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Sudden Goodbyes3,876 words
Dopple2,779 words

Dopple

"Twilight, what are you doing?"

The mare in question turned to see her student looking at her in confusion. She half expected it since she wasn't present but it also made her realize that she was still holding onto Spike.

"Starlight! Look! It's Spike!" Twilight took the victim of her hugging and presented him towards her student. "He's alive! He's really truly alive!"

"Twilight..." Starlight took a step forward concerned for her mentor. She gathered her magic and levitated the drake away from Twilight causing the mare to try and grab him as he moved away.

The drake set foot on the ground and moved behind his savior as Twilight got up from her position and tried to move towards him. She was stopped by Starlight's hoof and began to get angry at being blocked from her long time companion.

"What are you doing Starlight? This isn't the time for games. Let me see Spike."

"Twilight. Are you okay?"

"I've never been better, now move."

"Twilight, I think you should stop for a minute and calm down. Think about what you're saying, Spike isn't alive. We were both at the funeral. We saw his remains."

"He's alive! He's alive and right there!" Twilight pointed a hoof towards the drake as he took a step back from the yell.

"Twilight! Calm down!"

"I am calm! Now, move!" Twilight yelled as she charged her magic and tried to grab a hold of Starlight only to fail as the mare brought up a shield between her charge and the princess.

Twilight grew angrier by the second and unleashed a beam of magic which hammered at the shield. It pushed it's occupants out of the kitchen and across the Inn's floor until they were out the entrance. Starlight in the meantime just kept up her shield regardless of Twilight's efforts. Once Twilight stopped her attack and followed them outside; Starlight took the chance to teleport away and reappear without the drake before Twilight could track it.

"What did you do?! Where's Spike?!" The princess yelled as magic started to crackle around her.

"Twilight, that wasn't Spike. Spike is dead and you know it! Please, just calm down!"

"Give him back! Give him back to me!"

"He's not Spike! Twilight you need to listen to me, please!"

"You're lying! Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies!" Twilight took the air floating above as the occupants of the town started to gather and watch the confrontation.

"Please, Twilight. I don't want to have to hurt you! So, calm down and listen to me!" Starlight continued to plead as the magic around the air gathered towards Twilight.

Just as everything went silent and the air was no longer heavy with energy; Twilight unleashed the gathered power straight at her student. Starlight formed shields around her and the onlookers as the blast shook the foundations of the homes. The force was forced her shield back and drilled into the stone wall behind her. As the final streams of light dissipated and the shields disappeared; Twilight breathed heavy and finally realized what she had done.

"Oh, no. Starlight!" Twilight rushed forward towards the hole only to stop as light shone from within.

The light grew and a blast came from within knocking the princess back against the wall of the Inn. She found herself unable to move and found shackles on her hooves and wings. It was then another blast came and hit her horn which covered it in dark crystals.

"Enough! That's enough Twilight!" Starlight appeared in front the bound mare with a tired expression. "I didn't want it to get to this but you are seriously out of your mind." She disappeared once more and returned with the drake that started everything. "Look at him! Look closely! He is not Spike! Spike is dead!"

Twilight started to cry and struggle free at the return of her best friend only to fail.

"That is Spike! It is! Can't you see Starlight? He isn't dead! He's... not dead."

"Can I say something?"

The two mares turned to the drake who had spoken up in surprise. He was previously shaking in terror after the display of power from the two and now stood firm as he raised his voice.

"Listen, Princess. I kind of understand as to how you'd confuse me with your buddy but I ain't him. Sure, we might look the same but, from the images I've seen the difference is in our eyes." He used his claws to spread his eyes open and show his red iris. "I've had crystal pony customers confuse me with him as well but this is just fucking ridiculous. I'm not that dragon. I don't even have a name other than Chef. I don't know you or any royalty for that matter."

As he walked past the shocked and bound purple mare he stopped at the entrance to the Inn for a second. "You're friend is dead. I'm not him and I never will be, so do us all a favor and remember that." He pushed past the crowd at the entrance not looking back. "Crazy bitch." was the last thing he said before leaving the two mares.

The shackles vanished and Twilight found herself speechless and unable to move. Starlight grabbed her and they found themselves in their room at the Inn once more.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I wish I could say something else but I can't. He might have said it rather harshly but Chef is right. He isn't Spike and he never will be despite how much he looks like him."

Twilight just continued to cry as she crashed onto her bed. No matter what Starlight did to try and alleviate her mentor; Twilight kept crying. Eventually, she passed out and slept soundly as her eyes were red and her pillow soaked with tears. Starlight merely stood by in hopes of Twilight stopping only to watch as her mentor was in pain from the day's events.

A knock came from the door and Starlight got up from her post next to Twilight's bed to see who it was. As the door opened, a milk white pegasus mare with light blue hair greeted her at the door. Her cutie mark was a jar of what could be spices and she wore and apologetic expression.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Sorry to bother you Ma'am. I've come to inform you that check out is at ten in the morning."

"What? But we've reserved the room for three weeks. What's going on?"

"I sincerely apologize, but the owner stated that your reservation be cut short. Your money will be refunded and you'll only be paying for the night."

"Where's the owner? Get them here so they can explain why we can't stay longer."

"Ma'am, I do so apologize but I'm afraid that won't be possible."

Starlight stepped outside the room and close the door as the pegasus mare back away. The mare's face stayed stoic despite her legs beginning to shake.

"I want to talk to the owner personally. Where is he?"

"She. She is not able to see anyone right now."

"Take me to her." The angered mare was starting to loom over the pegasus in her increasing state of annoyance.

The pegasus sighed and pushed the pink mare away as she dropped her facade. "I'm the owner and I wanted to do this without much confrontation. The name is Coriander and I want you out of my Inn. I was hoping to at least leave you both alone until tomorrow but now I could care less."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you two put Chef in danger. He's the reason I have any business at all and I'll be Celestia damned if I let the two of you risk his safety. The poor guy has been through too much to have a pair of crazy mares threatening to level everything because of him. So, I'll only say it once more; checkout is at ten tomorrow."

Starlight took a step back from Coriander. She took on a thoughtful expression as the pegasus started to walk away. "Let me talk to him."

"What? You've got to be kidding me." Coriander said as her faced twisted in anger. "Get it through your thick skull you nag. Leave him alone."

"I know you did not just call me a nag. You freaking horsefly."

"Who are you calling a horsefly, bonehead?"

The two were butting heads as the cause of their fight reached the top of the stairs. He watched them fight start to get serious and walked in between them before anything else happened.

"Chef! What are you doing? Get away from her!" Coriander yelled pulling the drake towards her.

"Calm down Cori. I get that you want to protect me but I'm not a child. I want to talk to her, she was the only one of the two that had some common sense." He struggled out of the grip and step toward Starlight who was still a little angry at Coriander. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"First, I wanted to apologize for the disturbance we've caused and will gladly compensate for any and all damages."

"As you should."

"Cori, please. Go on Miss."

"Starlight."

"Chef. I'd say it was a pleasure but it's far from that right now."

"Second, you've mentioned that crystal ponies mistook you for our friend. I can understand why and you must understand that the resemblance is terrifying."

"So I've been told. Can you get to the point?"

"The point, is that I want to know if there has been any pony, griffon, or anyone at all really that has been asking about you within the past year or so."

"Year? Can't say I've heard anything. I spend most of my time in the kitchen and when I'm not there I'm usually out buying ingredients with the rest of my cooks. Why?"

"I can't say. Just be sure to be careful. I doubt anything will happen but it doesn't hurt to be vigilant."

"Alright. I'll take your word for it. Anything else?"

"No. Other than saying sorry once again."

"Okay. I'll be in the kitchen Cori. I'll bring you dinner shortly."

"Thanks, Chef."

The two mares watched as the drake leave down the stairs without another word. Starlight turned to enter the room once more only to be stopped by Coriander stepping in front of her.

"What do you want?"

"You told him to be vigilant. Are you suggesting his life is in danger?"

"I don't really know. We're here to investigate a lead towards our friend's death. Twilight thinks it was her they were after but I've had my doubts for a while. If their real target was him then Chef being a near exact clone might have them be mistaken the job was botched."

Coriander looked towards the stairs and checked to see if the drake was still around. She returned and passed Starlight motioning her to follow. Starlight did so and soon came to another set of stairs that held a single door at the top. As Starlight entered she found an office with a bed next to the only desk in the room. The right wall was covered by a bookshelf full of unknown tomes. The desk held plates of half eaten food on one side and papers on the rest. A crystal lit the entire room in a warm white glow as they door closed.

"Nice office."

"Thanks. It's cozy enough for us."

"Us?"

"Never mind that." Coriander sat at the desk and pulled out a black velvet bag. It made a clinking sound as it hit the surface of the table.

"You're trying to bribe information out of me?" Starlight asked approaching the desk.

"Ha! You wish. No, this was given to one of my cooks after being asked questions about Chef. He didn't open it and gave it to me first chance he got. In case you haven't noticed every one of my employees is like family so they treat each other as such."

"So why show me this?"

"One of my unicorn attendants scanned it and died two days later. If that doesn't mean something I don't know what does. I figure since you're looking for clues and the display you and that crazy..."

"Princess Twilight."

"Right. Princess Twilight. By the amount of power you two showed I figure you'd have a better go at it."

"Hmm." Starlight lifted the bag and covered it in a shield. Small lights appeared within the barrier and hit the bag one by one causing miniature explosions but leaving the bag intact. She dumped the bag in the barrier and revealed silver coins. "I've never seen these before, they certainly aren't any kind of currency I'm familiar with and I've studied such things."

"Are they safe?"

"Yea, they don't have any more magic on them."

"Let me see them then."

The pile dropped gently onto the desk and Coriander took one of the coins. She turned it over and searched through another drawer. She took out a small chest and a coin identical to the one in her hoof.

"Where did you get that?" Starlight asked walking next to Coriander.

"It's a coin I got from a crystal pony. She said it was the only currency she had due to being sealed away for so long. Is it enough of a clue for you?"

"If what she said was true then the next place to go is the Empire. You can keep the coins; they aren't dangerous anymore." Starlight opened the door but stopped at the doorway to turn back to the pegasus. "I think, that you should let him come with us. It'll be the safest place for him."

"It's his decision not mine. I'll talk to him about it but I can't promise anything. Just, promise me to take care of him. We might all be family but, he's more so than the others."

"You... You can come with us. I'm sure that..."

"It's easier to protect one instead of two. I'll not be a liability."

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure he comes back. Alive and in one piece."

"It's all I ask. Thank you and I'm sorry. About before and for the comments."

"It's okay. We were both being stupid."

Starlight left and joined her mentor still sleeping at on her bed. She'd been tossing and turning leaving her in a rather unflattering position. She took the time to fix Twilight's posture and covered her properly.

Starlight moved the part of Twilight's mane covering her face and held a hoof on her cheek. "We're getting closer Twilight. I promise, you won't have to suffer anymore if I can help it."

The lights went out and the mare went to sleep. The following day would see them with another companion and one step closer to a murderer.

Author's Note:

Nothing to say. Enjoy the chapter as I'm trying to catch up with the others.

As always, thank for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique below as any critique helps me grow as a writer. Have a wonderful day!

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