3. The Invitation
---
+++
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"We're not getting out of this one so easily, are we?"
The looks on my companions' faces told me more than words ever could. Each and all of us, cornered into some rundown shack and peering through the boards. From the crack which I was crouched by, I could make out some of our assailants; diamond dogs, and each carrying a vicious-looking weapon in their... hands? Paws? They certainly looked big enough to crush a person's neck without any effort.
"They've all got crossbows, and I think a few of them have breech-loading rifles. We'll end up like porcupines if we try to fight our way out," Whitetail muttered, jerkily pulling his gaze away from one peephole and moving to the next. His face was set in determination, but his breathing was audibly shallow—the always-brash unicorn was as scared as the rest of us.
"Let's face it. We're as good as dead if we try to pull anything... That isn't helping, Kaz!" Grizzly hissed, and only then did I realize that I was whispering the same expression of denial over and over again. I had to bite down on my tongue and force myself to breathe deep, but the hammering of my heart refused to subside. In desperation, I turned to the one person in the shack whom I had come to believe was impossible to shake. And, in that level-headed manner he always had, Alcaeus frowned and shook his head.
"I have a few ideas, but not the kind that any of us should stake our lives on—"
"You've got nowhere left to run! Come on out or we'll take you out in pieces!" We all flinched at the sound of that harsh, throaty voice, for we had been on bad terms with its owner for two years. Who else but Lycurgus the Sixth, the mercenary commander who had crossed paths with us to the point our encounters always left a trail of burning wreckage? Only now, it seemed that our funeral pyres had finally caught up to us. "Better yet, why don't you just stay where you are? Give us a reason to use the dynamite we borrowed!" For a moment, we froze at the mention of dynamite; it was an outright miracle that he hadn't just lobbed a few at us and called it a day, but even so...
"Dynamite... Are you thinking what I'm thinking, my little fire-breather?" Alcaeus murmured, a tight grin forming on his face. In the dim light, it looked as vicious as his current line of thought probably was. I gave a smile and a nod of my own, a sense of giddy anticipation mixing in with the fear when I understood his intentions. Whatever the outcome would be, I was going to make damned sure that something exploded by the end of it.
"Whatever you're planning, you'd better make it quick. Or we'll be roasting in pieces," Grizzly urged, treading over to the door. For a moment, we waited there at the exit, unwilling to take that final step into the uncertain end. Beyond those doors stood two dozen armed mercenaries, and here we were, this little ragtag band with nothing but what we scrabbled together over the past few days. Only that and each other, so it seemed. But I felt that was better than dying alone.
So this was what a last stand felt like—knowing that I was about to take a few steps forward and experience what may be the last few seconds of my life. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours, and every small detail made itself known to me, from the smell of damp wood and gunpowder to the individual hairs of Whitetail's orange coat, black mane, albino tail...
And then, as their eyes all turned towards me, I came to realize; they were waiting for me to make the first move. In being the only one capable of lighting the dynamite fuses, everything was riding on me. But I ignored the panic in my gut and sheathed my sword, willing my arcane power to the palms of my hands. And as I felt the presence of energy building up, I saw Whitetail readying his own magic, Grizzly and Alcaeus loading up their crossbows. Despite myself, I managed one more grin, one last chuckle.
"Let's give the world a story they'll never forget," I whispered, placing my hand to the door. Together, we pushed it open and stepped out into the blinding light...
---
+++
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Chapter 3: The Invitation
---
...And as we rose further, the horizon ceased to exist. I beckoned to the pinpoints in the sky, the vast and infinite void. This was to be ours, an inheritance given to us from the moment we left the collective cradle on our own determination. And as my passenger looked on as we moved ever further, and the whole universe shrunk to a dark canvas of cosmic dust motes, her star-studded mane blew in an unseen wind.
But then she looked to me, opened her mouth to speak—
In an instant, the world froze in place and melted into blackness like the afterimage of a light in my eyes. I felt a powerful jolt run through me, along with a staggering sense of vertigo as electric fire ran through my nerves. It took a few moments for me to feel my limbs again, to feel the weight of the blanket against my scales.
There was no mistaking it; I was waking up for real this time.
With the pins-and-needled still arcing through my body, I slowly rolled over in my bed, and spent a good while lying there on my back as I shook off the last remnants of my most recent journey through the bizarre world of my own mindscape. And as I spent the last few moments trying and failing to blink away the insurmountable wall of grogginess, a certain phrase came to mind, one that was as good as any to begin the day with.
"Christ on a crotch rocket..."
I let out an odd cross between a chuckle and a yawn at the resulting mental image—a sound that would've passed for a Wookie's laughter—and looked to the nearest window to see that the sky was just beginning to show a glimpse of the oncoming dawn. Lucky me that I woke up at the day's start, because I wouldn't have been able to go back to bed anyway even if I'd wanted to. So it was with a hefty breath that I tossed the blanket off and dragged myself out of bed and padded over to the door, floorboards creaking beneath my feet as I went to snatch up one of my robes.
Force of habit, that one; just because dragons had nothing to hide didn't mean I was comfortable with following the majority in the practice of being nude everywhere I went.
I stepped into the front hall of our rented home, greeted by little other than silence, with only a light coming from the kitchen to signify that anyone else was awake. I stood there for a moment, feeling as though I was back at my relatives' home in Delaware. For but a short moment, the scene gave me a sense of nostalgic comfort, for I knew that much of the rest of the day would be packed full with my cousins' antics.
But it didn't last; I remembered where I really was, and I felt a pale shadow of the feeling that haunted me for months after my father passed away. Shaking my head, I put it all to the back of my mind yet again and continued my early-morning journey to the kitchen, where I found Alcaeus sitting at the small table placed by the window. He looked up from the cup of tea cradled in his hands, a tired smirk working its way onto his face.
"Hm. Never took you as capable of waking up before six on your own," he rumbled, shifting in his creaky chair as he gestured to a kettle sitting on the stove. "There's tea if you want any," he added. I shrugged, taking him up on his offer.
"I wake up early because it means having a quiet morning. That's my well-earned reward for waking up before the crow and the parrot," I said, and we both broke into chuckles as I grabbed the kettle and filled a mug. It was a little in-joke which had its roots from Grizzly stubbing her toe and Whitetail emulating the noise for a good fifteen minutes—up until she threatened to rip his tail off and use it as toilet paper. I felt that I needed the humor anyway as I slumped into the next available chair and downed some of the would-be scalding tea.
Or rather, it was scalding hot, but it didn't actually burn my mouth, if that made any sort of sense. Not that Dragon biology itself made sense to begin with.
"I had a bit of an odd dream just then. Woke me up and kept me up, you know?"
"So what happened when you were dreaming?" Alcaeus asked, leaning back in his seat. I leaned the opposite way as I thought back to that bizarre spawn conceived between my subconscious mind and the astral plane, resting my elbows on the table when I came up with a way to begin.
"I don't remember much, but I'm kind of glad for that," I admitted, leaning ever so gradually further in my tiredness. "Most of it was just a bizarre reenactment of my childhood, and it ended with me flying through space and having this weird conversation with someone. And that's on top of feeling like I was being watched throughout the entire thing... God, I just want to go back to sleep." I sighed, propping my head against my hand. I was sorely tempted to retreat to my room and climb back in bed, but I just lifted my head to fight it off and take another rejuvenating sip of tea.
Today already felt like it was going to be one of those days, where the world would turn into a sitcom at everyone's expense and the only one still laughing by the end of it would be Whitetail.
"O' calamitous dreams, such spawn of Discord. What we would do without ye..." Alcaeus muttered, and we gave a toast to that, clinking mugs and downing the rest of our drinks. In the minutes that passed afterwards, as we refilled our drinks and made a breakfast of some of the fruit we had bought, the outside world continued to brighten as the sun readied for its journey above the horizon. The thought that such a thing as the cycle of day and night was truly dictated by mortal or quasi-mortal beings still struck me as odd, even to this day. Discovering the Sunspire had put a few important questions to rest, but it also created quite a few others just as significant as the last.
Answers, answers... All I wanted from the world were a few answers, but I never received any of them.
But it was all a train of thought for another time, for I soon heard the sound of something falling to the floor, followed by Grizzly living up to her nickname. My poor, poor ears.
"...Do you think she might have some bear in her genes?" I asked, and the minotaur shrugged. Whitetail had since joined in, and the two inevitably fell into a shouting match that was enough to make my head pound. What was worse, in the moment that followed, they came waltzing into the kitchen, still railing at each other over something I couldn't have cared any less about. Alcaeus let out a long-suffering sigh, and slowly raised his hands.
I covered my ears just in time for him to bring his fists down on the table. The noise that followed sounded much like a rifle going of, and they jumped clear off the floor at the sudden crack!—Whitetail was halfway to diving under the table when he realized his life wasn't in danger—and gave us sheepish looks as we gave them our best glares. The minotaur beat me to the punch with the obligatory disproportionate threat, though he got the point across much better than I would've.
"It's six in the morning, you know. If you're going to be screaming this loud, you can count on me to make sure you have a very good reason to be screaming."
With the most impeccable timing in the world—or maybe someone outside just heard the commotion—the doorbell rang, and we all stared out into the hall as we wondered what kind of sadomasochist would come knocking as early as this. For a moment, none of us moved from our spots, listening as the ringing came in periodic and persistent. I huffed as I realized that our unexpected drop-in wasn't going to leave us alone.
"I'll get it..." I growled, pushing my mug to the center of the table, and I made the effort to climb out of my seat. Why did I always have to get up to move just as I was starting to get comfortable? As I trudged on and the others followed behind me, I wondered at whoever was beyond that door, and whether I could get away with lighting their tail on fire.
My hand froze mere inches from the doorknob as I abruptly pictured Twilight Sparkle waiting on the other side, ready to descend upon me like the neurotic demigod she was. But I could feel my friends standing at my back, and I knew for a fact that they wouldn't just vanish into the blue when I needed them. I muttered a curse beneath my breath, shot them all a look of 'let's get this over with', and pulled the door open.
Imagine my surprise when I came face-to-face with a royal guard, decked out in gold-tinted armor and standing straight and tall as a trained officer would. It didn't change the fact that he had to look up at me like every other pony.
"Message for Kazimira Blackwell," he said, and as he pulled out an envelope, I was stuck wondering how anyone in the whole of Equestria knew my full name. But I felt my stomach bottom out when I made a few educated guesses. I didn't even need to read that letter to figure out who had it sent or what was written within, but nevertheless, I kept my silence as the guard handed it over to me. My suspicions were confirmed when I read the letter's contents out loud to the others.
"It is hereby decreed that the dragoness known by the name of Kazimira Blackwell appear before her majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle in the Golden Oaks Library on the 8th of July 1898, as in accordance with the wishes of Her Highness. Failure to comply will result in the appropriate consequences as dictated by Equestrian law... And that's the royal seal at the bottom."
I just realized; she knew my name. I couldn't figure out how, but Twilight figured out my full name within a day of me setting foot in her own country. The very thought sent my heart shooting into my throat and a cold knot forming in my gut. That hydra's nest was looking awfully cozy from where I currently stood...
"So this is a mandatory summons, then? On what grounds?" I demanded.
"I wasn't informed of her reasons, but do keep in mind that she is new to her position. All I can recommend is that you present yourself to her as soon as you are able. She is very interested in meeting you, Miss Blackwell." With another word, the guard gave a curt nod and marched off, leaving us to mull over everything on our own. Grizzly was the first to find her voice among us.
"So... Our li'l Kazie got an invitation from Princess Twilight?" Grizzly sang, audibly impressed with my so-called achievement. "I guess we'll have to postpone Canterlot for the day—"
"Yeah, failure to comply will result in a prison door slamming on my tail and all that. Were you paying attention at the part that screamed mandatory summons?" I emphasized, waving the letter about. I don't know how I kept my voice from quavering—I was two steps away from having an anxiety attack, and already I found myself pacing the front of the hall as I tried to get my thoughts in order. "Call me paranoid, but that little addition rubs me the wrong way, coming from someone who's supposedly the Element of Magic."
"After what Lord Balmer tried to do to us, anyone would be paranoid," Whitetail reassured me, but the mere mention of Lord Balmer only had the effect of making all of us shudder in remembrance of that psychopath's death course hidden away in his manor's catacombs. "Uh, what I'm trying to get at is that you may have a point, but you still have to remember that Princess Twilight is the polar opposite of him," he amended.
Polar opposite in terms of being dead and alive, most likely. I wasn't willing to hold her to any sort of standards involving a modicum of sanity.
"So I suppose we're sticking around for a little while longer?" Alcaeus asked, with the slightest hint of disappointment, but even he looked rather eager at the prospect of meeting Equestria's newest sovereign. That just made me want all the more to curl into a ball and cry.
"Like I'd leave town after getting an opportunity like this! It's part of the reason we came back to Equestria in the first place." Et tu, Grizelda? The griffin, unaware of my impending breakdown, clapped me on the side and rushed back to her room, uttering a stream of words that may have been along the lines of telling us to get ourselves presentable. As Alcaeus and Whitetail followed, I let out a frustrated groan that bordered on a pitiful sob.
How I wanted so badly to just tell them no, to run to the train station and flee this town in a moment's notice! But I didn't. After ten years of travelling the world and gambling our lives on so many crazy adventures, they would wonder why I was turning into a nervous wreck at a time and place like this. But it wasn't just because of them. After facing down monsters, mercenaries and so much more, was it anywhere near reasonable to be terrified by the presence of one of the most promising individuals of the modern era? It was more than a simple desire not to come here, it was the freezing knot in my stomach growing tighter just by thinking of her.
I suppose that I would feel a little better about it all after I had my sword buckled at my waist. Just a small reminder that I wasn't helpless anymore.
---
"Yes, the mayor assured me that this is the right address. And the recipient will be hard to miss; she's a dragon just like Spike."
With a nod and a salute, the royal guard—Flash something-or-other, Spike wasn't sure—turned and left the library with the letter he was to deliver. The little dragon didn't pay much attention to it nor the sound of the door closing after him. The newspaper article, particularly the image printed on its front, had taken his undivided attention since the previous night. He wondered at the picture of his kin, arm-in-arm with members of three separate species. That alone made her much different from the other teenage dragons he had met, and it solidified his belief all the more that he and Kazimira were related; they shared an outlook that every other dragon he knew didn't.
"Didn't you already read through that six times? I don't think you're going to find much else in there." He pulled his gaze away from the newspaper, and was greeted with one of Twilight's cheeky grins. A smile that briefly morphed into a distasteful scowl as she glanced down at the paper herself. Spike felt a small pang of worry for both Twilight and Kazimira; for even though Celestia's written response had convinced her to be more thoughtful in her decision-making, her first impression of the other dragon hadn't simply gone away.
"You're angry at her and you haven't even met her beyond those fifteen seconds she stood at the door. You didn't even give Trixie that sort of treatment until she came back with that amulet," he said, at which the alicorn bit her lip and puffed out a heavy breath.
"I know, what I said last night wasn't thoughtful. But if there's one thing that I won't ever stand for, it's abandonment." Once again, Twilight looked down upon the photo, brow furrowed as she fell into deeper thought. "If it isn't though, then why did she run away from us last night? How it would all fit together otherwise? I just want answers from her, Spike. We'll figure it all out once we've talked." She sighed, looking at Spike with an expression of concern bordering on pity. He resisted the urge to slap a claw to his face, choosing instead to toss the newspaper back onto the table and cross his arms.
"Just tell me you aren't going to jump her with a quill and paper the moment she walks through the door," he muttered. The sudden smile that graced her lips only made him worry even more.
"No, but I do have a better idea. Watch this." Twilight's horn lit up, and with a flash, she disappeared... Except, there was still a faint distortion from where she had stood. Tentatively, Spike reached out, and met an obstruction in the form of a fur-coated body. It hadn't been a teleportation spell, instead it was... "Invisibility spell, just learned it last week!" she boasted, for all intents and purposes a disembodied voice in the library. Where was she going with all of this? "Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling she'll be more open if she's holding a conversation with you rather than me. If she asks, just tell her that I'm out running an errand or two. I'll leave through the back door and come back in through the front if I have to."
"And you're spying on her for what reason exactly? You can actually leave, and I can just fill you in on what we talked about when you get back."
But before he could get an answer, the library's front door swung open, and in strode four figures that made Spike forget all about that half-baked plan of hers.
---
Once again, I pushed open the front door to the last place in the universe that I ever wanted to be. I allowed myself to relax when I saw that Twilight was nowhere to be seen, only Spike, whose mouth hung open in awe. My apprehension couldn't stop me from grinning at the sight of him; we often had that effect on a lot of kids.
No, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a cute, chubby little toddler-sized dragon. Nothing at all.
"Sweet Minos, Kaz! I think we just found a member of your long-lost family. You're Spike, right?" The little dragon could only nod to Alcaeus in stunned silence, and was rewarded with a hearty clap on the shoulder from someone who had to bend down to deliver it. "I guess we know how he's the savior of the Crystal Empire. It must run in the family!" He beamed as he ushered Spike towards me, and I half-considered punching him in the nose for gutting my cover story before I could even spin it.
"You're... Are you my..." he started, seemingly unable to get his words past his throat.
"I'm not your mommy," I deadpanned, trying to squash the sudden mental image of him asking that question with his face fused to a gas mask. I didn't need to feel any sort of fear at the sight of him too; Twilight was more than enough to send me into a full panic.
"I was going to say sister..." he muttered, shooting a sidelong glance towards the wall.
"Now that wouldn't surprise me—you two even sound alike!" Grizzly chimed in, just to make matters worse. Before Whitetail could put the final nail in my coffin—and I knew he was going to, in that very moment—she pulled the letter out of her bag and held it out to Spike. "So where's Twilight Sparkle? She went to the trouble of having it sent straight to us by royal guard—at an admittedly ridiculous time, no less. The least she could do is to be present for her guests after making that much of a deal out of it."
"Well... We weren't expecting you this early, so she... She went to visit Rarity for something!" he stammered.
"Oh hey, she's who I bought my suit from!" Whitetail exclaimed, heading back towards the door. "Just give me a minute, I'll head there and let Twilight know we're here. Be back in a split!" He was halfway down the street by the time he finished speaking, way too far for me to set his precious tail on fire in retribution for what he was about to bring upon me.
"We should go after him and make sure he doesn't waste his money on another tuxedo," Grizzly murmured, earning a nod of agreement from Alcaeus. She looked to me, letting out a long-suffering breath at our youngest companion's whimsy "We won't be too long, Kaz. I'm sure you and Spike will want to have some time together, at any rate." And just like that, they filed through the door and left me alone with Twilight's indentured servant.
I could hardly believe at how fast everything seemed to go at the moment; perhaps I hadn't yet woken up completely. Or maybe time itself wanted this looming catastrophe to be over with as soon as possible.
"So why did you run away from us yesterday?" I sent Spike a sidelong glance of my own at this question. The kid went straight for the bite with that one, and judging by the look on his face, he did it entirely on purpose.
But that was the thing, wasn't it? I didn't even have to lie to make this work. It was just a matter of omitting some of the truth.
"To be honest, seeing you took me by surprise. I mean, I've heard about you, but I never saw you before yesterday came around." And technically, I was right. The Spike I saw in the show wasn't the same individual as the Spike standing before me. Feeling more confident, I soldiered on with my not-so-fabrications. "Thing is, I don't think straight when I'm surprised. I just needed to get my thoughts in order before I blundered into this, you know?" I asked, and he let out a mirthless chuckle.
"I wish Twilight shared that sentiment more often. It might've saved us all a lot of pain in the long run."
"Oh, you think you know all about pain, then?" I snorted, crossing my arms. I was probably grinning like an arrogant fool as I wondered where to begin with my long list of accidents. And then I had it; something that I knew Spike would relate with. "Do you know what it's like to be chased by hydras?"
"Do I? I was chased by a hydra once, myself!"
"Hydras, as in plural. An entire nest of them," I added with a tight grin. Right then and there, I had him sold, and so began the derailing that I was hoping for. The minutes stretched on as I recounted some of my previous adventures, like the bitter rivalry between my group and Lycurgus and getting shanghaied into the infamous Heist of Red-Eye's Hoard, though I steered clear of anything that had to do with Lord Balmer. That was a tale which wasn't meant for the ears of children—unless it was being penned by the Brothers Grimm. Nevertheless, somewhere along the line, we both found ourselves sitting by the table as we exchanged the highlights of our lives.
When Spike began to tell me of some of the adventures he'd gone on himself, I learned something very important. Apparently, though most of his tales correlated with the show's rendition of recent events at heart, I came to realize that he and the Element bearers had been through a lot more than the cartoon ever dared to portray. Like how Twilight's battle against Nightmare Moon had been an actual battle, or how his own journey to learn more about dragonkind had landed him in far more trouble than the antics of a few rowdy teenagers. And if his retelling of the Royal Wedding was anything to go by, the only thing that would do it justice was if someone got Arthur Conan Doyle and J.R.R. Tolkien together to pen a collaborative novel of it.
And as I listened on, I gradually came to see them all as fellow adventurers in their own right. In truth, I found that I was coming to respect them for their heroism. It made me wonder; what really went on in the Everfree Forest a few weeks ago, when the skies had been locked in half-day and half-night? I'd have to ask as soon as Spike wrapped up his retelling of the return of the Crystal Empire.
"Wait, so you went face-to-face against King Sombra at his best? How are you not dead?" I blurted out, wondering if he was embellishing a few details of his current story. At this, Spike looked both proud and sheepish, and then went on to explain.
"Well, I was riding on Princess Cadance at the time, and she did all the dodging. But if it wasn't for me keeping him at bay with my fire breath..." he trailed off, punctuating his sentence by drawing a claw across his neck, emulating the sound of a knife slash as he did. "But you should've seen it! We flew all sorts of stunts to shake him off our tail! It was—!" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach, and I laughed aloud when my own gut added its own complaint to the chorus.
"I'm starting to wish I met you years ago. We've certainly got our appetites in sync!" I said, and felt surprised that I meant what I said; for even though he wasn't my brother, I certainly wouldn't object to calling him a friend. But once again, my stomach demanded to be sated, and I stood up from my chair, looking around the room. "Say, where do you keep the fridge around here?" I asked, walking towards the nearest doorway. "I'll go grab us a bite to—!"
And then I saw it, an odd distortion in the corner of my eye, not unlike the floater in my right eye. The problem came when it began to move—the outline sent up so many red flags in my mind that I instinctively called forth my magic and lobbed a nullification spell in its direction. When it made contact, the intruder let out a distinctive, surprised yelp as the invisibility spell wore off. It was hardly the first time I've had to deal with this sort of thing.
But my triumph and anger vanished into the blue when the intruder whirled around to face me; it was was none other than Twilight Sparkle, having never left the library to begin with.
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This cannot end well...
Neophyte alicorn archmage against a disgruntled and somewhat betrayed seasoned dragoness spellsword...
If dragonhide is spell resistant it might get interesting,
I sense Spike is about to lose all the ground he inadvertently made thus far...
kaz needs to get angry at twilight
odd, its 8:45 am here
3518718 Welcome to New Jersey, where everything is six hours behind England.
This just updated at 2:30 am for me. :. It must be good!
And now they finally meet.....how will Spike react to this? Is Twilight still mad over the possible abandonment of Spike? What will Kaz think of Twilight, now that she's been revealed? Find out next time on......Ten Years Gone
Really enjoying this story. Hope all goes well with your project, and looking forward to the next chapter.
And I read through this entirely too fast, though my homework really needs to get done. And that exam tomorrow... IT IS LIKE AUTHORS ARE CONSPIRING AGAINST ME!
I liked this chapter but you left it at a cliffhanger again making it feeling like borderline filler. This story at least makes all the perfect events seem plausible unlike some others I have recently read and slightly raged at (it was definitely a slight rage).
Epic duel, epic duel, epic duel...
I mean... they should totally talk out their problems... peacefully...
3518792 Like I said before, I hate the fact that it's filler as much as you do. But also like you said, I try to make the characters act and react plausibly - with varying degrees of success.
You think I'm conspiring to keep you from doing your schoolwork? Guess what; I'm doing it to myself as well. You can rest easy knowing that the author is suffering as much as you are.
...
I hope he stays in the background and you aren't actually doing FlashLight.
3518807
At least we can suffer together it seems. Choices: Write essay and study for materials exam or respond to FiMFiction?
...
HA, as if there was ever a doubt.
The SUSPENSE, the DRAMA...
UUUHhhhhh, I think I just jizzed in my pants
why-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/jizz-in-my-pants.png
3518818 Never fear, dear reader - the fact I left out half of his name should be a pretty big clue that this guy just stopped in for a cameo. I never even watched Equestria Girls, and probably won't until I almost die of boredom.
finshed it at 3:25 am EST. You sir or mam are one the reasons I am able to stay awake for 12 hrs.
hate you so much right now.....
I wait for you to redeem yourself with making the next chapter for me.
With over 1000 likes by you third chapter you are definitly on the roght track. Bet Twilight ends up impressed that Kaz saw through her spell. Hope you show the shock of the others when they don't find Twi at Rarity's ;-)
3518807 NJ all day
That was great!
I'm loving this story now. 
That's not a bad cliffhanger. I've seen far worse. It's actually a good place to end a chapter, I think.
I noticed a few errors, but nothing major. Mostly improper phrasing. Like "With" when "Without" is required and "would it" for "it would" (might have that backwards, forgot).
3518844 Just hope that it doesn't have a cliff hanger at the end of it.
3518870 yep there has been one every chapter so far right?
Good chapter, but the big clincher still eludes and remains a complete mystery. Coming up with something remotely feasible to tie in her similarities with Spike will be a big challenge, so the pressure's on you
3518872 It's that kind of story. He'd have to write 20k-30k word long chapters to find places that aren't some sort of cliffhanger, if that's even possible with such a suspense filled story. Believe me, there are far worse cliffhangers out there.
3518888 One would hope that has already been determined.
Any ideas?
3518894
From what I recall in previous chapter's (which is dim at best), there's so far not a single solid fact to give any sort of direction on why that is. So it could be anybody's guess.
3518849 I think she is even more impressed about Kaz to use magic^^ Kaz will NEVER get out of this.
3518900 Perhaps Earth is an alternate rule 63 dimension to Equestia and Spike is his counterpart. Switching dimensions caused a rule 63 inversion, along with a time dilation vortex brought on by the powerful magic of universe being imaginative dream hopping!
Steven Moffat FTW
3518723 im from norway
Haha! Oh wow, that was some cheese right there.
You sir, have done greatly on thou quest for the story. I shall accompany thou from my Favourites Tab, waiting for your orders to strike the enemy with the element of SURPRISE! But for now, I bid thee farewell.
You liar
I can practically hear your maniacal laughter from here! 
Nah, but serious; I can(t) wait for the next chapter
I have to say(and this is just me personally) that I would have picked out twilight in an instant. Too many Elites have charged me with Active camo that it's hard for me to miss the distortion now. Other than that I love this chapter. Worth the wait(trademark Steam). Can't wait for the next chapter. I hope it's coming soon(also trademark Steam).
Part of me hoping that we'd get to find out just what the 'Apropriate Consequences as dictated by Equestrian Law' actually are, but I think that's more my rebellious streak talking. Complying with the summons is surely the most sensible course & much less trouble all round.
Technically Kaz isn't a subject, but I suppose her status is more like an international traveller in that while she is in Equestria she's subject to their laws.
I still can't help wondering what those consequences are though. It doesn't sound like an idle threat, but I doubt anyone does actually go against it, as evidenced by Twilight knowing that once the summons was sent her appearance was assured.
As for the rest, Kaz & Spike really were bonding over retelling their adventures weren't they? Twilight must have seen that, but it's not really the info about Kaz's origins she wanted is it? Now that her deception is revealed, it'll be her prying for these answers against a Kaz already not willing to divulge but even further ticked off about her little trick.
And the rest of Kaz's group should be back any moment. Ohho...This should be a delightful mess.
Oooooo Twilight, Busted!
I think they will be the most surprised by the fact that kaz can do magic.
3518964 ...Did I hear maniacal laughter....I need to get away! That stuff is contagious! ...Meh...MUh...MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Please more. Also maybe a prequel or sequel? I would be equally interested to hear more of the life of Kaz as whatever happens after whatever happens next happens (???).
3518819 Yes, getting proper snacks is always the right choice. Of course, this must be followed up by reading stories about pastel ponies.
KILL HER TWILIGHT!!
i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/whiterabbit75/Kuroko-Head-Desk1_zpsdaf49370.gif
3519048
HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS SNACKING TOO?!
I demand a Bitch slap for Twilight, no two, one for abuse of power against a non citizen
and another for being a underhanded bitch about it.
Good, Good, though I have no idea what you're on about, this has been posted on the 21st for me, exactly seven days after the last chapter. On the note of the dream, if it was Luna, then she would have to be expecting BIG things, about one megaton big things *Cackles in maniacal glee at his thinly veiled threat*. Also as for the summons, I would've asked the guard to wait a bit for me to pen a response and it would be, more or less, the following:
I'm gonna start using this now.
I love you now.
I'm gonna say now that I don't think that Twi should be punished too bad, since the letter did say that Kaz would have to meet Twilight. Although, it was really underhanded to use an invisibility spell, so the deserves some.
3518706 Spike would be an excellent meat shield, he deals with Twilights' stupid experiments all the time so he may have built up a resistance to her magic or something.
They could've ignored the summons with little to no repercussions, just moved on to Canterlot and not have to deal with Twilight because of one simple fact: Kaz isn't a citizen of Equestria. As a non-citizen she isn't required, by law, to obey a summons from the ruling government. They can strongly encourage her but cannot force her. If she were to break any laws she could be accordingly be punished by kicking her out of the country but that is the full gist of it.
3518706
dragonhide is invariably resistant to magic and the elements through most all coherent fiction.
Personally, if I saw it was her I would only get more angry, not less.