Twilight gripped the steering wheel tight. She headed for the edge of the city, into the darkness left by a dwindling number of streetlights. It would be an hour’s drive to the portal, which wasn’t all that much considering it could have been anywhere. The rain had slacked a bit, becoming a dull thrum against the windshield.
“Twilight,” Sunset Shimmer said pointing down a road they’d just passed, “the kennel is the other way.”
Twilight mulled over her answer, tapping her thumbs against the wheel. “I know. I’m not taking Spike there.”
“Then where?” Sunset propped her cheek up on her hand. “He can’t just come with us to…” Her forehead furrowed. “No.”
“What?”
“No!” Sunset glanced at the dog sleeping in the small backseat. “No, no, no. Twilight, we can’t bring him to Equestria. He’s… It’s not…” She clenched her fists and growled beneath her breath. “He has a double, too.”
Twilight Sparkle huffed. “Can you please just tell me everybody who has a double and get it over with?”
Sunset blinked. “Uh. You, Spike, our friends, the principals, the Apple Family, Flash—”
“What.”
“I know, right? Actually, I’m pretty sure even President Cadenza has a double.” Sunset ran a hand through her damp hair. “Never met either of them, personally.”
Twilight’s eyes flicked to her friend. “Cadence, huh? Makes me wonder if she babysat the other Twilight, too.”
Sunset Shimmer gave Twilight a double-take. “You’re telling me you were babysat by the future president?”
“These politicians have to start somewhere.” Twilight Sparkle turned her high-beam headlights on when she left the city, rolling onto the highway. “So, what about you? Do you have an alternate universe double floating around somewhere? An evil twin? A shattered reflection of the goodness in your heart?”
Sunset sighed. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Yes.”
“Then no. None that I ever met. I looked for a few years, but…” Sunset adjusted her seatbelt to sit lower on her thighs. “Urgh. But I never found anything. It stopped being important to me, right around the time I met you.” She tilted her head. “There were more important things to do.”
“So it’s possible, at least.” Twilight Sparkle moved into the fast lane to pass a slower car. “What does any of that have to do with not bringing Spike?”
“Because his double is a dragon.”
Twilight spent the next few minutes laughing hard, right from the belly. She slowed the car as she tried to keep them on the road. Sunset gripped her armrests tight, praying fervently that the slick rainwater wouldn’t be the death of them.
Twilight regained control of the car and her laughter. She giggled, gritting her teeth together. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s a start,” Sunset whimpered. “How’s about I drive?”
“Sorry. No dice.” Twilight Sparkle caught a mile marker flashing in her lights. Twenty-or-so miles to go. “So the sweetest dog you’d ever meet is also a giant, fire-breathing, town-destroying dragon right outta Daring Do and the Scales of Leviathan?”
“No, he was a baby the last time I saw him.” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her wedding ring. “I’m looking at this from his perspective. He’s a dog. He doesn’t have to worry about high-concept stuff. Imagine what he might do if one day he woke up and he was suddenly a different species.”
Twilight’s eyes went to her rearview mirror. She could see Spike resting peacefully, his side rising and falling with gentle breaths. “Not sure I follow.”
“You and I, we’re sapient.” Sunset Shimmer counted down on her fingers. “We can remember. We can learn. More than that, we can think. We can reason. We can be convinced that something is not worth panicking over.”
“Some of us can,” Twilight muttered.
Sunset reached back and placed a hand on Spike’s head. “Spike here is not sapient. He’s sentient. He can’t reason; he can feel. He responds to outside stimulus. He lives according to his instincts.”
Twilight arched her back to relieve a growing stiffness. “And? What does that have to do with—?”
“What are Spike’s instincts going to say,” Sunset said, “when he gets there and finds himself in a new body? His brain isn’t going to be able to process ‘I’m no longer a dog.’ He’s going to panic. Have you ever seen a dragon freak out?”
Twilight’s shoulders slumped. “Can’t say I have.”
“But you can picture it.” Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms. She shook her head. “It wouldn’t be fair to anybody. Not to the people wherever we’re going, and not to him.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Twilight took a quick look at the sky to see the rainclouds rolling. The storm was about to get worse. “But I have to try.”
“Wait, what?” Sunset shifted in her seat, turning towards Twilight. “Did you not listen to a word I said?”
“I did. But I have to do it anyway.”
Sunset’s mouth fell open at an angle, her eyes flashing in the dark. “Are you nuts? We’re talking about a dragon, here! A gem-crushing, fire-blasting, bone-crunching—”
“It’s Spike!” Twilight shouted.
The wheels lost traction with the road. The car twisted to the left, then the right, the rear fishtailing. Twilight hit the brakes and slid the car over to the side of the highway, inches from diving into the ditch. The car they’d passed rolled on ahead, honking its horn.
Twilight fought to keep her breath under control. Her chest heaved as she gripped the wheel tight. She rested her head against the seat, using every breathing exercise she knew.
Sunset swallowed hard and stared ahead. Her fingernails dug into the leather armrests. Her stomach was flipping around like a drunken tumbler. “Excuse me.”
She unlocked the door, slipped outside the car, and heaved into the grass.
It took Twilight a second to realize that Spike was barking. Her shout had woken him, and the sudden movement had sent him flying into the side window. She unbuckled herself and reached back for him. “Shh, Spike, it’s okay.” She hugged him close, petting him in an effort to calm the both of them down.
Her door opened. Sunset Shimmer loomed over her, her face almost as dark as the clouds overhead. “I’m driving. Get out.”
A protest died in Twilight’s chest. “That’s probably a good idea.”
They switched seats, their knees shaking with a rush of adrenaline. Sunset Shimmer adjusted the mirrors, and then set off for their destination once more. She flicked the cruise control on with a grunt. “Why do you want to take Spike so badly?”
Twilight pulled her fogging glasses off of her eyes. They hung from her fingertips, dripping with water. “Spike is dying, Sunset. And magic…” She scratched behind Spike’s ears. “You said magic can do anything I could imagine. The immortality spell—”
“Wouldn’t work on him.” Sunset’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry I mislead you. Magic can do anything you can imagine… to a point.”
Twilight tensed up. “What point is that?”
“He’s dying of old age, Twilight.” Sunset Shimmer decreased their speed as the rain grew harsher. “We have age-changing spells. But they can only be cast by the most powerful mages, and only last a day. If he was sick, we could fight to find a cure, but…” She felt Spike sniffing her jacket. “But he’s just worn out.”
“But…” Twilight stuffed her hands in the pockets of her long coat. “I have to save him. I have to try.”
“Save him from what?” Sunset reached across the car and gripped Twilight’s elbow. “It’s okay. He’s had a good, long life. Filled with love. He’ll be gone, but he’ll always leave something behind in our hearts.”
Twilight looked at Spike. He looked back, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging. She blinked tears away. “Do you think dogs have souls?”
Sunset Shimmer frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Do they have something… more?” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Or are they just bags of flesh and instincts?”
Sunset let out a low “hmm.” She flashed her friend an uneasy smile. “‘Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.’”
Twilight scoffed. “Leave the movie quotes to Scootaloo. It’s not you.”
Pain crossed Sunset’s face. She gnawed her lower lip, placing her gaze dead ahead. “Yeah, sure. Leave it to Scootaloo.”
She clicked the right turn signal and took an exit. One side of the road was thick with overshadowing trees, while the other was dotted with farmhouses. Another right turn took them out of the rural area, the only sign of civilization in this part of the county. The land they entered was thick woods and rocky ground, not quite mountainous, but on the cusp.
“Turn here,” Twilight said, consulting her phone’s GPS. She pointed to a dirt road that was unmarked on the map. “It’s down that way.”
The road was more of a two-track. No paving or gravel, and only the regular hikers to wear it into a recognizable path. Mud slurped under the car’s wheels. Twilight briefly worried about getting stuck, but Sunset halted the car.
“I’d say we’re close enough,” Sunset Shimmer said.
“Right.” Twilight Sparkle reached for the handle.
“Twilight.” Sunset touched her friend’s shoulder. “We’ll scout it out. We’ll see if there’s any sign of Adagio. Then we’ll pile back into the car and take Spike to a shelter. I’m sorry, but we can’t take him with us.”
Twilight sucked in a deep breath. She hugged Spike, who stared out the windshield with his eyes wide and his floppy ears perked as much as he could get them. “Okay.”
Sunset turned the key, shutting the car off. “About what you said… Spike loves you.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. “I don’t know if he has a soul, or if that means he goes somewhere when he dies or just sleeps or what. All I know is that he loves you, and love is not an instinct. He’s got something magical.”
Twilight pulled her glasses out of her pocket and set them on her nose. She smiled. “Thanks, Sunset. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“I mean it.” Sunset laughed lightly. “Probably not the best conversation to have when tracking down a murderer, huh?”
“Maybe just the right one.” Twilight Sparkle pushed her door out. “Now let’s do this—”
Spike leaped over Twilight and bolted into the rain, barking up a storm.
Twilight stared after him as he disappeared into the trees. She turned back to Sunset with a choked giggle. “Uh-hum… Oops?”
“Follow him, follow him, follow him!” Sunset jumped out of the car and nearly stumbled into a mud puddle. “Don’t lose him! I think he senses something!”
Twilight half-ran, half tripped through the forest, chasing the sound of Spike’s rapid barking. She slipped on moss, she stubbed her toes on rocks, she nearly slammed into a tree or two, but she kept pushing through the darkness. She moved between two trees, and the world fell out from under her. Her legs went in the air and her head swung towards the ground before she slid on her back into a deep valley, screaming.
She groaned in her own personal mud pie, which squelched as she sat up. She reached up with grimy hands to wipe rainwater from her glasses. “Sunset? Sunset!”
“Up here, Twilight!” Sunset called out. She stood at the top of the hill, her hand blazing with light. The rain sizzled against her magical flame. “I’m coming down!”
“Careful, it’s slippery!” Twilight stood up and almost fell flat on her back. She gripped a nearby sapling like her life depended on it. “I lost Spike! Do you see him?”
“Yeah, his barking is coming from down there!” Sunset leaned on a branch, using it to lever herself downward. “You sure you don’t see him?”
“No!” Twilight strained her ears. Over the hiss of the rain against the leaves, she could just make out an echoing woof. “I know what you mean, though. It sounds like he’s coming from…”
Sunset Shimmer slipped the last few steps down. Twilight caught her with both hands. Sunset lifted her hand, illuminating the immediate area.
Twilight sighed through her nose. “It sounds like he’s in there.”
She pointed ahead, indicating a dark, mossy cave mouth. It was overgrown, easily missed unless you were right next to it. Long grass dangled before the opening, while jagged rocks lined the bottom.
“Inside the mysterious cave,” Sunset groaned. “Yeah, that’s par for the course. Did you bring a flashlight?”
Twilight reached into her trench coat. Past the gun lay a deep pocket, from which she pulled a long, heavy flashlight. “I kinda figured your magic had us covered.”
“Well, if it gets any brighter than this it’ll start setting things on fire.” Sunset nodded at the dark mouth. “Kinda nice to have a backup if I get tired, you know?”
Twilight crept to the entrance. She set a foot inside, flicking her light on. The ceiling was low, so they both had to bend over to walk through. “Fair enough. I have spare batteries, too.”
Sunset flipped the collar of her coat down as she moved out of the rain. “You have anything else interesting in that trench coat of yours?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Twilight said with dancing eyebrows. At Sunset’s muttered curse, she added, “Not too much. Just my pistol and a couple protein bars.”
Sunset eased past her, her flickering hand held high. “And a metric ton of notepads and pencils?”
“You know me too well…” Twilight closed her mouth as her voice echoed within the tunnel. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Twilight doubled her pace, balancing herself with a hand on the rocky wall. “He’s not barking anymore.”
After a few near-slipups, they reached the end of the tunnel. It opened up into a house-sized cavern. High overhead, the stalactites shimmered in their light. Far below, a pool of water rippled outward.
Twilight Sparkle flashed her light around the room. There were no other entrances. “He’s gotta be in here.”
Sunset Shimmer clenched her hand tight. She let her fire die down and wiggled her fingers. “Twilight, douse your flashlight.”
“Douse it? What is this, the eighteen-hundreds?”
“Just trust me.” Sunset closed her eyes and took in a long, savoring breath. “Turn it off.”
Twilight took one last look around the cavern. She jumped at a dark shadow, which soon revealed itself to just be an odd rock formation. “As you command, ma’am.”
She clicked off her flashlight and nearly jumped out of her skin.
The water was glowing. Not the faint, vanishing maybe-glow of glow-in-the-dark toys. Not the odd shimmer of bioluminescent lichen or animals. It was bright light spewing forth from the heart of the pool like a dazzling, bright-blue spotlight. The cavern walls reflected a strange turquoise flicker in return.
Sunset Shimmer’s red and yellow hair turned purple and green in the light. She knelt beside the pool and dipped her hand in the ripples. “‘Where the brambles are thickest… there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines. Into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared. And she solemnly sweared not to be scared…’”
She looked down into the water, at her own face mirrored in its depths. “‘At the prospect of being doubly mared.’”
Twilight Sparkle stood behind her, a hand on her hip. “What the heck’s all that supposed to mean?”
“It’s nothing. Just a silly nursery rhyme.” Sunset paddled her hand in the water before standing up. “I keep trying it any time I see a pool, just to see if it’s real or not. Call it a habit.”
“Smoking is a habit.” Twilight hugged herself. “This is… a little terrifying. Where’s the portal?”
Sunset gestured to the pool.
“You’re kidding.” Twilight scowled. “You’re kidding, right?”
Sunset shrugged, a small smirk on her face.
“You said you came through a mirror.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “And the other side of the portal came out of a high school’s statue. My gosh, can’t these things ever stay consistent?”
“We should hurry.” Sunset got down on her hands and knees at the edge of the pool. “Spike probably already went through. Who knows what’s happening on the other side?”
Twilight Sparkle clasped her hands beside her mouth, extending her index fingers over her lips. “Yeah. Yeah, we should get him back.”
Sunset cupped water in her hands and let it dribble through her fingers. She looked up at Twilight. “Are you ready for this?”
Twilight knelt on one knee, propping her elbow on the other. She reached for Sunset’s hand, who took it with a smile.
“Alright,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I’m ready.”
The two of them fell over into the water.
***
Sunset Shimmer screamed as she fell through the spinning vortex of light.
Magic ran in torrents through her body. Her limbs prickled as she was forcibly molded from a human body to a pony. Her fingers disappeared first, followed by her toes. Her arms and legs shrunk while her spinal column realigned. It wasn’t painful, she was thankful to say, it was just excessively weird.
There was a pop, a tingle, and a flash as her horn appeared on her forehead. Sunset grinned, suppressing a squeal. That had been missed.
She exited the far side of the portal, setting her hooves on firm, rocky ground. She looked around the room, a domed cavern exactly mirroring the one they’d just left. She took a step forward and kicked a pebble across the floor. A smile crawled across her face as she lifted it with her magic. Another pebble lifted into the air. Then another. Then several others.
Her grin widened while her horn flickered and sparkled with energy. It flowed from her quickening heart to her limbs, eventually spouting from, her forehead. She directed the pebbles in a dance around her, flying around in an intricate dance. She kicked up her hooves and laughed aloud, giddy from having such a strong connection to her magic again.
“Where the heck are my fingers!”
Sunset Shimmer spun around. She beheld a small, thin unicorn mare cloaked in a long trench coat. The unicorn stared at her purple hooves. Her gaping, disbelieving mouth gathered air for harsher profanity.
“Twilight,” Sunset said. “Please calm down.” She couldn’t help it anymore. She burst into a series of light giggles. “We’re in Equestria! Oh my God, I can’t believe it!”
Her horn flashed with spiraling streaks of light. “I forgot how good this feels! Isn’t it amazing?”
“I have no fingers!” Twilight Sparkle tried to stand on her hind legs, but soon fell to all fours. “And I can’t stand! And my—” She looked to her rear. “I have a tail! What have you done to me?”
“I didn’t do anything.” Sunset completely forgot herself and pranced around the room. “It’s just something that naturally happens when we move between this world and ours! Isn’t it cool? Isn’t it awesome?”
“Are you high? I have no fingers!” Twilight screeched. “I can’t survive without my fingers!”
Sunset was about to reply, when she noticed an uncomfortable itch over her entire body. She looked down at her jacket and jeans. “Aha! That’s gotta go.”
Twilight Sparkle stared in mystified fury as Sunset Shimmer pulled off her pants. “Why in the name of everything everywhere are you stripping?”
“Duh. The fabric’s messing up my coat.” Sunset cast her clothes to the side in a bubble of magic. “It’s okay, Twilight. As humans we need clothes to be decent, but everything’s covered up when we’re ponies.”
“You’re naked! Nothing’s covered up!” Twilight blinked. She looked down at her own chest. “Sunset… Sunset, where are my breasts?”
Sunset blushed a bright red. “Urgh. Well—”
“Actually, don’t answer that.” Twilight tried to slap her forehead with an open hand, but clocked herself in the eye with her hoof instead. “Ow! You know what? I actually thought you were just a weirdo with a horse fetish. I had no stinking idea that you were actually a bug-eyed, nudist alien from the planet Crayola!”
The buzz in Sunset’s horn began to die down under Twilight’s onslaught. “It’s Equestria, actually.”
“The planet?”
“No, the country, but—”
“The country!” Twilight Sparkle smiled with a mad gleam in her eye. “Dare I say that makes you an… Equestrian?”
“Actually yes, but—”
Twilight tried to take a step forward and fell to her knees. “Is your entire world built on stupid puns, or is it relegated to you pony types?”
Sunset Shimmer squirmed. “The minotaur and cow homeland is called ‘Beefland…’”
Twilight’s glasses sat askew on her nose. “I changed my mind. That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
Sunset tapped her hooves together. “Does this mean you’re not taking off your clothes? You’d be a lot more comfortable without—”
“Aw, shut up.” Twilight reached up to flip her collar over her neck. Her blunt hooves were unable to grasp the fabric, naturally. She glared at the limbs. “This isn’t what I expected when you described a land of magic and dragons.”
“Sorry.” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her foreleg. “I kinda thought you knew. Or guessed. Or…” She shrugged. “Sorry.”
Twilight Sparkle sat on her rump with a sigh. She held her forelegs out. “Whatever. Help me up. It’s time to learn to walk.”
Instead of grasping her hooves, Sunset walked around to the back and nudged Twilight’s rump.
“Yipe!” Twilight hopped up. She wobbled a few feet forward. “Watch where you’re sticking your schnoz!”
Sunset Shimmer smirked. “Well, are you walking or aren’t you?”
Twilight looked down at her feet. She furrowed her brow and took a deliberate step. When she moved her rear legs, one got in the way of the other.
Sunset caught her in a flash of magic. “Easy. Don’t think about it so much. It’ll just come naturally.”
Twilight frowned. She spread her legs out and waddled.
Sunset coughed. “You’re walking like you’ve got a stick up your—”
“Shut up, Sunset.”
Sunset came alongside her friend. Twilight tottered like a foal, but was at least mostly mobile. A nudge here and there kept her on track.
“Please stop touching me when you’re naked,” Twilight said.
“It’s only weird if you make it weird.”
“I’m actually begging you to put your mom jeans back on.”
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes. “No. Just try and accept that this is the social norm around here.”
“Twenty-six years, Sunset,” Twilight growled. “Please accept that after living twenty-six years in a society with a nudity taboo, I think I’d like to remain dressed.”
“Your loss,” Sunset mumbled.
Twilight stopped with a little difficulty getting her hooves aligned. She glanced around the cave, examining the tunnel ahead with narrowed eyes. “Do you know where we are?”
“I might when we reach the outside.” The tip of Sunset’s horn blinked. “I can pick up a faint something, but I’m not sure if it’s another pony, or a creature, or what.”
Twilight pressed her lips tight. “Is it Spike?”
“How the hay should I know?”
“Because of the two of us,” Twilight said, “you’re the one who’s a magical unicorn wizard.”
Sunset smiled. “It sounds silly when you say it like that.”
“Imagine that.”
Sunset nodded at the passageway. “Only way to find out is to take a look.”
Twilight looked at the darkened hallway. She leaned against her friend and swallowed hard. “Yeah. To boldly go where no human has gone before.”
Sunset nudged her forth. “Now who’s quoting movies?”
“It’s a TV series.” Twilight locked her eyes on the ground between her hooves. “Totally different.”
Sunset felt the presence get closer. Somebody else was using magic nearby, but she was too out of practice to say exactly what sort. “While you’re down there, keep an eye out for signs of Adagio. She had to have come this way.”
“Recently, too. The murder was this morning.” Twilight lifted a hoof to point, and almost rolled head first into the ground. She was stopped by Sunset’s foreleg. “Thanks. There, on the ground. A footprint.”
Sunset bent low. In the dust of the cavern, the faint imprint of a hoof could be made out. “How did you even see that?”
“It’s my job.” Twilight pushed her glasses up to her forehead and squinted. “Made not too long ago, by my count. It probably belongs to our pony.”
Sunset lit her horn, illuminating the dim tunnel. More hoofprints appeared as the light grew brighter. “Some of these are scuffed. Was she in a hurry?”
“She could have b—” Twilight Sparkle choked on her next words. She sat on her rump and gestured at the wall.
Sunset looked up. Deep furrows ran through the rock in patterns of four. Cracks spider-webbed around a deep indent, the sign of a heavy impact. She took a hesitant step closer.
“Claw marks?” Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “What could be strong enough to make claw marks in solid stone?”
Sunset Shimmer gulped. “A drago—”
“Spike!” Twilight toddled down the tunnel. “Spike! Here boy!”
“Twilight!” Sunset hissed. She hopped up to her friend and clamped a hoof over her mouth. “He’ll hear you!”
“That’s the idea—” Twilight Sparkle’s eyes popped. “Oh crap. You were right, weren’t you?”
“I usually am.” Sunset bounced on the tips of her hooves, her lips pulled back in a grimace. “Oog. We need to go after them.”
Twilight gritted her teeth. “And then what?”
“And then hope Spike didn’t just eat our suspect!” Sunset galloped down the corridor, leaving Twilight hobbling in her wake.
“Wait!” Twilight stomped a hoof. “Dang it, Sunset!”
Sunset Shimmer skidded to a stop. She blew a loud breath through her lips and flicked her horn, encasing Twilight in a magical grasp. “As undignified as it is…”
She draped Twilight Sparkle across her back. “Desperate times call for stupid measures. Now hang on tight!”
Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Sunset’s shoulders. “You are really naked, you know that?”
“Get over it,” Sunset hollered, gasping for breath, “and keep a look out!”
The tunnel twisted and turned, leading them upwards and outwards. Cool air blew past them, guiding them to the exit of the cave network. A roar echoed in their ears, sending chills down their spines.
“That sounds suitably dragon-esque,” Twilight whimpered.
Sunset merely charged on, her chest burning from the exertion.
Faint light appeared ahead of them.
“The exit!” Twilight yelped. “Go, go, go!”
“I’m going!” Sunset said, her voice hoarse. “Pipe down, you freeloader!”
They passed the cave mouth and found themselves on a rocky ledge. A very brief, very sheer rocky ledge. Sunset reared up to keep herself from going over. The weight of Twilight on her back dragged her backwards and sent them both tumbling to the ground.
Looking up, they saw a starry sky, a brilliant silvery moon, and two large, green eyes.
Twilight screamed. She rolled to her hooves and bolted on instinct. She ran smack-dab into a wall of purple scales. Though dazed, she tried another direction, only to trip over a long, snaking tail. She tottered on the edge of the cliff, looking at the valley hundreds of feet below. She let out one final yell before she went over the edge. “No!”
A massive, scaly hand snatched her out of the air.
Sunset watched as the dragon lifted his arm to his face. She kept her horn charged with magic, but she had no idea what to do. She’d never dealt with dragons before. She’d rarely even seen one in her whole life, let alone one this unspeakably big. He was as tall as a two-story building, verging on a third. His tail was thick, but tapered to a point about a bus-length down. His claws could crush cars and his mouth could bite aged trees in half. His eyes glinted in the dark, lit from within by dragonfire.
He pressed its nose against Twilight’s side and sniffed deep. She whimpered and curled up into a ball.
“You smell like Twilight,” the dragon said.
Twilight opened her eyes and Sunset opened her mouth.
“Uh…” Twilight cleared her throat. “I do?”
“Yeah. And you sound like Twilight, too.” The shimmering emerald eyes blinked. “But you don’t look like Twilight.”
Sunset Shimmer shook as she addressed the dragon. “What… what does Twilight look like?”
The dragon lifted his free hand above his head. “She’s tall! Huge! She’s got glasses…” He narrowed his eyes at the little purple unicorn. “Just like those. And her eyes sparkle when she’s happy and she laughs and gives me treats… And…”
The dragon paused. He shut his eyes tight, wrinkling his nose. “And she’s always there when I really need her.”
Twilight Sparkle reached a hoof over to touch the dragon’s thumb. “Spike?”
The dragon gasped. He looked down at his body, then at the little pony in his gentle grip. “You really are Twilight, aren’t you?”
He sniffed the air, bringing his head close to Sunset. “And I know you, too. You’re Sunset! You belong to the little boy!”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Sunset mumbled.
“And… his name is Sunny. And the really pretty lady is Rarity! And the lady on television is Rainbow Dash! Hey!” Spike gave them a toothy grin. “Hey! I can say all your names! I… I can say my name!”
A blank expression overtook his happy one. He stared off into space, his eyebrows low. “I can talk. When did I learn how to talk?”
Twilight could only babble. “Ah… guh…”
“Spike,” Sunset Shimmer said, “we all just went through a portal into another world. We all changed, but it’s clear that yours was the most dramatic.”
“You can say that again,” Spike chuckled. He swished his tail around behind him. “When I first jumped into that lake, I felt really tingly. But nothing happened until after I jumped out. Then I started growing, and my bark got louder, and fire started coming out of my mouth! How cool is that?”
Sunset nodded. “You might not want to do that around people.”
“Yeah! Because fire’s hot and hot stuff can hurt!” Spike itched his chin. He looked down at his hand. “Ooh! I can really scratch myself with these babies!”
Sunset Shimmer bit down hard on her tongue. “Ahuh. You do that. So, was anybody else there when you jumped out of the pool?”
Spike’s head bobbed. “Yep! There was this really weird lady who was yelling at me, but I don’t know what she said. When I started growing and breathing fire, she screamed and ran away.” A faint dark tinge touched his cheeks. “I thought she was playing a game, so I chased after her. I don’t think she really liked it. I’m sorry.”
He pointed down the mountain, at the forest below. “She left that way. It was a long time ago, I think. I didn’t really know what else to do, so I was napping.”
Sunset lay down and let her hooves hang over the edge. “A long time ago, huh? Did she leave anything behind?”
Spike frowned. “Yeah. She dropped her bags a couple of times. A couple of little rocks fell out. They’re probably still in the tunnels.” He tilted his head to the side. “What do you need them for?”
Sunset walked to the cave entrance, her horn lighted for a thorough search. She thought hard before answering Spike. “They might help us find her. She hurt somebody really bad, and we’re gonna make sure she won’t hurt anybody else.”
The scales around Spike’s eyes shifted as he frowned. “I’m helping.”
Sunset looked up at him. “What?”
“I’m helping you. I’m not gonna let anybody hurt you guys. Not you, not Twilight, not Sunny, not anybody.” He snapped his fingers. “I know! I can guard the entrance while you guys search! I’m a good guard dog.”
Sunset pressed her lips tight. She didn’t really know how to answer that one.
Twilight Sparkle’s head popped up from behind Spike’s thumb. She giggled distractedly, her eyes glazed. “Sunset?”
“Yeah, Twilight?”
Twilight grinned. “My dog is talking to us.” With that, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she flopped over unconscious.
Spike’s brow wrinkled in concern, before his smile returned in full force. “Look, Sunset! Twilight learned to play dead!”
Sunset Shimmer slowly, firmly rubbed her aching temples. “Put her down gently, Spike. She fainted.”
Spike’s thin ears flopped down. “Is she hurt?”
“She’ll be fine.” Sunset took a step back to give the dragon room as he set the purple unicorn down. “She just needs some rest.”
Spike crouched before his friend. His eyes flicked between Twilight and Sunset. “Is there anything I can do to help her?”
“Watch over her.” Sunset trotted into the caverns. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Sunset slowed her pace to a cautious walk. The Equestrian side of the cave was larger than back in the mirror world. There were far more rooms, and they were much more spacious. She followed the claw marks to keep track of the correct route, only moving off the path when a stray hoof-mark caught her attention.
There! A thread of fabric, snagged on a stalagmite. She lit her horn and lifted the stitch on a current of magic. She searched her memory and soon came up with a spell that could deduce the composition.
After a moment, she realized she didn’t really remember how the spell went. She groaned and continued looking.
The next clue was a pony-sized mark in the dust where somepony had fallen over. Scattered rocks and pebbles lay around the outline. Most were the normal dull gray and brown she could find on any mountainside, but two in particular stood out.
The first was a tiny, translucent blue fragment. A little green was added into the shade, making it closer to cyan; the same color as the bright light in the portal. A quick once-over with her telekinetic touch revealed pathways etched into the stone, where magic could flow around and through the material. It was enchanted to carry magic currents to some sort of activation or ignition device.
“Did she want to take a piece of the portal with her?” Sunset muttered. She rotated the chipped fragment in front of her face, examining it from every angle. “Is it from this side or the other side?”
She floated it along beside her, next to the thread. The second stone caught her eye and sent a sharp prickle down her back.
It was a shattered, red gemstone fragment.
It had etching similar to the portal stone, but was made for a much different purpose. It channeled negative energy into the user, adding to their power. It could modulate the wearer’s voice to be hypnotic on a level far above mere suggestion. In its prime, it could give its owner access to magic utterly unknown to most scholars. Unknown and alien. Mysterious and dangerous.
It had been shattered by the Elements of Harmony ten years before. It had lost its power. What was Adagio carrying the pieces around for?
Sunset wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
***
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes popped open as she came awake. “Huh? What happened?”
Spike’s razor-sharp teeth came into view. “Hi, Twilight! You’re awake!”
Twilight moaned. She tried to sit up before she realized her muscles probably weren’t built for that anymore. She rolled onto her belly and rested her chin in the dirt. “Hi, Spike.”
Spike flicked his tail back and forth. There wasn’t enough room to lie down on the ledge, so he leaned against the mountainside. “Why are you sad?”
“Huh?” Twilight’s head came up. “I’m not sad.”
“Yeah, you are.” He brought a finger to his cheek and pulled his eyelid down. “You’ve got your mopey face on.”
Twilight sighed. “Am I that easy to read?”
“I can tell what you’re feeling. Some of the time, anyway.” Spike crushed a stone between his fingertips. “You get this pouty lip thing when you get angry. You tap your fingers when you get excited. And when Big McIntosh comes over, you smell really, really weird. Like a flower, but times a bajillion.”
Twilight’s cheeks grew warm. She snickered. “That would be the lavender perfume, I guess.”
Spike stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth. “When you’re frustrated, your back gets all tense. Like now.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “Yeah, well… I’ve been looking forward to this day for years. I didn’t think it would be like this. It’s a little… confusing and disappointing and amazing all at the same time.” She clomped her hooves together. “I don’t know how I feel.”
“Choose excited!” Spike’s tail wagged, knocking boulders down the side of the cliff. “Excited is a good choice! Being excited feels great!”
Twilight scoffed. “I can’t just choose how I feel.”
“But you can try, right?” Spike sat on his haunches and propped himself up on his front claws. “You’re Twilight Sparkle! You can do anything if you try hard enough!”
“Yeah?” Twilight looked up at the unfamiliar stars. “Anything I can imagine…”
Spike lifted his head. He sniffed hard, a frown overtaking his face. “Huh? You smell that?”
“No?” Twilight stood up on shaky legs. “Not really.”
Spike scratched deep furrows into the stone. He sucked in a deep breath through his sensitive nostrils “It’s just plain weird. It smells like—”
His eyes widened. “You.”
The flutter of wings and the melody of twinkling magic caught their ears. They looked up saw a winged pony fluttering down from the sky. Her coat was a bright shade of purple, her mane a bit darker. Her eyes sparkled as she looked down at them, as if they carried silent laughter. She smiled and waved a forehoof.
Twilight and Spike waved back.
The new pony settled down next to Twilight and bent a knee in a shallow curtsey. A quick flash of her horn adjusted the blue scarf around her neck. She took a sheet of paper out of her saddlebags alongside a feather pen. She scribbled a quick message before handing it to Twilight. She smiled and waited quietly for Twilight to read the message.
Twilight gaped at the sheet of paper. She read it over and over again, but she never quite brought herself to believe it.
Hi! You must be Sunset’s friends. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to help you track down Adagio.
It’s nice to meet you! I’m sure we’ll be great friends!
Well that was... much faster mental changes for EQG-Spike than I expected.
... This whole chapter was awesome, though.
Twilight Snarkle
Hmmm... Given dog years... is EQG Spike an elder dragon while Equstria Spike is an adolescent? And will these changes stick now that Spike has crossed over? Will he talk when he goes home?
Did he jump through a hoop and see the words Time Extended!
Also, Why is Twilight writing rather than speaking? Weird.
[Edit] Wait. Scarf. Did Twilight get her throat cut and now shecan'tspeakandthisisbad!
Okay, this was every bit as awesome as I had hoped!
Though I must admit, I am now on the edge of my seat to figure out why Twilight needs to write, in order to speak!
Cadence is a President while Celestia's just a Principal? Lucky.
At least she's honest.
And yet it's true.
I see.
Indeed.
Doesn't exist.
Aye.
Of course I do.
I suppose that was one of Celestia's quotes?
Indeed.
Smart.
Probably.
The portal's in the pool...
Ah, you think it's the mirror pool.
One I have much against.
I can imagine.
She's still got it.
... Yes.
You've not dealt with Discord then.
MY SIDES!
Fair enough.
What, do, you, have, against, breathing?
And if it involves and certain bald badass captain and an omnipotent troll who is similar to Discord is voice, powers, and mannerisms, then you are awesome.
Whoah...
Indeed. I see you're taking well to sapience.
Indeed.
Guess even dog Spike thinks Rarity is really pretty.
Indeed.
Very.
I'm sure you are.
In a sense.
Interesting.
Part of the Siren pendants.
Same.
Indeed.
HEH!
I can imagine this. It is hilarious and adorable. He's like a massive puppy.
Well then. I wonder why Princess Twilight is writing instead of speaking?
Yes. Yes she is.
I just wonder if Spike's brain upgrade is reversible or whether he'll stay sapient back in the Humane world?
So, Adagio is trying to repair her Heart. That begins to explain the 'why'. Maybe Aria wasn't willing to help or maybe she preferred the post-Evil Emotivore lifestyle and wasn't going to help Adagio turn back the clock?
Now... Why is Princess Twilight silent right now? Maybe she's worried that hearing her voice from another being might freak out human!Twilight? Maybe there's some weird silencing spell been cast? Maybe she's more worried about what having two duplicate Twilight's might do to doggy!Spike's mind?
...Why did Princess Twilight write the note instead of just saying it?
The chapter read too fast for me... and now it's over.
Dog!Spike truly is Spike. Something could be going wrong? First instinct is to help.
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Looks like some people haven't been reading DayBreak!
Mr Extra got it more-or-less right, though. Legendary assassins are involved!
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Spoilers, actually, from DayBreak. It's the same reason she's wearing the scarf: She got her throat slashed by a time-traveling Commander Hurricane. She lived, but lost her voice.
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Umm... Oops?
I'll spoiler that out now.
I like how this chapter starts by hitting me with the sadness directly, indirectly and possibly even unitentionally. Then we go through wonder, and end with the hilarity of giant doggy Spike.
Interesting, but also kind of sad. 5980142 Yes Cadance was lucky, but the fact that Sunset didn't know Twilight was connected to Cadance pretty much precludes Twilight being the sister of the First Husband. I guess in EqG soldiers are a lot more active, and don't have time to date their sister's babysitters.
Yes, I always figured Sunset didn't have a double, part of her destiny being in EqG world all along.
Boo! Boo! Stop using your logic and reason to derail heartwarming awesomeness, Sunset Shimmer!
Great, sadness foreshadowing, and I can't figure out why. It seemed from earlier that Sunny had a good relationship with Scoots and her foster parents. Is it because they adopted Scootaloo and not Sunset? Do Sunset, Scootaloo and Rainbow ever hang out together?
Found a typo, you misspelled "utility belt."
Makes you wonder A)If there is any relationship between Pinkie and Sunset, and B)What relationship Starswirl's portals and the Mirror-Pool have. A portal to the land of everyone's double...
Thank you for saying what I've been thinking for years, Twilight!
...Ok, now how am I supposed to take grimdark stories on this site seriously, when every time I read about furious ponies, I will think "they sure are grim and angry for a bunch of bug-eyed, nudist aliens from the planet crayola." You've ruined this site for me, I hope you're happy.
Twilight catches on quick. She really does make the best HiE ever, doesn't she?
Did you balance out a Star Wars quote with a Star Trek quote? You remembered!
I can't believe you went there! From now on, I'm totally imagining EqG Detective Twilight with the voice of Elisa Maza.
This whole section is comedy gold, FYI.
Sounds like more time passed in Equestria than passed on the EqG side of the portal, which makes sense, we know from Sunset's experience there is some kind of time dilation effect. (I've generally heard it as 2.5 years in Equestria for every year in EqG).
Suuuuuuuuuure, Twilight, the perfume. Dogs have a far stronger sense of smell than humans do.
Seems pretty straightforward to me, clearly Adagio is hoping to find a way to reforge her necklace once she gets to Equestria.
Ok, so Spike: Makes sense that as a dragon who's the equivalent of 17 in dog years, Spike is in the body of an elder dragon like a millinia old. Luckily dragons get only larger and stronger until they die. Spike is still going to die of old age in the draconic equivalent of 1 year for a dog, but that is probably like a century, provided he stays in Equestria. Thank god Equestrian Spike never figured out this trick while he was still crushing on Rarity, he would have snuck into the portal, hung around for a year, and come back as a young adult dragon.
The sudden sapience is a bit of a stretch, but I suppose if you take a smart animal, expose them to language for 17 years, then magically transfer them to a creature with super-genius intellect and a brain the size of an easy chair, they could speak in broken English in an hour or two. I'm still worried about what happens when he sees something worth hording.
5982128 Wait, this is a sequel? Ah nuts, now I have to go read the other stories.
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There's a whole BUNCH of them. They include everything from Scootaloo making a Deal With Discord to finally fly, Megan appearing in Equestria, and Twilight Sparkle being saved by Featherweight and going on a date with him.
I don't think you could have made human Twilight's introduction to Equestria any better! Loved every moment of it! And dog-dragon Spike is just about the cutest. And then my heart broke a little bit when I remembered that pony Twilight is mute in this series
President Cadenza? Interesting.
Oh don't worry so much, Sunset, I'm sure nothing bad will happen when Spike the sentient dog suddenly finds himself turned into Spike the sapient dragon.
Yikes.
Dangit, I wanted to see what would happen.
Wait, never mind, I see that Spike wanted to see what would happen too.
A pond in a lost, unknown cave? That definitely feels like where you might find a portal.
Hahaha, it's pony time!
Clearly, this is all karma for the mom jeans jokes.
Awesome, he's as huge and mature for a dragon as I was wondering if he would be.
Hmmn.
Princess Twilight! I love this chapter, it really was everything I was hoping it would be.
Wait why is princess twilight mute? Is this a sequal to a story idk about
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I didn't think there was much point in beating around the bush. However, you can rest assured that his sudden loquaciousness is something that will be discussed.
Absolutely! A big part of this story is comparing and contrasting the characters with themselves, so there are going to be quite a few similarities. And a few differences, but I'll let the story speak for itself with those.
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You see, Twilight Sparkle is best magician, Twilight Snarkle is best pony, and Twilight Spackle is best construction worker.
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That exactly, which we will see next chapter.
But these questions will have to wait until the end of the story to be answered.
I strongly suspect Button Mash was hanging around the arcade at that very moment. His last bits, seconds before the race was over, inches from the cart in front of his... and then, a dragon fell into Equestria.
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Firstly, this story is not a sequel! It is a story in an extended series, but you don't need to read the other stories to understand this one. It is completely stand-alone! Everything will be explained in some way. (If you want to read the others, go on ahead. But you don't have to.)
Secondly, the secret behind Twilight's silence will be revealed next chapter!
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They can call each other on the phone and argue about which one has the most stressful job!
Nah, Star Wars quote (or whatever the EQG equivalent is). Scootaloo's a movie buff in both universes, so Sunset grew up on a steady diet of them.
The Kirk/Picard wars were downright vicious in the Davenport household.
I think he really enjoys the whole "higher thought" thing.
Gotta keep some things consistent.
Clifford the Big Red Dog has nothing on Spike the Silly Purple Dragon.
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There's a question for the ages. And it will be answered.
All excellent speculations. There's a lot to think about if the sirens are indeed on the rise.
I feel bad in saying this, but I can't really respond beyond "wait and see" without giving something away.
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You could always reread it to make it twice as long.
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Thanks for pointing them in the right direction. It's pretty fun seeing the difference between the folks who read the whole series and the people who started on this story.
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Which in turn makes this story a spoiler for Daybreak in that Twilight Sparkle lives. I've got spoilers going backwards and going forwards.
Twilight Sparkle still swears that it wasn't a date, by the way. She's not fooling anypony.
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I can assure you that it was completely and utterly intentional. Especially the part you pointed out.
It's a sad, sad thing, yet true. Poor Shiny never married the hottest president since Howard Taft.
Yeah, that's Twilight's job! (Somebody's gotta be "that pony," you know)
It's because you missed the first bit of Foresaddening in the previous chapter:
Get ready for a heartbreak!
Dang, I forgot I was writing a Batman fanfic!
I think Celestia and Granny Pie met at some point in their lives, actually.
Oh dear. I suppose you'll have to hang around my stories. No grimdark around here. Dark, occasionally. Grim, briefly. But never grimdark.
I still give myself pause every time I realize that DayBreak is a story about cutsie-wootsie pony beating the everloving snot outta each other.
And yes, I'm ecstatic.
She's pretty dang awesome so far. It should only get better. Should.
Far as I'm concerned, Spike!Prime sounds like Lexington, while Spike!EQG sounds like Goliath.
Now go reread all of Spike's lines in Goliath's voice. I dare yah.
It's sorta necessary for the plot to make any kind of sense. It's certainly not as pronounced as in Narnia, but it's there. Twilight never heard of Celestia's previous personal pupil and she's been traning under her for how many years? Yeah, just gonna go with the dilation.
Hush, you! This story is rated Teen. Keep the pheromone jokes in the prose where they belong!
It's no secret, at this point, but can you do me a favor and try to act surprised later in the story?
YYyyyyeeeaaaaahhh.... to say nothing of the mental age component. Lest we forget that Spike the Elder Dragon is wagging his tail and talking about how Twilight learned to play dead...
It'll receive an explanation, too. I dunno if it'll be a good explanation, but it's worked for other authors so it'll work for me, too.
Fuzzy Wuzzy takes offense to your last remark. Bears are perfectly acceptable as both houseguests and conversation pieces. Preferably simultaneously.
No, no, you were thinking about that dude who was gonna take over the world with an army of completely ineffectual robots until two kids showed him the magic of showbusiness.
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/spykids/images/a/a1/Alan_cumming_spy_kids_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100408122443
Top that reference, buddy.
Hey, those were words from the mouth of the dragon himself!
Oh. Well, no. That's fair. Salute your mustaches to the Trottingham gentlecolt.
I swear, you kick one shark...
The Count had them down for the count. Elmo laid them low. Ernie gave them a hernia. Burt made them hurt. Big Bird showed them the--
I'll stop right there, actually.
That stuff isn't cute and fuzzy, though. Not that cute nor fuzzy is bad, but it's hardly a mystery why.
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Yeah, it was too much fun. And it's not over yet. She's still got magic and Ponyville to encounter.
Sucker punch!
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Oh yeah, just ignore the whole "Suddenly alpha-predator thing." I'm sure there won't be any issues there.
Give me some credit, too.
Lost unknown caves are so chock full of magic, it's surprising nobody's ever found them before. (Well, except Aria, but look where it got her!)
The payback has only begun.
It just makes logical sense. Plus it's super-cool. I think Teen!Spike might be jealous.
Thanks! There's more cuteness, craziness, action, and sadness coming our way, so hold onto that hat! And if you don't have a hat, find a friend and hold onto theirs.
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HEH!
Right, gotcha.
I can imagine, I'm personally more bias towards Picard because I kinda grew up with him, but, for fairness sake, I'm glad Kirk exists, he's the one who started it all, and while his method of doing things may be different, if it works for him, then good on him.
I'd say you're right.
Fair enough. And Rarity is generally considered pretty.
You, you read Clifford the Big Red Dog? I, wow. So much nostalgia. You got a corner I can reminisce nostalgically in for a while?
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Or the opposite, seeing that he will inevitably be a too-large-for-pony-society dragon in an innumerable amount of years in the future of his too-long-for-pony-society lifespan.
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Cadenza once got stuck in a bathtub and had to be greased out with butter?
I just had a mean thought: Would they ever have formed the Rainbooms if Twilight was around then, telling them that musical acts almost never succeed and their time would be better spent getting internships at local businesses and academia to prepare them for their future?
How? How could Sunset, newly empowered with friendship and an advice hotline to a magical pony princess, screw things up badly enough to lose both her foster parents and her relationship with Best Chicken? Also, I jumped the gun before I even read your quote, and looked back over the top of the last chapter with a fine-tooth comb. I also noticed Sunset didn't call her husband or anything, so more foresaddening there as well.
Don't all fanfics fall in this category? Pretty much every story has to, on some level, encompass the traditional elements of a Batman's Journey.
She did have a habit of meeting up with wandering
gypsiesMustangians, like the Apples used to be, before she gave them that land. Wow, just realized that "Apple to the Core" is probably a traditional Mustangian traveling song, passed down by the Apple clan. I wonder just how many Granny Pies there ended up being...Yeah, but how am I supposed to root for the heroes when I want to see the villains all cuddled? Huh? I already have that exact problem with the show!
...Fluttershy is going to start stalking her, isn't she?
Absolutely not, then I'd have to think about unresolved romantic tension between Spike!EQG and Twilight!EQG Since you outright called him Spike Prime, I would have guessed Raf instead, although that would probably work better during the show years. Today, however, if one of them should sound like Goliath, both of them should. They didn't get a new voice actor for Thailog, after all.
Pretty much what I figured.
Fair enough, I promise no jokes about a dragon the size of a 7-11 trying to "romance" someone's leg, anyway.
"Adagio, you were trying to restore your magical power?!? Quelle Surprise! I am as shocked as that time Pinkie Pie was keeping a secret from someone, and it turned out to be a surprise party." I have so much surprise and anticipation stored up towards the actions of her other sisters and Lady Peachiness, I may not have much to spare for Dagi.
Dang it, what jokes did I just swear off making?
What, Fegan? I do remember him corrupting children, but I thought the story was that he took in some of Pipsqueak's friends and taught them all about pickpocketing so he could be supported in his old age, and in the end he repented of his leading minors astray right before they hanged him?
(Ok, I can't top an Alan Cummings reference.)
Thank goodness Twilight never cast a moustache spell on him, the mares of Ponyville wouldn't stand a chance!
Mmmmmm, delicious sharks's fin soup.
Hush you, this is rated teen! Plus I already imagine Andy as Big Bird, and I don't want things to get weirder.
I guess if people can enjoy Friends without worrying how they afford those apartments and never go to their jobs, we can extend the same principle to EqG.
Is it weird that lines like this make me think Twilight Sparkle has more chemistry in this story with Sunset Shimmer than Big Mac?
And that's far from the only spot.
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A symptom of the story revolving around Twilight and Sunset's relationship, while poor McIntosh only has a single scene to his name. It's not his fault he's not the one holding Twilight's hand, flirting with her, and letting her cry into his shoulder in her time of need. Given the opportunity, he'd be darn sure to be affectionate.
Problem is, he just ain't been given the opportunity.
This has more than just potential, at least from what I'm reading.
At first I only thought this had potential, but this chapter won me over, it was amazing.
Excellent work, loved it.
OK 3 chapters down and you have me hooked. This is going to be a fantastic story. I do NOT look forward to the point that I catch up and have to start waiting for updates.
I actually bust out laughing when I read that. Bravo.
Sunset's hand can smile? Creepy
Oh dear. Mirror Pool. This could be bad.
Aaaaand this is where I lost it.
I'm sure everyone whose arms have been amputated appreciates your confidence and sympathy, Twi.
I don't think I've ever seen this point really come up in a HiE story*, but it's a good one. And I daresay it wouldn't be too difficult to get used to clothes-over-fur.
...Aren't you a magical unicorn, too? Untrained in the ways of wizardry, sure, but you've got just as much horn as she does. thatsoundsdirty
If you wanna get pedantic, Twi, you're doing it in front of the wrong guy. As far as I know the "no human" variant isn't canon at all, but it's a variation on what was used in two TV series and at least three movies (Undiscovered Country and Abrams' Visual Fanfics). (I'm not counting Beyond, which is actually Star Trek rather than an Abrams Fic, because it wasn't out when this chapter went up.)
Brain Roulette says... Cimorene! Anypony here know how to change a magic portal's target world?
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Mmm. Dog ~= wolf, and wolf is an apex predator. I suspect he'd get more cognitive dissonance out of dragons being largely solitary rather than pack-based.
* In fairness, I don't read that many of them. Also I'm choosing to discount the "freaks out initially, but accepts it quickly" trope here.
Now you can take to yourself Twilight and no one will think you're crazy.