and rubbed his forehead.  None of this made any sense.  If it was just trying to throw Spike off, it was doing a damn good job.  It almost had him fooled that it was just some victim of circumstance that really wanted to tell the truth and fix things.

Almost.

No matter how convincing its acting may get, Spike would stay resolute.  He was presently the only one capable of revealing the truth and saving Twilight.  That speech on Nightmare Night, its kindness, its devotion; it was all a lie.  It had to be.





I hardly noticed the train ride passing.  My mind was so firmly set upon my goal that time held no meaning for me.  Even with the city of Canterlot slowly approaching me from the window, it felt like we got there quickly.

That was good.  I wanted to do this as soon as possible.  Spike and I disembarked onto a crowded train station.  Ponies around us hustled to and fro, boarding and leaving the train like any old day.  The city itself was splendid to look at.  Magnificent white walls with blended gold and indigo spires gave the city a grand, metropolitan feel.  If Cloudsdale were the city of Rome, then Canterlot was Babylon.  White brick buildings gave the royal city the splendor it deserved.

I spent little time gawking at the architecture, as I needed directions to a "friend's" house.  Without some equivalent to the Yellow Pages, I needed someone who already knew where everyone was.  Enter Spike the dragon.

"Okay Spike, you remember where Minuette lives?"  I asked.

Spike scoffed.  "How did I know that's what you were going to ask?"

"You know me well."  I answered lightly.

Spike rolled his eyes.  "Sure.  She lives this way."

Spike walked down the street with me in tow.  I didn't want to risk getting lost in this place.  Not that I couldn't solve that problem easily with a Flight spell, but I couldn't risk losing Spike in the crowd.  Well, I could solve that pretty easily, too.  I just didn't want to go through that stuff, okay?  It was just easier to get it right the first time.

We didn't speak the entire time we traveled, either to Canterlot or Minuette's house.  Something was bothering Spike big time.  He grit his teeth an awful lot on the way here, and he stole more than one glance my way.  If I had to guess, he was getting frustrated with me.  The longer I was around, the more agitated he was getting.  All the more reason to hurry my goals along, huh?

With apologies to Spike, I needed to deal with one problem at a time.  We were at Minuette's house already, and the first thing I needed to do was fix old bridges.  I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.  I already dreaded what was sure to happen.  When the door clicked open, I braced myself for whatever lashing I would take no matter how horrible.

The door slid open to reveal a light blue unicorn.  Her mane was styled similar to Lyra's if it were dark blue and white.  Her blue eyes shone with energy, which I feared would be directed my way in a most hateful fashion.  She let in a large breath.  "Twilight Sparkle?"

"Present?"  I greeted nervously.

The pony I presumed to be Minuette smiled in a most excited and unexpected way.  "Oh my goodness, it's been so long!"

"Six months or so."  I couldn't help but say.

She giggled at the information.  "Leave it to you to keep track of the time, huh?"

I laughed politely at the inside joke.  "Yeah, leave it to me."

Minuette finished laughing, yet still kept that excited smile.  "It's been way too long if you ask me!  We hardly see each other anymore, you know?  I thought you've forgotten about little old me!"  I sighed and rose a hoof to say something about it, but she beat me to the punch with some more excited talking.  "Hey, how about we go get lunch together with the others?  It'll be just like old times, but with fewer books!  Hopefully!"

This sounded very convenient.  I had a great love for doing painful things as efficiently as possible, and talking to all of "my" old friends at once was pretty efficient.  I smiled as genuinely as I could.  "That sounds great."

Minuette smiled widely.  "Great, let me call for them."  She breathed in deeply and yelled as loud as she could.  "Twinkleshine!  Lemon Hearts!  Let's do lunch!"

Two doors from neighboring houses opened at that moment.  "Wait, they live right next door to you?"  I asked.

"Yep!  Cool, huh?"

And yet more convenient.  I would have said something to that effect had the other two not already involved themselves, starting with Twinkleshine (who was the light beige coated, pink maned unicorn).  She began with a gasp.  "Twilight, is that really you?"

On my other side, Lemon Hearts (the yellow coated, teal maned unicorn) broke in.  "Oh my gosh, it is!  Wow, and you're so buff from last time!"

I looked down at my body.  "Oh, yeah, I got into weight lifting while I was away."

"We can tell!"  Twinkleshine complimented.  "I bet you don't need your magic to carry your books around anymore!"

While I never did, I figured it was best to play along.  "Nope!  All I need is a saddlebag of lesser to greater quality, and I'm good to go."

They all giggled, and Lemon Hearts asked, "So does your visit mean you're joining us to lunch?"

"That's right."  I nodded.

Lemon chuckled beside me.  "Sounds like it'll be just like old times, but without the books!"

"Uh, Minuette beat you to that particular joke."  I informed her.

"Sure did!"  Minuette said in corroboration.

Lemon fake pouted.  "Aw, and here I thought I was being clever."

"It was, but Minuette got to me first."

Twinkleshine giggled and raised the first pertinent question so far.  "So where were we going to eat, that old donut place?"

"Donuts are cool and all, but I'm way hungrier than that."  I said.

"How about that pizza place?  Their Manehatten-style pizzas are sooo good."  Minuette suggested.

"Pizza works."

"Cool, you remember the way?"

"... No."

The group giggled some more.  "That's alright, Twilight, you haven't been around for a while.  Come on, we'll show you the way."  Twinkleshine invited with a wave.

We all started walking down the street towards some reportedly good pizza.  I'm not sure if the others noticed Spike or not.  He followed me silently, and his presence was almost imperceptible.  He still seemed a little upset, so I figured I would at least thank him properly for showing me the way there.  Unlike the other three, Spike was one person I wasn't going to forget, intentionally or not.