Discovered
The following morning began without fanfare. Despite waking up in the middle of the night because of Luna visiting Thorax’s dreams in his sleep, both awoke, refreshed and ready for the new day, at their usual respective times. Thorax awoke first and went off for his usual guizhou fa practice with Fly Leaf, and returned to the room in time to find Spike waking up next. Together, the two then proceeded to undergo their usual morning routine to prepare for work that day. Partway through, while Spike was brushing his teeth, gazing at his reflection in the mirror, Thorax was standing beside him, and after a few moments of regarding his reflection in the mirror too, he sat upright and frowned as he poked and prodded at his currently undisguised barrel.
“Spike, tell me honestly,” he finally began. “…am I putting on weight?”
Spike paused brushing his teeth and shot a sidelong glance at his friend. “I wasn’t going to say anything,” he replied.
Which, of course, only confirmed Thorax’s fear. “Oh, wonderful, I am, aren’t I?” he bemoaned softly, glaring down at the added padding he was starting to show about his middle.
“Hey, I’d rather have that than you be a malnourished skin and bones like when we met,” Spike argued. He proceeded with brushing his teeth for a moment before a related thought came to him. “Actually…do you even have bones?”
“Only sort of,” Thorax replied, but he didn’t elaborate, preferring to stay on topic. “But there’s keeping fed, and then there’s being fat.” He made a face. “I don’t want to be fat.”
“You’re not fat,” Spike persisted, rolling his eyes. “You’re just…” he glanced at Thorax’s reflection in the mirror. “…padded.”
Thorax shot him a look. “That’s not helping.”
“No seriously, Thorax, you’re not that fat,” Spike assured, turning his head to look at the changeling. “So you’re a little chubby around the middle…that’s not always a bad thing, and you’re certainly not so chubby that you’re unhealthy. Heck, I’m chubbier than you are.” He glared down at his round belly for a moment and muttered under his breath how he seemed to be cursed with it forever. “The point is,” he then continued, restoring his gaze on Thorax, “I’d rather see you a little chubby than not, as it means you’re getting enough nourishment, something I admit I was very worried about when we were starting out. Plus, you were reaching this point once before a couple moons ago, but then you fell ill, and you lost a lot of weight during that time. So you being chubby just tells me you’ve gained it back and are staying healthy.” He grinned. “It’s a good thing, bud. And anyway, it makes sense that you’d have a bit extra padding anyway. You’re in an environment now where you’re getting exposed to more regular food sources than you ever did before…and from what you’ve told me about life in the hive, that can’t be bad, right?”
“I suppose not,” Thorax admitted reluctantly. He glared down at his belly again. “That doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”
“Then hide it behind your disguise,” Spike suggested, resuming brushing his teeth again. “I haven’t noticed Thornton putting on weight yet.”
“That won’t make it go away, and anyway, even that’ll change if this keeps up. The disguise will eventually subconsciously adapt to more closely match my real body weight unless I continuously remember to deliberately keep it thin, an act that requires regular concentrated thought to do. It’d be easier to just loose the weight instead.”
Finished with his teeth, Spike spat the residual toothpaste into the sink. “I’m guessing you think that’s necessary then,” he reasoned as he rinsed out the sink and then his toothbrush.
“Yes!” Thorax agreed. “Chubby or not, it’s no excuse! A fat changeling is a lazy changeling.”
“You’re not fat, Thorax.”
“I’m getting there though, that’s what I’m getting at. And in the hive, if you start putting on weight, the less you’re going to be able to pull your weight in the hive, and if you can’t do that, the rest of hive starts shunning you, and you get overlooked…not a good thing to happen to a changeling as it can lead to them getting left all but abandoned, and often falling ill in the process.”
“All the more reason to not live in your hive.” Not for the first time, Spike was secretly glad Thorax was no longer there. It was clearly not a nice place to live.
Thorax wasn’t listening. “If Queen Chrysalis were here, she’d reprimand me silly…none of her changelings are allowed to put on extra weight, ever,” he continued on.
“No changeling, huh?”
“Well, except for the queen herself.”
“Oh, of course, I should’ve seen that coming.”
“It’s not what you think. A plump queen means a well-fed queen, which in turn means a well-fed hive. It’s seen as a good thing.”
“But not when all the other changelings are plump.”
“No, because then things don’t get done.” Thorax sighed. “I’m just going to have to work it off somehow, get more exercise…” he hummed to himself, rubbing his chin with one hoof. “Maybe for my lunchbreak today, I’ll head down to the park and go jogging for a few laps…”
“Fine, whatever toots your horn,” Spike remarked, having moved on to straightening his green spines. He did so in silence for a moment while Thorax gave himself one more critical look over. The mundaneness of it all suddenly struck him as bizarre. “So we’re really just going to go on with lives as normal after what happened with Luna last night?”
“I don’t see any reason why not to yet,” Thorax replied immediately. “Until we know more, it’s hard to know if we even need to act.”
“And maybe that’s what bugs me about it,” Spike said as he stared at his glum reflection in the mirror. “Not knowing what’s coming next.”
Thorax moved closer and put a reassuring hoof around him. “Hey, it’s not like we ever have known what’s coming next,” he pointed out. “We’ve pretty much spent all of these past four moons making it up as we go along.”
Despite everything, Spike had to chuckle at Thorax’s phrasing. “Yeah, I suppose so.” He breathed a sigh. “I guess if we could get this far doing that, doing it once more won’t hurt too much…it’s just…I’m not happy about it…it leaves me feeling uneasy.”
“I know,” Thorax said. He sighed himself. “I wish I could do more to comfort you on that Spike…but trust me…I think we’re going to get out of this fine, no matter what happens next with Princess Luna and whatever it is she is planning to do in regards to us…but for the record, I think she’s going to come around to our side, I really do.”
“Then I hope for all of our sakes that you’re right, Thorax,” Spike concluded.
The day then continued to proceed on fairly routinely from there. Business in Fly’s shop followed roughly the normal routine, of business starting out relatively slow, but gradually picking up as the day wore on. Well-adjusted to this by now, both Spike and Thorax thought little of it and went on with their usual duties in the shop as normal. Fly at one point remarked aloud that it seemed to be business as usual in the shop, and she was perfectly okay with that, preferring that over problems that could potentially disrupt business.
By lunchtime, Thorax made good on his promise to try and exercise more, and as he had said he would, he went down to the park during his lunchbreak and spent it jogging laps around it. By the time he came back from the jogging at the close of his break, Spike was just beginning his own lunchbreak which that day he had decided to take upstairs in their room so he could work on his writing. When Thorax—still disguised suggesting he didn’t plan to stay up there long—entered the room after his return to the shop, Spike was intrigued to see that Thorax seemed to be in high spirits and was wearing a big grin.
“I take it jogging went well,” he remarked aloud with a smirk.
“Better than that,” Thorax replied, unzipping his jacket that he had worn for the little venture. He reached into the pocket of his jacket with one hoof and pulled something out. “Check out what I found while I was at the park.”
Spike glanced at the little object in Thorax’s hoof, immediately identifying it. “It’s an acorn,” he simply noted aloud.
“Yes!” Thorax confirmed, looking eager. “It means the trees are shedding their acorns for the final time in preparation for winter.”
“That’s normally what happens at this time of year,” Spike said dryly, aware that acorns held special meaning to the changeling but he still didn’t see what was significant about this. “What about it?”
“You recall what I had explained to you about acorns before, right?”
“That changelings believe the first changelings sprouted somehow from an acorn and that acorns are spiritually imbued with knowledge or some such, yes.”
“Right, acorns are sacred. Back at the acorn grove at the hive, all acorns that the trees in the grove produce are collected and stored with reverence until about this time of year, when an event takes place called the Dissipatio.”
Spike frowned, not sure he was following. “The ‘Scattering?’” he repeated, knowing enough linguae mutationis to translate the changeling word and guessed the purpose of the event. “You collect all the acorns just to scatter them?”
Thorax nodded. “What did you think we’d do with them?” he asked.
Spike thought about it for a brief second. “I would’ve thought you’d keep them close, so…I don’t know, eat them?”
Thorax looked appalled by the very suggestion of that and he whisked his one acorn protectively from Spike, clutching it to his chest. “No! We don’t eat them! They can’t sprout into new acorn trees if they get eaten! Besides, who’d want to do that with something as special as acorns?” He seemed genuinely flabbergasted by the idea.
Spike could think of half a dozen of creatures that’d want to make a meal out of acorns, some ponies included, but he figured now probably wasn’t a good time to name them. “Okay, so you scatter the acorns, in hopes they’ll sprout into new trees?” he summarized, hoping to distract Thorax from the subject of eating them.
It worked, and Thorax nodded in approval. “It’s a highly honored changeling tradition,” he explained. “It’s the one time the queen permits work in the hive to pause so we can all go witness the event.” He shifted positions, leaning close again so to explain. “You see, what happens is that a number of changelings are selected, a huge honor, to take bags filled with the year’s harvest of acorns, and then take them and fly off, scattering them as far as they can. And as you said, the hope is that by scattering the acorns, that will give them the chance to grow into new trees, creating new sacred acorn groves or even possibly, according to the legends, sprout new lines of changelings.” He regarded the acorn he found with reverence. “Since I left the hive, I haven’t had the chance to properly celebrate a Dissipatio myself for a while, but after finding this lovely acorn, I thought maybe I can just collect some acorns of my own from the grove in the park as they fall, and then once I’ve collected a fair number, perform the ceremony myself.”
Spike also regarded the acorn for a moment, but he did so with more skepticism. “Not to be a killjoy Thorax…but I don’t think you’re going to be able to get very many of these acorns here in a city like Vanhoover.”
“I know,” Thorax conceded willingly, not bothered by this. “But that’s okay, I’m just one changeling. As much as I’d want to, I’d only be able to scatter so many acorns on my own anyway.”
Spike rubbed the back of his head sheepishly for a moment. “Well then…maybe when you do this Dissipatio thing…I could come with and help.”
Thorax chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “But in the meantime, my lunchbreak’s over. I need to get back to work.”
He set the acorn down beside the record player before trotting back out of the room. Spike watched him go for a moment then looked back at the solitary acorn. He still didn’t know what to make of the peculiar changeling beliefs surrounding such acorns, but he knew it meant something to Thorax, and he couldn’t help but grin a little that Thorax was still finding ways to demonstrate it.
He directed that grin at the acorn. “Then let’s make sure that Dissipatio ceremony goes better than he expects, shall we?” he remarked aloud to it, before chuckling to himself, satisfied and turning to return to his own lunchbreak.
The day continued on still. Spike was starting to find that it had been a pretty routine and average day today despite his expectations, and frankly he preferred it that way. He commented as such to Thorax later that afternoon, during a lull moment in the shop as business started to wind down for the day.
“It is nice to have things go as you expect them to,” the disguised changeling admitted as he took advantage of the spare moment to straighten a few things on the front desk. “And I’m sure that after events from last night, that goes doubly so.”
“I just hope it lasts,” Spike said, turning his gaze to glance out the shop’s front window. “You know, we’ve been incredibly lucky these past four moons.” He sighed. “Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if it’ll keep up.”
“Personally, I’d prefer to not dwell too hard on it,” Thorax replied.
Spike leaned on the side of the front desk and grinned at his friend. “Why, because we might jinx ourselves doing so?”
“No, because there’s no point in losing sleep over it when there’s other things you can be doing in the meantime to make the best of life,” Thorax replied, not playing along. “Life still goes on, you know. There are still things right here in Fly Leaf’s Books and Stationery that we need to manage.”
“Speaking of,” Spike said, changing the subject. “About our plans to take the Vergilius out for a shakedown cruise this weekend. Fly asked me while you were out on your lunchbreak what she should pack for a picnic lunch.”
Thorax shrugged. “You tell me, you’re likely going to be eating it more than I will be,” he remarked, discreetly reminding Spike of his changeling biology not requiring as much solid food.
Spike smirked. “Of course, because you’re the one suddenly watching your weight and all that.” He chuckled as this elicited a sigh from Thorax. “You know Fly’s not going to go for that though. She’ll want you to both have a say and partake in the goods she packs.”
“And as always, I’ll humor her where I can,” Thorax assured. “After all, it’s her satisfaction in my doing so that’s really filling for me. Not that it matters, because I’ve been keeping pretty well fed lately, weight notwithstanding. But that said, I really don’t have any particular preferences. I’ll probably take whatever it is she packs and try and down what I can.”
Spike shrugged and turned to gaze out the front window again, this time casually. “I’ll tell her to just pack sandwiches then,” he concluded. “Maybe we can take some of your Thornton Cheese and make grilled cheese sandwiches with them or something.”
“Perhaps we can,” Thorax said. He then glanced around the room, looking for their employer. “Where is Miss Fly at the moment anyway? I can’t say I’ve seen her recently.”
“Last I saw, she’s upstairs on the second floor,” Spike replied. “She says she’s been beginning advance preparations for Nightmare Night.”
“Nightmare Night?” Thorax glanced at Spike, confused. “I admit that I’m not the most-versed fellow on Equestrian holidays…but isn’t that late next moon?”
“It is,” Spike said with a smirk, but his gaze not wandering from the front window he was staring vacantly out of. “Fly says she likes to get a head start, and it’s honestly not hard to guess why. You and I have both heard tales of how competitive she and Letterpress get in trying to outdo the other in decorating for the holidays. Nightmare Night is apparently no exception.”
“Oh.” Thorax turned back to his work and shrugged. “I guess we’ll be seeing first-hoof if there’s actually any truth to those tales we’ve heard then.”
“Having seen how Fly and Letterpress go at it on a regular day of the week, I don’t doubt for a second that they are. But I can’t blame Fly too much for that. Letterpress is so full of herself, one can’t help but want to try and knock her ego down a couple pegs…or a few dozen.”
Thorax chuckled. “Letterpress does grate on one’s nerves after a while…but that’s not necessarily an excuse to go overboard trying to get back at ponies like her…or that one should try to do so at all. If it were me, I’d try—”
He was cut short when Spike, still idly gazing out the shop’s front window and watching the ponies pass by, suddenly let out a loud gasp, straightening abruptly. Startled, Thorax whipped his head around to look at the dragon in time to see Spike had gone both wide-eyed and very pale, gaze locked onto something outside the shop. But before Thorax could even have the chance to ask why or even turn his head to follow Spike’s gaze, the dragon was suddenly diving for the front desk, throwing himself underneath it to hide and briefly bumping Thorax’s legs out of the way in doing so.
“Spike! What the—?” Thorax uttered as he shifted his position accordingly, gazing down at his friend in perplexed concern.
But Spike cut him short. “Shhh!” he hissed urgently, motioning for Thorax to keep quiet and thereby implying he say nothing about the dragon.
Thorax still didn’t understand why though. “But what’s wrong? Why are you…?” He trailed off when he heard the shop’s front door open, announcing the entrance of a new customer, and he lifted his gaze to look…
…in time for Princess Twilight Sparkle herself to walk into the shop.
Thorax immediately froze, and could only stand there and stare in shock as the purple alicorn mare casually trotted into the shop, stopping once inside to glance around at the interior. He and Spike—the latter still hiding out of view under the front desk—both rushed through the series of questions that this unexpected and alarming event immediately flooded their minds with, but they could all be boiled down to one question most pressing of all: does she know we’re here? And if so, how? Twilight was not alone however, and she was followed into the shop by another orange-colored mare wearing a hat. Not being as familiar with her as he was with Twilight, Thorax needed a moment to inwardly identify her, but Spike, even though he couldn’t see her from where he was hiding under the desk, knew who she was the moment he heard her speak.
“Quaint liddle place,” Applejack remarked aloud in her usual country accent, sounding calm and nonchalant. “Ah rather like it, actually.”
“Yeah, it’s nice isn’t it?” Twilight was heard agreeing, who sounded cheerful to Spike, something he wasn’t yet sure to make of. “I used to daydream about working in a little privately owned bookshop like this, back before I came to Ponyville.”
Applejack chuckled. “That don’t surprise me in the slightest, sugarcube.” She paused then continued innocently. “This place weren’t on yer list of places ta visit though, was it?”
“No, it’s not, but since we were passing by, I figured we might as well pop in and take a look so to be certain.”
“Ya think this place will have wut yer lookin’ fer?”
“Not entirely, but we won’t know until we’ve taken a look around.”
It was then that Applejack’s eyes settled upon Thorax, still rooted in place standing behind the front desk in horror. When the country mare looked his way, his eyes flicked down at his hooves to double check and make sure he was in disguise still, which of course he was, but Thorax was for the moment terrified discovery was still imminent. Applejack, however, didn’t gaze at him with a look of recognition or suspicion, and rather seemed to interpret Thorax’s no doubt visible apprehension as one to be amused by, for she chuckled to herself again.
She leaned closer to Twilight. “Looks like yer reputation as princess has preceded ya again,” she remarked to the alicorn.
Twilight let out an exasperated groan and turned to face Thorax, taking a few steps towards him. “Look, yes I’m the princess of friendship, but as I’ve told everypony else today, I’m not here on royal business or anything like that, I’m just here on a personal trip searching for books to add to my collection at home, at my own private leisure and nothing more,” she told Thorax firmly. “I don’t want any special treatment, just…ignore the fact that I’m a princess and treat me like you would for any of your other customers, understand?”
Spike watched from where he was hiding as Thorax shifted his position slightly so that his body and legs would block from view Spike’s hiding spot under the desk, even though Applejack and Twilight, the only two customers in that room at the moment, still stood before the desk, where Spike wouldn’t be visible at all anyway. “Yes ma’am,” the disguised changeling managed to squeak out, clearly nervous.
Twilight seemed to interpret it as simply being nervous in the presence of a princess like Applejack had and sighed lightly, but otherwise she didn’t press the matter further. “Now then, I’m looking for any books at all you might have on the subject of astronomy. If you have any, could you kindly tell me where to find them?”
Thorax raised a hoof to point at the relevant shelf. “Bottom shelf of the middle bookcase on that wall is where all the books we have addressing the subject are, ma’am,” he again squeaked out in a rush, eager to get the attention of the two mares off himself.
Satisfied, Spike listened as the two mares trotted off to investigate, and it was then that he realized Applejack and Twilight were both here entirely by chance for reasons completely unrelated to him and Thorax. They had no idea the significance of the place they had just waltzed into and that he and Thorax were here, hiding in plain sight. But if they found the books they were looking for without trouble, they just might come and go without ever realizing he and Thorax were here. So the question was…could they keep attention off themselves and Spike out of their view long enough to do this? Spike curled himself up tighter where he hid under the desk to wait it out. It was the only thing he could do at this point except continuing to wait it out and see what happened. As well as hope that Thorax could continue to keep his cool—he could only see Thorax from about the barrel down from where he was hidden, but he still was able to see that Thorax’s rate of breathing had accelerated to the point that it was a miracle he wasn’t hyperventilating.
But Applejack and Twilight’s attention were clearly on the books now as Spike listened to their chatter while they looked. “Well, how d’ya like that?” Applejack commented aloud from the far right of the room. “Looks like this shop’s got sumthin’ along the lines ya were lookin’ fer after all Twi.”
Books could be heard shifting about as Twilight no doubt pulled out a couple to examine. “Yes, they’re not books that go into incredible depth on the field, but some of these look like they might be promising regardless that I don’t already have. Let me flip through a few of these real quick though, get a feel for their contents…”
“Ah ain’t in no rush,” Applejack assured, and her tone of voice had Spike picturing her glancing idly about the shop some more while Twilight studied the books. “Still kinda surprised this place had any of these sorts of books at all, though.”
“I’m not, it’s clearly a general purpose bookstore, meaning it’d look to carry a wide selection of titles on as many subjects it can,” Twilight replied calmly. She had taken on an instructing tone that Spike realized he hadn’t heard in quite a while now. “Its selection is thus going to be bit generic over all, but still diverse in subject. For a few books relevant to this topic to pop up in one isn’t surprising, but not much more than that. What would be surprising was if we found a great many books all on this one topic instead of just three or four.” Spike could hear her shifting books again, possibly switching to a new book. He couldn’t actually see from his hiding spot so he had to guess from the sounds. “Still, it makes me glad that I decided to pop in here and double check anyway or I might have missed out.”
“So why didn’t ya have it on yer list then?” Applejack asked.
“I knew Fluttershy had been up in Vanhoover recently, so while I was planning this whole trip, I put together a list of shops I knew were here, asked if she knew any of them, and if so, if they might have the sort of astronomy books I’d be interested in.” Spike heard Twilight pause to turn a page. “I remember this shop was on the list, but Fluttershy had been rather adamant that I wouldn’t find what I was looking for here, so much so she told me straight up to not even bother visiting it, so I removed it.” Spike then heard Twilight close the book with a thump. “But, not to discredit Fluttershy or anything, I’m thinking she wasn’t as familiar with this shop as she thought. Here’s at least one book that’s worthwhile for me to purchase. Let’s see if some of these others are similar.”
Spike had to blink to himself though, realizing that Fluttershy, the only one of Twilight’s friends who knew Spike and Thorax’s location, hadn’t directed Twilight away from Fly’s shop because of any books (in fact, due to the nature of Fluttershy’s visit, Spike doubted she even really knew much of what the shop offered) but rather as an attempt to try and keep Twilight as far from Spike and Thorax as she could, hoping to prevent Twilight from discovering them. It actually touched Spike a little to know that Fluttershy was still actively keeping their secret and working to keep them safe and undetected. Too bad, then, that the attempt had clearly proved fruitless.
“Ah’d heard Fluttershy had gone up here couple moons back from Rarity,” Applejack remarked, continuing the conversation while Spike mulled on this. “But Ah never did catch why she went up here at all.”
“According to Rarity and Rainbow Dash, she apparently has a veterinary friend that lives up in this area and who she sporadically visits now and then, usually to assist this friend in her work. Rainbow says she met her once, and could confirm that she and Fluttershy go way back. So I guess it was simply another one of those visits,” Twilight answered distractedly. “To be honest though, I didn’t really think much of it.”
Spike, for one, was personally glad for that.
This got Applejack moved to a different topic though. “About that not thinking much of things, sugarcube,” she said with faint hesitation. “Ah, uh, can’t help but notice that’s been yer approach ta a lot of things outside yer…work…lately.”
Spike could almost hear Twilight’s brow narrow. “I’ve been pretty busy lately.”
“I know that,” Applejack assured. “It’s just…it don’t seem like yer payin’ attention ta…much anythin’ else lately. Ya don’t go out an’ do…well…things like this anymore.” Though he couldn’t see it, he imagined Applejack was motioning to their surroundings. “Just…goin’ out an’ hangin’ out with friends, an’ enjoyin’ life.”
“I haven’t had time for that much lately, Applejack.”
“Have ya really, sugarcube? Or have ya let yourself git too…carried away? Lost sight of important things in life?”
Twilight’s tone darkened suddenly. “Are you saying what I’m trying to do isn’t important?”
“No, it is, it’s just…” Applejack trailed off for a moment. “…we’re worried ’bout ya, Twi. Ya really ain’t been yerself a lot lately. Ya always seem so caught up in yer search that…ya don’t socialize. Ya don’t hang out with us. Ya don’t do anythin’ else. Ya seem…lost…distracted…it can’t be healthy fer ya, Twi. It’s been, wut, four moons now? This is the first time ya even pulled yerself away from it ta actually do sumthin’ else fer a change.”
“And the only reason I did was because Princess Celestia explicitly requested I take the break,” Twilight added firmly.
“Yeah…Ah know.” Applejack was quiet for a moment. “Me and the girls sorta…petitioned her ta talk ya into doin’ it.”
Twilight was quiet for a long moment. By this point Spike had already figured out what it was they had been discussing about Twilight obsessing over, but if there were still any doubts to be had, they were chased away by Twilight’s next comment. “I miss him, AJ,” she said softly, just barely loud enough for Spike to still hear from his hiding spot. “I should’ve never let Spike out of my sight. And I don’t intend to rest until I’ve set things right and he’s back where he belongs.”
Applejack breathed a long and steadying sigh. “Look Twilight, Ah git this has all been hard fer ya, ’specially since he’s like a liddle brother ta ya. When Ah think about sumthin’ like this happenin’ ta Big McIntosh or Apple Bloom, Ah think Ah start ta have a prudy good idea wut ya’ve been goin’ through. And even without that, it’s still been hard fer the rest of us. We miss him too. Things just…haven’t quite been the same without Spike bein’ around. But it also ain’t been the same without you around Twilight…an’ we’ve been gittin’ a lot less of ya ever since Spike left.”
“I’ve been trying to find him, Applejack.”
“Ah know sugarcube…but we all know ya haven’t been havin’ much luck doin’ so…an’ wut is it costin’ ya, continuin’ ta focus so hard on it? Have ya even been payin’ attention ta the world around ya anymore? Wut’s been goin’ on with the rest of us, our own ups and downs? Starlight says it’s been moons since either of ya sat down an’ did any friendship lessons, or any lessons of any sort, ’cuz ya’ve been too ‘busy’ with the search. When me, Rarity, an’ Pinkie had that spat durin’ our botched sailin’ trip down at Seaward Shoals an’ came home all in a huff at each other, we all thought fer sure ya were gonna git yerself involved ta figure out wut happened…but ya didn’t even ask us how the trip went. It was like ya didn’t even notice…an’ frankly that shocked me so much Ah nearly fergot ta be angry at Pinkie an’ Rarity still. An’ then there was Rainbow’s recent friendship mission at the Wonderbolt Academy that she struggled ta sort out.”
“That she worked out just fine in the end,” Twilight interjected.
“Barely. Even Rainbow admits she really struggled ta figure it all out, an’ she spent over a week just tryin’ ta figure out wut the friendship problem even was. An’ when she did, she ended up only makin’ it worse at first by gittin’ those two cadets that had the problem all mad at each other, an’ she nearly messed up the whole trainin’ program tryin’ ta sort that out. Rainbow says Spitfire was mighty upset with her ’bout that, and Rainbow was afraid she was ’bout ta boot her off the Wonderbolts over it. She really struggled to sort out that friendship mission on her own, Twilight.”
“What do you expect me to have done about it? The map only called her to go, and no pony else, and it’s been quite clear by now that the map only ever calls who needs to go, not sending extra ponies who might only get in the way.”
“Ah know that, but…since when has the map ever just called one of us ta go on a friendship mission? Look, Ah’m just saying Rainbow could’ve used a bit more help figurin’ it out, even if it was just moral support…an’ she certainly wasn’t gittin’ it from you, sugarcube. Ya know wut ya were doin’ the whole time Rainbow was away? Sittin’ in yer study, pourin’ over maps, tryin’ ta find Spike.”
Twilight suddenly slammed down whatever book she had been flipping through hard on whatever she had been using as a reading surface. The sudden noise startled Spike, and he saw Thorax, who had been busy pretending to be preoccupied with something on the front desk while still keeping himself positioned so to block Spike’s hiding spot from view, jump slightly in surprise. “Just what is it you’re trying to tell me, Applejack?” Twilight demanded finally. “Quit beating about the bush and just give it to me straight!”
There was a long moment of silence, in which Spike listened intently from his hiding spot, caught up in this unexpected conversation he was eavesdropping on. Applejack took her time giving any sort of response, and Spike suddenly had the impression the mare was looking around to make sure there was nobody listening in. But as far as Spike knew, she and Twilight were the only two customers in the room still, and as she couldn’t see Spike was in the room, this left only Thorax, who Spike couldn’t tell what he was doing precisely, but he knew the disguised changeling had suddenly became very interested in whatever it was he was doing on the desk directly above the dragon’s head and knew Thorax was trying very hard to look like he wasn’t listening at all.
Applejack apparently was satisfied enough by this and finally gave her response, but she still said it in a soft and gentle voice. “Twilight…maybe it’s time ta let Spike go.”
Spike felt his breath catch at this, his heart skipping a beat. It took a long moment to process Applejacks’ blunt statement, for all the implications to sink in fully, trying to figure out just what it was he felt about this. Apparently Twilight needed such a moment too, because he heard no audible response back from her after this statement either.
Whatever sort of reaction it generated from Twilight, it seemed to have left Applejack uneasy as she was eventually the only one who spoke again, sheepishly trying to break the silence. “Ah gotta be honest Twilight, that’s wut this was all fer. We knew ya were startin’ ta git obsessive over this ta the point we worried it was gonna go wrong so, like Ah said, we quietly petitioned Celestia ta help git ya focused away from it fer awhile at least, ’cuz we didn’t think ya’d listen ta us. An’ she did by suggestin’ ya take a break and go sightseein’…if ya can call goin’ ’round ta all the different bookshops in Equestria sightseein’…but she has her concerns too, so she also urged us ta do sumthin’ ta…sort this out with ya…ta talk it over with ya. So…when ya said ya were interested in sumone comin’ with ya as a travel companion, us girls got t’gether ta draw straws, an’…well…Ah lost.” There was a sheepish pause here for a moment, but then Applejack continued. “Ah’ve actually been meanin’ ta bring this up with ya the whole trip thus far but…Ah knew it weren’t gunna be easy so…Ah kept puttin’ it off, fer yer sake. But then the subject finally came up, so…”
By this point, Twilight finally found her voice again. “So you want me to let Spike go?” she repeated softly, sounding hurt.
Applejack sighed. “Twilight…it’s been four moons since he went with that changeling. Ya haven’t found any real sign of him since. None of us have. Not you, not me, not any of the other girls, not Princess Celestia, not yer brother or Cadance…not anyone. Ya’ve already searched every possible place he could be in Equestria…ya even went down ta the southern border an’ searched fer any clues that he might have been dragged through there in the direction of where we think the changeling hive is, or any sign of any heightened changeling activity…an’ ya’ve found nothin’, Twilight. Now Ah know ya don’t just want ta give up on him, Ah don’t either, an’ Ah ain’t takin’ any pleasure havin’ ta even suggest it ta ya like this ’cuz Ah know it’s gonna hurt, but…it’s gittin’ ta the point that we all need ta start facin’ facts…that he might never gonna come back.” Applejack hesitated for a moment then added one more thing. “Twilight, ya don’t even know if he’s still alive…an’ even you have ta admit that…at this point…it’s gittin’ highly unlikely that he is.” Applejack took a moment to take a deep breath. “Ah know ya miss him Twilight, and ya don’t want ta think he’s gone fer good. Ah can’t blame ya. And of course we can all still keep an eye fer him after this…but sooner or later yer still gonna have ta face that possibility, an’ it’s probably sooner than either of us would like. An’ in the meantime, we worry ya’ve been losin’ yerself in tryin’ ta search for him, lost sight of yer other needs in life…an’ that it’s slowly gunna destroy ya…if it hasn’t started already. Either way, Ah can tell ya, that it’s been hurtin’ yer frienships with other ponies…ya’ve been alienatin’ the very ponies that wanna help ya, an’ might be the very thing ya need to git through this.” A long moment of silence fell, and then Applejack sighed. “That’s it, that’s all Ah wanted ta say.”
Twilight was quiet for a long moment, during which Spike listened closely, anxious and curious to hear her response. “I’m sorry Applejack,” Twilight finally admitted. “I’m…I’m not trying to alienate anyone, it’s just…” she trailed off for a moment, leaving Spike hanging on her words, desperate to know what it was she would say. Whatever she said could affect where things go from here, and he knew it. “…he’s still out there somewhere Applejack. I don’t know how, but I can just…feel it. He’s out there, and waiting…but that window of time to find him is shrinking, and I don’t want to waste any of those precious seconds I could be using to find him. And despite everything, I feel like I’m so close! There are times when I feel like he’s right under my nose, just within reach, that I’m closer to him than I realize!” Spike had to stop himself from snorting contemptuously, perfectly aware that the statement was far truer than Twilight realized. “I just…have to figure out how to reach out and pull him back, free him from whatever it is that’s keeping him away…and then things can go back to how they were. That’s what I really want, Applejack. Him back at my side, my faithful little assistant, friend, and brother.” Twilight’s voice turned into a soft whisper. “I can’t tell you how much I miss that. I’d give anything to have the chance to at least see him again, if nothing else.”
Spike found himself shuddering involuntarily at the emotion in Twilight’s words, not having expected the passion the clearly troubled alicorn had managed to convey. It had even more of an effect on Thorax, him being the one who could sense emotions and could no doubt tell for certainty Twilight’s true emotions over all of this. Gradually, the changeling leaned back slightly so he could look down at Spike hiding under the front desk and gazed solemnly at him. To Spike’s shock, he could see the faint glimmer of tears in the changeling’s eyes, he was moved that much. Naturally Thorax said nothing, but his pleading gaze made it clear what he wanted to say to Spike in that moment.
Maybe it’s time to end this…and reveal all.
And it annoyed Spike that he couldn’t help but give it some actual consideration. Up to now, he had been envisioning Twilight as acting as an angry and scorned pony trying to get revenge, but now he was hearing she was simply a hurt and troubled pony trying to fix something that’s causing her pain of the sort that she couldn’t bear it. And Spike, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, realized it had been getting worse for Twilight the more time went by. She truly did seem desperate to have Spike back again, to the point now that she might be more interested in that above all else. If there was ever a time to end the charade and reveal himself to her…this really might be it. But the skeptic in Spike refused to let himself consider it, to let himself fall prey to the trap that was that line of thinking. Further, he still hadn’t forgiven her for how she had treated him at the Crystal Empire, and was still frankly furious with her over the matter. She had her chance to fix this, he thought to himself, and she threw it away. She’s already proven to me what she really thinks. She does NOT deserve another chance just to prove that to me again, to put me through ALL of that pain again.
And he felt vindicated of this as Twilight continued to speak, her tone suddenly turning dark. “Besides Applejack,” the princess pressed on. “Let’s not forget that changeling that was the very cause of all of this. He’s still out there, plotting who knows what sorts of pain and misery! And if he could lead away Spike so easily with his trickery and mind control, what’s stopping him from doing it again? No, I intend to find that monster Applejack, and give him justice for what he’s done to all of us.”
Spike could just picture Applejack’s disapproving frown. “Is it justice ya want? Or is it revenge, Twi?”
Twilight didn’t reply for a moment, but her tone didn’t change and she sounded unrepentant. “If I ever am so blessed as to find that changeling again…I will not hold back, Applejack.”
Twilight’s ominous words killed any further conversation on the topic, and both mares went quiet, a very heavy and uncomfortable silence then befalling the shop, which then proceeded to stretch on and on for several minutes. Twilight’s final words had drawn Thorax’s attention back on the two mares again, but after it was clear the silence would continue to stretch on unbroken, Thorax gradually leaned back again to peer down at Spike. Curiously, his expression was largely unchanged, conveying that his unspoken message was the same. But now Spike could see a flicker of fear in the changeling’s disguised ice-blue eyes, telling him Twilight’s threats had still chilled him. So Spike returned the gaze with one his own, one of stubborn determination and resolute that they stay hidden. The possibility of a peaceful solution to all of this was still just as much an illusion as it had been four moons ago in the Crystal Empire…and he was convinced still that this wasn’t going to change.
So they did nothing, and the silence dragged on as Applejack and Twilight continued to sort through books in the shop. As they were no longer talking, it was hard for Spike in his hiding spot to tell what they were doing, but he could hear the soft bumps and shuffles that made it clear they were very much still there, in the shop, and entirely too close for comfort. But at least they were still oblivious to the fact that the very two beings they were interested in finding were in actuality a mere matter of feet away from them, and Spike hoped their miraculous luck they had been sporting these many moons would persist still, ensuring that their obliviousness remained intact, and that they would leave the shop again none the wiser.
Spike, in fact, had begun to plead to himself for this. Just leave, he thought to himself with as much force he could muster. Just leave the shop and go away forever, never to come back. Just leave us be and in peace, Twilight. Applejack’s right…it’s time we BOTH let the other go.
But it was in vain, because the moment had come where their long lasting luck was finally undone by the very pony that had taken them in.
“Thornton,” Fly Leaf called as she suddenly entered the room, innocent and oblivious to the very tense situation she was unknowingly walking into. As Thorax twisted his head to look at her, Spike could just barely catch a glimpse of the orange earth pony through the space between Thorax’s leg and the side of the front desk as she stepped down the stairs and into the room, her head already turned in Thorax’s direction and appearing to miss the significance of the two other mares in the room entirely. “Do you know where Spike is? I’m thinking I might go ahead and order another shipment of pumpkin orange acrylic paint so to stock up on extras, but I wanted to consult with him on the state of our stockroom first and make sure we’d actually have the space to store it.”
While Spike tensed under the desk, unseen by Fly just as much as he was to Twilight and Applejack, Thorax struggled to find an appropriate response. “Uh, no, actually I don’t know where he is at the moment, Miss Fly,” the disguised changeling hurriedly lied, almost stumbling over his words. “But I, uh, I think he might’ve gone out for something.”
“Really?” Fly asked, stopping short of the front desk. “Why?”
“He, um, didn’t say.”
The puzzlement in Fly’s voice was clear, and Spike heard her start to turn around again for the stairs. “Well that’s odd, that’s not like him to do…I wonder why he’d—Oh hello!” her voice suddenly turned welcoming as Fly finally noticed Applejack and Twilight, and moved to greet them. “I didn’t realize we had been graced with the presence of such distinguished guests! Welcome to Fly Leaf’s Books and Stationery, princess. Anything we can do to help?”
Spike heard Applejack chuckle. “Oh don’t mind us ma’am,” she assured Fly Leaf casually on Twilight’s behalf. “We ain’t here on any formal business or anythin’ like that, just killin’ some free time fer personal reasons. Pretend we ain’t even here.”
Fly laughed. “Fair enough then, I’ll leave you two to it. But if either of you need any help or assistance, just speak up and we will be more than happy to assist as much as we can.”
“Mighty appreciated, thank ya,” Applejack assured.
Spike then heard Fly start to trot off again and assumed Applejack had turned back to whatever she and Twilight were doing as well. His heart beating fiercely in his chest, Spike bit his lip, pleading and hoping that the discussion ended there. Please leave it at that, don’t say anything more, don’t talk any more, just go your separate ways, please…
But then Twilight abruptly spoke up before Fly had gotten more than a few steps away. “Actually…”
No Twilight, no, no, NO!
“…I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation just now, and I must ask, who was that you said you were looking for?”
“Spark?” Fly asked, stopping innocently to answer though Spike was fighting every fiber of his body not to shout and order her not to answer at all. “He’s just one of my employees, is all.”
“Except you didn’t call him Spark, you called him Spike,” Twilight pressed firmly, and could be heard moving closer to Fly.
“Twilight,” Applejack interjected then in a warning tone. “Ah’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”
Spike, in the throes of a panic attack that he was desperately trying to keep himself, inwardly agreed. That’s right, that’s right! It’s just a coincidence Twilight, don’t read anything more into it! Just go! JUST GO!
“It’s just a nickname,” Fly assured Twilight, continuing to speak. She chuckled. “He actually doesn’t like me using it in public though, so I probably shouldn’t have used it.”
Shut up, Fly! Shut up, SHUT UP!
“Is he a dragon?” Twilight then asked, almost demanded, her tone growing increasingly urgent. “A baby dragon, about this tall, purple scales and tall green spines running down his back with blunted tips, loves to read comic books?”
“Twilight…” Applejack again interjected in her warning tone, and Spike heard her moving closer to where he assumed Twilight was standing. Unfortunately, Applejack was ignored by this point.
“Why, do you know him?” Fly asked Twilight back instead of giving a direct answer.
“Please, it’s imperative that I know where he is!” Twilight stressed, taking Fly’s response as a yes. “Tell me where I can find him!”
“Twilight,” Applejack again interjected and was heard moving again, and Spike wondered if she was gently moving to pull Twilight back. “Ah really don’t think this is gunna—”
“Where is he?” Twilight interrupted, tone rising as she repeated the question to Fly.
Fly sounded taken aback. “Well, I’m not certain, obviously that’s why I came down here to ask.” She then turned back to Thorax. “Thornton, are you sure you don’t know where he might be at the moment?”
Thorax sounded like he desperately didn’t want to be involved as he replied. “Uh, no, I really don’t—”
“Please, you must know something?” Twilight pleaded, and with a jolt alarm, Spike heard her approaching the front desk. “Anything at all?”
Thorax panicked as well, and blurted out the first thing that sprang to mind. “Well, I think maybe he might have gone down to the game shop—”
“The game shop?” Fly repeated in surprise. “Why would he be heading down to the game shop now before we’ve closed?”
“Where is this game shop?” Twilight demanded next, not giving Thorax a chance to reply to Fly.
“Uh, it’s on Park Avenue!” Thorax answered urgently in a hurry, his desperation sounding clear to Spike. “Go down this street and take your first left, proceed forward for four blocks, then turn right for another two, it’s right in the middle of the street, you can’t miss it!”
Twilight was immediately heard racing for the front door. “C’mon Applejack!” she declared as she burst out of the shop and out onto the street beyond.
Applejack was heard quickly gathering their things and galloping after her. “Twilight, wait! Twilight!”
Then with a gentle thump of the shop’s door closing again, and a tense silence fell inside once more. For a long moment, Fly, Thorax, and even Spike didn’t move.
“Huh,” Fly finally grunted, confused. “Well that was…peculiar.” She turned to Thorax. “Thornton,” she said slowly. “When Spike gets back, have him come find me so I talk with him, please.”
“Yes, Miss Fly,” Thorax replied breathlessly.
Then Fly turned and left as well, heading into the back of the shop, and at last, Thorax and Spike were alone in the room again. Thorax tensely waited for a moment to make sure Fly wasn’t going to come right back and had indeed gone all the way into the back and wasn’t where she could overhear. He then finally took a step back from the desk and peered down at Spike still hidden underneath, eyes wide with alarm at what had just transpired.
Spike appeared alarmed as well, but his brow was also narrowed with determination, having already come to the conclusion on what they needed to do next. “We need to leave,” he told Thorax bluntly and without hesitation. “Now.”
“But she’s gone now!” Thorax immediately objected. “I told her to go to the game shop—”
“And when she finds I’m not there, she’s going to come running back here to search for answers!” Spike interjected in a hiss, pulling himself out from under the desk. “You don’t know her like I do, Thorax, she’s not going to just give up on this! Once Twilight puts her mind to something, she doesn’t stop until she’s finished. And never mind me, sooner or later she’s going to figure out that you’re likely the changeling she’s looking for, and it’s you I’m more worried about! We have to leave.”
“We could turn to Princess Luna—”
“There isn’t time! You know that! By the time we got word to her and she got back over here to do anything to intervene, it’ll be too late, and that’s assuming she’s even willing to help us at all, which even you can’t confirm right now.”
“But what about Miss Fly?” Thorax protested next, pointing a disguised hoof back at the batwing doors Fly had gone through. “What do we tell her?”
“Nothing!” Spike declared firmly. “She just gave us away to Twilight, Thorax!”
“She didn’t mean—”
“I know she didn’t. But the fact of the matter is that she did, and Twilight will grill her for all the information she knows! So the less Fly knows, the better!” Spike then turned sympathetic and sad, putting his claws on Thorax’s shoulders. “Thorax, I know you don’t want to go. You can sure as hay bet that I don’t want to either. But we agreed that we’d leave Vanhoover the moment trouble came. And now that trouble’s here, and we aren’t going to be able to escape it this time. So please, we don’t have time to fight over this. We. Have. To. Leave. Before it’s too late.”
Thorax was silent for a long moment, his expression a diverse mixture of emotions ranging from terror, to dismay, to anger. It was the sadness that this was happening at all that was the most prominent though, so much so that Spike almost felt like he was the changeling for a change, and that he could sense the waves of sadness Thorax now giving off. The moment was long and tense…but then Thorax finally nodded reluctantly, relenting.
“I assume we’ll be taking the Vergilius then?” he asked simply, softly.
Spike nodded. “I think it’s going to be our best way out of here, yes,” he agreed.
Thorax took a deep breath and straightened. “What do you need me to do?” he asked resolutely.
“For now, stay here and act normal, but keep an eye out for trouble, especially if Twilight returns,” Spike instructed patiently. “Meanwhile, since everybody thinks I’m not here, I’ll run upstairs real quick and pack what we can take of our things. When I’m done, I’ll come get you, and then…” he swallowed heavily. “…we’ll go.”
Somber and quiet, Thorax slowly nodded. “Okay,” he said simply.
Spike sighed, sharing in Thorax’s somber mood. “I’m sorry, Thorax,” he said.
Thorax nodded again. “So am I.”
Spike forced a grin, so much so it was more a grimace than anything. “It’ll work out,” he promised half-heartedly. “It did before.”
Thorax didn’t reply, so Spike gave him a hopeful pat then turned and hurried upstairs, going quietly so the thumping sound of his feet on the stairs wouldn’t carry to Fly Leaf. Thorax, meanwhile, remained where he was at the front desk, and turned himself to look back towards the front of the shop, worrying about what would be lying ahead of them now.
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...I have no words. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. That...was incredible. Best chapter yet, this story keeps surprising me and it keeps getting better and better...incredible.
This story is too good.
And the sh
t hits the fan...
It's Tense as all hell, I need more!
My heart was racing when Applejack was telling Twilight to let go!!
Twilight you better not fuck this up
Yeeeeeeessssss! We've reached the point so many of us were waiting for! I can't wait!
WOHOOO! Straight juggernauting through the second doorway into the third act.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: gosh dammit, Scyphi, why do you have to leave us hanging like this?
the one shop twilight would want to go to just dang.
And so, we begin the descent through the gates.
A happenstance, and allies laid clear. Who is and who isn't, and so we see how much of the nightmare holds sway and for who..
But this, was a heck of a chapter, and one that you likely had prepped for a bit given the speedy delivery.
Overall, this was a gem to read, and whoa nelly will it be something else as things go.
EVIL
Heart pounding chapter btw!
I knew Fly was going to accidentally give them away.
I really knew it was going to happen but I prayed it didn't.
I prayed really hard.
Holy.
Crap.
Godzilla on a stick! You're back from hiatus and you have thrown us all right into the deep end! The shit hasn't hit the fan. The shit has hit a jet engine, criticality damaging it, and had caused the plane to crash and kill hundreds of metaphorical civilians!
(You have also ended my hypothesis that Fly Leaf knew who they were. This story is an ocean of red herrings! LOVE IT!)
The shit hasn't hit the fan. Not yet. No, the shit, which was being packed into the shit launcher aimed at the fan has fired, but the shit hasn't reached the fan yet. It's just heading there real fast like.
You know normally I despise Rarity with RD a close second but right now I really want to de-wing Twilight one feather at a time... Though to be fair, this is exactly what I expect from crazied Twilight *cough*Lesson Zero/It's About Time*cough* It's going to be delicious to watch MWHWAHAHA cough... sorry.
8305328
she hasn't already? really?
8305443
Took the words right out of my mouth! EVIL
It's official. The fecal matter has collided with the rotary device.
... and Twilight still has a hate-on for poor Thorax; god, it'd be better if they did leave...
8305581
At a rapid accelaration?
8305328
She already did.
*fangirling intesifies*
God the suspense
HOLY BUTT FUCK I NEED TO KNOW MORE!!!!!! THESE IS FUCKING INTENSE AS FUCK!!!!!!!
I really really REALLY want Spike to give Twilight what for and I REALLY hope she doesn't kill Thorax....
Man this chapter got my heart pounding, can't for the next chapter.
I hope Spike do run into Twilight, so they can hopefully talk like adult.
I don't think I've ever so physically cringed reading something on this site. The second I saw that Fly called him Spike I felt my stomach turn. That entire conversation just hurt to get through.
I of course mean all of that in a great way, the tension you managed with this chapter was astounding and painfully real. I'm very glad that the constant little moments of Thorax and Fly calling him Spike amounted to something so impactful, even if it was literally gut wrenching.
8305731
So intense, you forgot how to grammer.
Oh butts, now i has problem 2! NNNNNUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuu......
Seriously though, 10/10 would read again. I hope more chapters come soon!
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..............
So... a variant of option two then. Nice. I kindda assumed it'll relise the tension with some action but we will have to wait some more.
Assuming Fly gives away the ship and that Thorax has some excess fat he can burn for magic - they can go for changing the colour scheme of the airjaht with magic. Maybe even have it's underside reflect the sky over them to be invisible from the ground but I dunno how effective it'll be with pegasi around.
There is also the fact that Spike and Thorax had gotten a bit lazy through four months of midly phisical job, so I'd assume they'll be outran by an earth pony and an alicorn.
Now let's pray to the idiot box god that the next chapters are already written for the most part...
Well then! Things are gonna be movin' now!
They do need to get moving fast, though. When Spike is not there, when they decide to come back to Fly Leaf's shop... it might not be too shocking to think "Hey. Who does Spark always spend time with? He came in town with Thornton? Alright. Well, we found the changeling."
Someone's gonna put two and two together either before or shortly after they leave.
Oh, shit things are getting intense!
and lets hope Twilight and the others can finally get over them selves and see Thorax for who he is not what he is
Hmm....how will the Vergilius will be able to outrun the crazy I wonder.....
8305444
Frankly, it would have been a bit more interesting if Twilight had noticed instead how the library books were shelved in the same especific way she taught Spike for years.
Oh no a Cliffhanger
8305367
camo.derpicdn.net/7b5f0c924a8826fb8da34825ff89de13d6dd8736?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com%2Fmedia%2Ff%2Fimg%2Fmlfw8357-mlp_cliffhanger.jpg
Dammit. I really don't wanna wait until the next chapter. I kinda hope they leave a letter or something to Fly. At least give her a bit of closure. And it wouldn't be all that unwise. She's been with them both for months and she can tell Twi exactly how wrong she is on Thorax being a serious baddie and how much Spike and him genuinely cared about each other.
8306327
that's a weirdly funny video
8305681
Oh most definitely, my companion.
8306007
Damn! I did forget how to grammar!
8305367
...because it's fun?
8305510
Oh, I can't wait to see your reaction to the next chapter then...
8306166
Actually, I'd sooner see Twilight entirely missing the significance of that for other reasons: "Hey wait, these books are all organized like how I do it! Finally, ponies are starting to catch on to the significance of better organization practices! Oh, I knew it was going to happen eventually! Yay!"
8306327
...the hay did I just watch?
8306602
Still, I would add it as a remark from Twi in the next chapter, as a "How did I miss the clue?"
8306350
Being arachnophobic myself, I suppose I can't deny the accuracy of that analogy.
Fly and Spike's approach to the matter is definitely flawed, but I never pretended that it wasn't. Regardless, it still didn't come across quite as I had intended in that chapter, and acknowledged that and tried to rectify it slightly with the following chapter.
8306609
"Well, at least I know now all my attempts to teach Spike how to properly organize things did sink in after all..."
All the readers at the title: FINALLY
All the readers at the contents: well will they or won't they
porin' over
Man, this just got intense. So much so, that it feels like I'm playing FTL with a destroyed O2 and doors system while fire is raging through my ship. It's pretty much Murphy's and Finagle's law together. On another note, I'm half expecting Thorax to go and explain the situation to Fly. It would probably be like a train derailing in slow motion. Maybe.