//------------------------------//
// Where Are They? 
// Story: I'm No Legend 
// by Short Stories 
//------------------------------//

He was so close to heading outside when a scream ripped through the castle, followed by his name urgently being called. He huffed, wishing she would give him enough time to get help, and ran back to the kitchen. "Twilight! What's wrong?" He asked, fearing the worst. Though he didn't see any fire or burglars in the room, he did see the frightened mare staring at her now open wings; ones she hadn't opened all day--until this moment.

"Why do I have wings?!" She shrieked, not taking her eyes off them. "Are they an optical illusion? A hologram? A prank? Spike, was this one of your childish pranks?" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, her eyes dilated to the size of pinpricks. "Please tell me it was one of your childish pranks!"

Spike blinked, not exactly sure how to respond. "Uhhh..." He said as he stared at the frenzied alicorn. After a moment passed, he shrugged uselessly. She groaned and let go of him, started to pace. "I knew it would be no use asking him..." she mumbled to herself, "but I thought he would give me an idea of why..." The baby dragon watched her mumble and pace until he was sure she was in her own little world (which wasn't long), then slipped out the door, closing it soundlessly behind him.



Even though the sun was out, it was still freezing outside. He glanced up at some of the pegasi who were trying to get the breeze the perfect temperature then continued on his way. Sugarcube Corner was only a block or two away; it was a path he had traveled down so many times before that he hardly had to have his eyes open to see where he was going.

He should have kept them open, though. One moment, he was on his two feet, the next he was tumbling down to earth. Dazed, but not hurt, he looked behind him and saw a rock that was sticking out of the ground had tripped him. Grumbling to himself and the rock (though he knew it was ridiculous to do so), he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Y'all alright, Spike?" A young, familiar voice asked. Spike turned his head to see Apple Bloom looking at him with concern, her saddlebags on, the normal hustle of the monthly farmers market going on behind her.

If Apple Bloom's still here... Spike thought happily once he saw her, then Applejack should be here as well!

Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she looked off to the side then back at the dragon. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he was staring at her and it was starting to creep her out. "Uh...Spike?" She asked after a good minute of silence passed.

Spike shook his head, as if getting out of deep thought. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He scratched his head sheepishly, looking at the ground. "Was I staring into space?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Sorry about that..."

"It's fine," Apple Bloom sighed, "hey, have ya seen Applejack anywhere? She promised yesterday she'd help me with mah apple buckin' skill--or lack of one--but ah didn't see her anywhere in the house this mornin." It was the fillies turn to look at the ground as she absently kicked a pebble out of the way. "Ah thought, maybe she'd be in town square up an early, or be over at Twi's er somethin'."

"Wait...Applejack's gone, too?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head, confused by Spike's question. "What do ya mean by that?" She asked, "Is Twi gone, too?"

"No." Spike said, then after some thought, changed his answer. "I mean yes. I mean--" he scoffed at himself and hung his head, wondering how to explain it without getting the filly worked up more than she was. "It's complicated, I guess. She's still there, but...." he bit his lip, knowing that truth was a good way to go yet not sure how to continue. "Her memory isn't...?"

Apple Bloom's eyes widened again, clearly alarmed by the new information. "TWILIGHT LOST--"

"Her spell book!" Spike quickly said to the surrounding ponies as he clamped a claw over the filly's mouth. Forcing a laugh, he took his claw off her face and shook his head with a smile. "Who knows how long it'll take to find it? It's driving her insane."

The filly gave him an irritated look, but went with it nonetheless. "Yer right, Spike," she said loudly to anypony still listening, "let's head ta Sugar Cube Corner an see if Pinkie mistook it as a bakin' book." She then started to push Spike towards the bakery, he soon started to walk beside her.

"Why would Pinkie mistake the spell book as a baking book?" Lyra Heartstrings asked her best friend, Bon Bon once they left the strawberry stand.

Bon Bon shrugged, guiding them both towards the asparagus stand. "Pinkie mistakes a lot of things for a lot of things." She said simply, "it was bound to happen one of these days."



It was obvious to Spike and Bloom that the bake shop was falling behind on orders. A long, snake-like line trailed out of the shop and ponies all over-front, back and middle- where starting to grow impatient, angry shouts rose from all over.

"I ordered a pie ten minutes ago!" Pokey Pierce yelled, shaking a hoof in the air.

"My cake was supposed to be finished by now!" Lemon Drops added.

"I just came here for a blueberry shake!" Filthy Rich scowled, "I didn't want to wait in line for half the day! I'm a very busy stallion!" 

Apple Bloom and Spike ducked out of view of the irritated ponies and slipped inside, where the scene was ten times worse. Pound and Pumpkin Cake where wailing they're little heads off, Mr. Cake trying his best to shush them up and take orders, while Mrs. Cake was frantically cooking and serving the goodies.

The school filly walked up to the counter to talk to the Cakes, Spike close behind. "Hey!" Sassaflash growled at the two the moment they reached the counter, "no cutting! You two go back to the line and wait like the rest of us."

"Oh, don't worry, we will soon," Spike assured, "we just...have a delivery to pick up, is all."

Sassaflash brought her head down so she could be eye-to-eye with the dragon. She scowled and pushed her nose up to his. "Like I said," she hissed, "get. In. Line."

Spike backed up and glanced at the line, shocked to know it was a simple pick up line for the orders. He wondered why the Cakes hadn't filled them out before hand. Apple Bloom got in front of Spike, looking quite upset somepony had talked to one of her friends like that. "You do know he's the assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" She retaliated.

Sassaflash stood tall again, looking slightly confused. "Yeah? So?"

"So, ah recommend y'all don't talk ta him like that. Unless, a course, you want to bring the whole thing up to Twilight or even Celestia herself."

Sassaflash's expression changed from confused to worried in a heartbeat. She mumbled an apology and attempted to take a step back, running into the pony behind her. Apple Bloom smiled gratefully and turned towards the counter, started ringing the bell. Mr. Cake noticed immediately and silenced the bell with a gentle tap. "Uh..yes..Apple Bloom?" He asked nervously.

"Is Pinkie Pie here?" Spike asked, stepping forward. "We need to talk to her; it's kind of super important." 

Mrs. Cake, who was coming out of the kitchen carrying a tray of cupcakes in her mouth, set them on the counter and faced the two. "If she was here," she said, "this place wouldn't be as hectic." She picked up the cupcakes and carried them to Sassaflash, who was off to a vacant table once the tray was in her mouth.

"I don't know how Pinkie does it," Mr. Cake said while shaking his head, "her constant energy, while a bit annoying at times, is the perfect thing we need  to keep this place from reaching...well...this state."

Spike furrowed his brow, while Apple Bloom raised hers. "Was she in her room?"

"We checked." Mr Cake deadpanned, "She wasn't under her bed, or on the ceiling, or under the covers, though that's uncommon for her. Gummy was on the bed, but he was freaking out."

"How?" Spike asked, "doesn't he usually just stare blankly into nothingness?"

Carrot Cake nodded, about to explain, but Shoeshine barged her way past the filly and dragon, a very threatening look on her face. Luckily, Cup Cake came back from taking some other orders from the long line and happened to hear Spike's question. "When Pinkie's around, yes," she answered, "but it's not internal freaking out, like she says her sister does. He was running around the bed sheet, tearing it up, throwing the stuffing out of it...stuff he does when Pinkie's not here. Trust us, we've seen it before."

Apple Bloom and Spike exchanged a look, wondering what they should do now. "Could....we see...?" Bloom asked uncertainly.

"Oh, heavens, no!" Carrot Cake's eyes widened as he spoke. "He tried to escape once we came near him. If--I mean--when Pinkie comes back, we don't want her to be upset and leave again to find her precious alligator! Who knows how long she'll be gone?"

"A day?" Spike shrugged.

"Do ya know when Pinkie'll be back?"

Carrot shook his head, taking the bits from Shoeshine. "Who knows? Months, perhaps, or maybe just a week..."

Spike and Apple Bloom lowered they're heads with a small groan. "Thanks anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Spike offered. "Good luck with the orders."

"What about Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked as Spike turned to leave. "Has she been by here?"

Carrot shrugged, finally calming the babies down. "Not that I know of," he said, "she could be somewhere in line, though."

She stared at him, blinked, not sure how else to react. "Oh." She said after she realized she'd been staring for a bit too long; she was about to turn away and leave without so much as a 'thank you' when an idea stopped her in her tracks. She turned around, gleaming with pride. "Hey!" She exclaimed, "can ah help with the orders? Pinkie, AJ an Granny Smith taught me a thing er two in the world a cookin'. I'd be a great 'replacement'! That is--until Pinkie gets back."

Mr. Cake thought about the idea, his hoof to his chin and his eyes wandering to the ceiling. After a good minute or two of possible pros and cons flying about in his head (the worst being the place burning down), he realized the list shared much resemblance to Pinkie's and nothing bad has happened with her so far--besides the fact that she went and disapeered, but that wasn't exactly on the list. "I don't see why not," he answered, "long as you don't burn the place down," he added with a chuckle.

"Ah'm sure ah won't!" She cheered, rushing into the kitchen, surprising Mrs. Cake, then immediately started to help the anxious baker.

Spike didn't notice. How could he? He was already out the door.

He was already halfway to Rarity's.



Twilight was still freaking out about her wings. She had, on multiple instances, tried to pull them off with her wings and had been greeted with pain. She had tried to look for her scientific studies journal, yet it was nowhere in sight. Neither was Spike.

She had waited so, so long for him to come back, but her patience was was running thin. She looked at the time; he had slipped out two hours ago. She had called for him again, after she was done pacing and talking to herself, but when he didn't run to her aid, she figured he must be ignoring her or escaped at one point or another. She was furious for an hour afterward.

The alicorn looked at the time again; it had only changed by a minute. She looked at the door; the knob didn't turn and nopony--or dragon was coming through.

With a frustrated sigh, she scrawled a quick note on a stray, empty scroll that she found among the many others in Spike's room (it had taken a while, but she had finally figured out where it was located), and  used a sticky spell to stick it on the outside of the door. After she was done, she ran towards what she assumed was the town hall; it seemed to be the largest building there. Maybe somepony could help her better than Spike--help her know where she was, for example, or how she got there.

Or--maybe, just maybe, somepony could help her find a way back.