• Published 26th Jun 2019
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Rise of the Element Gang, Book 2: Friendship Adventures - Power of Six



New heroes, new friends, new adventures. Join Dusk and the Element Gang as they learn about the true meaning of friendship.

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Chapter 22: Owl's Well That Ends Well

Chapter 22: Owl’s Well That Ends Well

It was a perfect division of labor between the two of us, the two assistants of Twilight Sparkle in the library that evening. I (in charge of library duties) was packing the quills, ink, and parchment into the red cart that we were going to bringing up the hill, whilst Spike (who did the domestic duties) was packing up the food, punch, and picnic blanket for after the shower would be completed.

I was quite looking forward to the shower tonight. Though I didn’t have a diverse of astrology, not as much as Twilight, I would be looking forward to the sheer beauty and wonder of the centennial event that would be taking place. It was meant to be spectacular, a cluster of sparkling stars shooting across the sky. How very fortunate they were that it would be happening tonight.

“This meteor shower tonight’s gonna be amazing!” Twilight said from above.

“No arguments from me.” I remarked as I levitated the quills neatly into the cart

“Awesome!” Spike added, throwing some bananas into the mix.

“You know, this shower only happens once every 100 years.” she informed.

“A centennial celebration!” Spike noted as he juggled some apples into the cart, permitting a low whistle of admiration from me.

“We better get a move on!”

“Don’t wanna be late!” I hurried forward as Spike had some difficulty with the punch bowl, placing it delicately on the top. “There. Thanks, bro.”

“No problem, little bro.” I assured, sharing a high claw with him.

“Dusk, did you grab my quill and ink?”

“Affirmative.” I saluted.

“Scrolls?”

“Placed and packed, as requested.”

“Excellent! And Spike?” she turned to the dragon.

“I’ve packed a telescope, apples, bananas, fruit punch, and my freshly baked, homemade, triple-decker, nut-crazy, vanilla cream cookies!” He held up the dish of sugary treats to prove his point, traces of crumbs around his mouth.

Twilight giggled at the sight of this. “I can see that.” This prompted him to lick the crumbs off his face. “Once again you’ve read my mind, Spike. And that is why you are my number one, dragon assistant.” She proceeded downstairs, me following behind.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.” I chuckled, knowing full well that he had and he just liked having his ego stroked.

“That is why you are my number one, dragon assistant.” she repeated.

“Missed that. Huh~?”

“I said…” She stopped herself when she realized what he was getting up to. She giggled and shook her head. "Oh, you… and Dusk, you’ve proven once more that you can be reliable, efficient, and helpful.”

“I try my best.” I said modestly, shrugging as we reached the door. “Spike’s been around longer than me though, he deserves the number one position more.”

“He’s my number one, dragon assistant,” she emphasized, “but you are my number one, pony assistant.”

“Really?” I asked, touched that she took me into consideration. “Number one pony assistant… I rather like the sound of that.”

“Well, don’t let it go to your head. You’re supposed to be the modest one.” We shared a laugh at that as we reached the door. “Come on, let’s get going. Wait, I almost forgot! I wanna bring the Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy.”

Spike expression changed to one of confusion. “The Astronomo-lomo… homono… what?”

“You know that really old, big, blue book on stars, moons, planets, the Universe?” she prompted as he finally recognized what she meant.

“Check!” He dashed off inside to get it.

“You don’t mind that he’s going to go and get it?” Twilight asked me. “I know the library itself is your realm, so to speak.”

“Not at all. I’ve got a feeling tonight’s going to be Spike’s night anyway. Let him have a little bit of glory, I say.”

“That’s sweet of you, Dusk. I’m sure he’d appreciate that.” she noted, a slight blush coming to her cheeks at the mentioning of the word “sweet.”

I had noticed, since yesterday, Twilight had been passing compliments to me a lot more easily now and her gaze seemed to linger on me a little more so than normal. She was less hectic when she started blushing, more stable. Was it too much to hope that, perhaps, she had feelings for me that matched mine for her. Probably not, she was most likely just being nice… It would be good to hope though.

“You know me, I am the modest one.” I reminded her. “Still, I’ve just had a thought. Maybe we could mix up our duties a bit, Spike does more library stuff and I could do some house duties.”

“Really? Do you know how to cook?”

“Well… um… no, but I could learn.” I added.

“Thanks, Dusk, but I’m fine with the way things are now. Still, if you ever want to get a lesson in cooking, I’m sure Spike would be happy to help you.”

“Actually, considering what happened last time I went near a kitchen, you're probably right.” I chuckled, good-naturedly.

“If you say so.” she giggled, looking back into the library. “Hey! What’s taking my number one, dragon assistant so long?”

A few seconds later, Spike returned, but without the blue book. He also seemed to have tensed up a bit, a small bead of sweat trickling down his face. If Twilight noticed this, she didn’t comment on it.

“Where's the almanac?” she asked him.

“Sorry, I couldn't find it. Oh, well. Never mind, let’s go!” He said all of this rather quickly, grabbing the handle of the cart and rushing for the door.

“Did you look in the right place?” Twilight persisted.

“Yep, but it wasn’t there. Real shame, but I guess we'll have to make do. Now come on, let’s go!” Before Twilight could ask further, he’d hurried out of the door and into the darkened streets of Ponyville.

“What do you think has gotten into him?” Twilight asked me.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea, but he is right. We’d better get along if we don't want to miss the shower.” I held the door open for Twilight. “Now, Miss Sparkle, I do believe it’s ladies first?”

“Why, thank you, Number One, pony assistant.” I smiled at the way that sounded as we exited the library, heading out to a hilled area where everypony would be gathering to watch the show.

By the time we arrived, the stars were shining in the sky, the dark blue cloak of the night being stretched across the sky. It seemed like the entire town had turned out to watch the show, with little groups of ponies scattered all around the hillside, waiting eagerly to view the astronomical event. I could see our friends already gathered at the top of the hill, walking alongside Twilight with Spike bringing up the rear.

“I was sure I put the astronomer’s guide back.” she mentioned again. “The book would have helped me identify different planets and stars tonight. You didn’t take it out, did you, Dusk?”

“Not really my kind of reading, to be honest.” I admitted. “I know a few things about astronomy, basic stuff. Like the constellations, like the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. I also know the names of the planets: Mercury, Venus, Equis, Mars, Tuchunka, Skaro, Cybertron…” I slapped my mouth for saying that.

I even cursed myself for it. I just told some of the worlds in different parts of the Dragon-verse and she didn’t know it.

Only Dragonis, me, and the guys had known it and they did a better job than me to keep that secret from Twilight and the others.

“I’m sorry, what were those last three?” she asked, giggling.

“Oh, sorry, those were a few I know.” I mumbled. “I’ll explain later.”

“Oh, you…” She didn’t sound exasperated, just amused, which made me smile again.

“Well… Maybe someone borrowed it.” Spike suggested. “Besides, you don’t need that book. You can already name all the planets and stars ʹcause you’re super smart and astronomically awesome!"

“Thanks, Spike. You’re such a flatterer.” she commented.

The baby dragon shrugged abashedly. “Yeah, I’m a sweet talker.”

“And a number one, dragon assistant, right?”

“Check! Go number ones!” He shared a high claw with me as the two of us set out the picnic, me laying down the blanket and Spike laying down the food.

At this point, Rainbow Dash walked over and took a bite from an apple. “Wow, Twilight! You’re lucky to have not only one, but two rad assistants. I wish I had someone to do whatever I told them.”

Scootaloo perked up at this. “Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! Me! I’ll do whatever you want, Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh, yeah, pipsqueak?” She tossed her the apple core. “How about taking out the trash?”

“Yes, ma’am!” She picked it up and hurried off, surprising us all at her willingness to comply. No sooner had she left, the others all gathered around.

“Do we have Spike to thank again for this amazing spread?” Rarity asked, joining the others in gazing adoringly at Spike, I stepping back to let him have the spotlight. “Isn’t he simply amazing?”

“Oh, come on.” He looked quite embarrassed, then his expression changed to one of disappointment. “I said, come on.”

“Hey, keep pushing and you’re not gonna get anything.” Shield told him.

“Little Spikey-Wikey.” Pinkie gave him an affectionate noogie. “Who knew that big, ferocious dragon started off so cutesy-wootsy?”

“Yeah, and who would have thought we’d find such a great guy like him?” Leon added.

“For the record, I couldn’t imagine any other pony, or dragon for that matter, I would divide my duties with.” I commented, giving him a pat on the back. “He can be a little lazy and cheeky at times…”

“I thought you were saying good things about me.” Spike objected.

“Let me finish.” I put in. “But, despite that, he’s as much a friend to me as you all are and kind of like my brother too.”

“Aw, gee! Thanks, bud.” Spike said sincerely.

“You deserve it.” I replied.

“Spike, you are such a little star that I had to make a little bow tie for you.” Rarity levitated a red bow-tie decorated with little gemstones to fit around Spike’s neck.

“Try not to eat it, eh?” I remarked.

“Gosh, you guys are embarrassing me. Stop it!” he paused for a second. “Twilight, your turn.”

“Spike, that’s enough.” she said sternly.

“Yes, I think your ego has received enough stroking for one night.” I added, provoking a smile from the dragon.

“All right. That’s enough.” he agreed reluctantly.

“Hey, everypony! The show is starting!” At Sweetie Belle’s announcement, everypony hurried to get a good view of the sky and gazed up expectantly.

First, there was one. Then there were two. It just continued to build until the whole sky was full of them. Streaks of light began to shoot across the sky, shining just as bright as the stars that they flew past, passing an unearthly, yet beautiful glow across everypony’s faces, as we all gasped and awed at the magnificent spectacle. They left streaks of starlight in their wake, darting across the night sky and out of sight, if only to allow more to sail by. It was strange that they seemed so close, when in reality they were so far away. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. It even beat the Sonic Rainboom, if only by a bit.

I was so engrossed in watching the meteors that I didn’t notice I was moving closer to my right. I only realized when I brushed against Twilight’s side. We both darted our heads up and blushed, about to move away, but…we seemed to both think that the other wouldn’t really mind. After all, what was a bit of closeness between friends? So, we remained that way and returned to watching the shower with the added warmth of our fur being shared in the chilly night air. Nopony even noticed how close we were. They were too busy watching the show. Secretly, we were both thankful for that.

After the show was over, everypony was in animated conversation with each other about what they had just witnessed. Twilight and I were also part of it, though only after Twilight had shown me various constellations and planets through the telescope. It always surprised me how much she knew about this kind of thing. I didn’t say anything, but merely listened as she told me what she knew about them all. At the very least I was learning something, which was rather special as it was from her.

“The planet Venus.” Twilight was saying, as she showed me it through the telescope. “The only planet to be named after a mare.”

“Good for her.” I remarked quietly. “But isn’t it incapable of supporting life?”

“It is, due to the high gravity and the acid clouds. It’s a very hostile world.”

“Yet the name makes it sound so gentle.” I mused, pulling back from the eyepiece.

“I thought you would say something like that.”

“You know me too well, Miss Sparkle.”

She giggled at that. “Maybe, some time, we could look at the stars like this again, just you and me.” she suggested, rather shyly.

I wasn’t sure if she meant that romantically or just as friends, but I did like the idea either way. “I’d like that.”

“I hoped you would.” We shared another warm smile, then returned in comfortable silence to the spread, where Pinkie wolfed down the last of Spike’s cookies.

“Wow! These cookies are deeliish!”

“Spike made them. Speaking of… Spike, can you bring us some punch?” There was no response. “Spike?”

We all looked to see Spike was sleeping soundly in the punch bowl of all places, snoring peacefully.

“Ooh, poor little thing.” Rarity cooed.

“Aww… He’s worked himself to the bone.” Twilight added.

“And now the punch has been…spiked!" Pinkie joked, ensuing laughter from everypony present, yet still Spike slept on.

“I think it’s time to go.” Twilight suggested, levitating him gently onto her back and rolling up the blanket.

“Right behind you.” I whispered, taking the cart and bidding our friends farewell, escorting Twilight and Spike back to their home.

When we arrived back at the tree that housed the library, Twilight was saying about how she wanted to write a report on the study of comets before she went to bed that night.

“Don’t you think you should get to bed?” I asked as we stood on the threshold of the door.

“I will, but I want to get this done now while it’s still fresh in my mind.”

“Do you want me to stay up and help? I’m not…” I paused to yawn. “I’m not that tired.”

“I think you are. You should go home and get some rest, you’ve done enough today.” she advised.

“Are you sure?”

“Dusk, you need your rest too. Now go home. That’s an order from your boss.” she said in a mock commanding tone.

“As you wish, Miss Sparkle.” I bowed. “Good night, Twilight.”

“Good night, number one pony assistant.” She gave me one last smile and gently closed the door. I lingered for a few moments and then made my way home, humming a merry tune to myself.


I arrived bright and early as usual the next morning, still in high spirits from the previous night. At first, I didn’t notice anything strange, setting down my saddlebag and gazing around for either Twilight or Spike. Instead, I discovered that the library had one more additional occupant, neither pony nor dragon.

A plump, little bird was perched in the middle of the room with a square-ish body and bright orange beak. His feathers around his breast were a light brown, whereas the ones on his wings were darker in color. I had read enough about animals, specifically Fluttershy’s Hearth’s Warming present, to recognize an owl when I saw one. Either screech or tawny, but I couldn’t quite place it. I’d need to consult it again. The owl turned his beady black eyes to stare at me, which sparked with a strange kind of understanding.

It didn’t seem like he’d just flown in randomly, it looked more like he was meant to be there. Was he a new pet that Twilight had acquired? But she hadn’t left the house since last night, where had he come from? Deciding to ask her later, I decided to at least be friendly to him.

“Hello, little fellow.” I greeted, walking over and stroking him gently. “Where did you come from?”

The owl gave a small hoot, not objecting to my claw moving over his feathers. Well, at least he liked me.

“Oh, good morning, Dusk.” I turned to see Twilight emerging from the kitchen. “I see you’ve met Owlowiscious then.”

“Owlowiscious, huh?” I glanced at him. “That’s a fine name. Where’d you find him?”

“He rescued my parchment when it flew out of the window last night. I didn’t like having to send him back into the cold, so I let him stay with me. I’ve decided to take him on as our new junior assistant.”

For some reason, that caused a jolt of fear to spike in my chest. It didn’t take me long to figure out why, though I kept my calm expression as best I could.

“Well, they are meant to be quite intelligent birds.” I noted, looking him over. “It might be fun having him around, as long as he doesn’t… never mind.”

“Doesn’t what?”

“Well, replace me or anything…” I murmured.

Concern flitted across her features. “Aw, Dusk, why would you think that?”

“It wouldn’t be hard to, that’s all.”

“Dusk, nopony could ever replace you or Spike.” she assured me gently. “You have a special place here that I don’t think anypony could ever hope to match up to. You’re still my number one, pony assistant and always will be.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, um… Thanks.” We both smiled at the trust we had and I looked for my fellow assistant. “Where is Spike? Shouldn’t he be up by now?”

“He’s still sleeping upstairs. Last night really took it out of him. I let Owlowiscious do his morning chores so he could get some more sleep.”

“Really?” I gave him an admiring glance. “Wow, he’s good. Are you sure he's not going to replace me?”

“Pretty sure.” she repeated, knowing I was just joking. “Anyway, I got to head out for a bit. Would you mind rearranging the Classics section in the West wing?”

“You need only ask. Welcome aboard, Owlowiscious.” I added to the bird, as I set off to work, while Twilight went off upstairs to pack her things.

While I was pulling down all of the mismatched books, I heard the door slam a few minutes after Twilight left, probably Spike going off to pass the time in some other way now that his morning chores were done. I wondered if my friend had the same thoughts that I had, that the owl might replace us in the end. I resolved to talk to him later, returning my concentration to levitating the books I was piling up. Unfortunately, the pile wobbled precariously and one of the books fell from the top.

“Uh, oh!” I tried to catch it before it hit the ground, but a pair of clawed feet caught it just in time. Owlowiscious hovered before me, lifting the book back up to the top.

“Oh…thanks for that." I said to the owl. He hooted in response, as if to say “no problem.” I gave the bird a fond smile. “I’m Dusk, by the way. Dusk Noir.”

“Hoo.” the owl sounded.

“‘Who’? What do you mean ‘who’? I’m Du…” I paused when I realized what he was doing. “Oh, I see what you did there.”

“Hoo.” Owlowiscious replied.

“‘Hoo’ indeed.” I chuckled, returning to my work. Maybe having him around wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Later on, the girls and guys all arrived to meet Twilight’s new pet. I joined them, happy to see they’d taken to him just as well as I did. Except for Spike it seemed, who leaned against a window above while reading a book on owls with the attitude of somepony trying to learn the weaknesses of his enemy.

“Oh, what a fantastical, fluffelicious, feathery, little friend! I’m hoo-ked!” We all laughed at Pinkie's pun.

“He’s just wonderful.” Fluttershy said, always having something to say on animals.

We were all rather taken aback when Spike repeated what she said in a mocking tone. “Uh, yes. Wonderful. He’s quite…the charmer.” He said this last bit through gritted teeth.

“And he’s a perfect fit.” Leon added before motioning to the library. “Especially with a whole building being a tree.”

“And Owlowiscious is just such a star, I just had to make this little bow for you.” Rarity presented, rather tactlessly, him with the exact bow that she had made for Spike last night. At this, Spike raged in frustration and slammed the window on us.

“What’s his problem?” Shield asked, confused by this.

“Yeah, he seems madder than a wet hen.” Dog said, commenting on Spike’s behavior.

Knowing my worst suspicions would probably be confirmed, I headed for the library door. “I’ll go talk to him.”

It didn’t take long for me to find him, stomping down the stairs and muttering to himself angrily.

“Hey, my brother. You okay?” I asked.

“No, I am not.” He turned to face me. “Come on, you must have seen his little plan.”

“Um…I’m afraid it’s escaped me.”

“Come on, Dusk! He’s trying to replace you and me as the number one’s around here!” he said, as if it were obvious. “By the creed of the brothers in library-assistantship, we can’t let him do that!”

I blinked at this. “Spike, we don’t have a creed.”

“Well if we did, it would say that we shouldn’t let upstarts try to replace us. But don’t worry, we’re just gonna have to work extra hard so that Twilight and Owlowiscious know who the top dogs are around here.”

“Spike, I think you’re overreacting about this. Twilight knows we can’t be replaced." I looked to see that Twilight had returned, with Owlowiscious perched on her back. “Come on, we’d best get back to work.”

“You got it! Let’s go into action!” Apparently, he’d ignored everything I’d just said up to that point and hurried off, giving me a knowing wink. I just sighed and went back to the catalog of our inventory I’d started earlier.

The rest of the afternoon passed by fairly uneventfully, at least for me. Owlowiscious had retrieved a few books at Twilight’s request, robbing Spike of his own duties, making the dragon even more frustrated. At one point, Twilight had broken her last writing quill and Spike had upended the house to hurry to find a replacement, obviously hoping to show up his rival this time. He even dashed out to find a new one as Twilight tried to tell him that her pet had given her one of his feathers to use as a quill. Spike returned as I prepared to leave with a chicken feather, something that was completely useless for writing purposes and had promptly fallen asleep on the stairs. I just hoped he would be better the next day.

When that day came, I was just arriving at the library when Spike strode out angrily, stomping off into town. He was so angry that he didn’t notice me and walked by without acknowledging me. Raising an eyebrow, I entered the library to find Owlowiscious sitting on his perch and Twilight levitating a blue-bound book in front of her, shaking her head and looking quite perturbed about something.

“What’s happened now?” I asked.

“See for yourself.” She tossed the book to me and I caught it with my claw. It was Twilight’s astronomy almanac, but the pages had been burned away and the inside was blackened from soot. “Spike burned the pages out by sneezing and then tried to hide what he did from me.”

“Oh, dear…” Now I could understand why she was so angry. “How did you find it?”

“I didn’t, Owlowiscious did. Right where it was supposed to be.” She let out a growl of frustration. “I can’t believe that Spike tried lying to me, as if he could cover it up.”

“I’m sure he did it with the best of intentions.”

“That may well be, but he should know that he shouldn’t lie to me like that.” She growled again and shook her head helplessly. “He’s been acting like this ever since Owlowiscious arrived.”

“I’ve noticed that too.” I pressed my hoof to my chin thoughtfully. “Maybe he is jealous that Owlowiscious is around here. He thinks he’s after his job, like I did.”

“Yes, but you got over that and now you and Owlowiscious are fine.” She sighed. “I just hope he doesn’t let his jealousy get the better of him.”

“Me too.” I suddenly had a thought. “Was he ever this jealous when I first arrived? He always seemed friendly to me, but was he ever…fuming when I wasn’t here?"

"At first, he was a little jealous." she explained. "But then he really warmed to you and you two are both good friends. Why can’t he do the same with Owlowiscious?”

“Well, for one thing, Owlowiscious doesn’t exactly say much.” The owl hooted to prove my point. “I don’t think it’s really the same scenario as it was with me.”

“You may have a point there. Come on, we’d better go and find him before he does anything rash.” She gestured and Owlowiscious flew onto her back.

“Right behind you, Miss Sparkle.” Together, the three of us set out to find the number one dragon assistant.

We ended up looking and asking all around town if anypony had seen Spike. A few had seen him, darting in-between hiding places and dressed in a cape and top hat, cackling to himself about something. We finally got a lead saying that they’d last seen him going back in the direction of the library, still laughing away and wearing his strange get-up. With this information, we proceeded back the way they came and entered the library. On the floor was a torn-up toy mouse, with red liquid poured around it.

I approached it, dipped a claw in, and sniffed. “Ketchup. But why would…?”

I was cut off when Spike came from downstairs, dressed exactly as he was reported and laughing like a clichéd villain. He had a pillow, no doubt from Twilight's bed, and was throwing the feathers everywhere. I figured out what he was up to even before he backed into Twilight and even I felt a degree of shame and disappointment for my friend.

“That poor little field mouse!” Spike cried with affected emotion. “Torn to pieces! It must have been Owlowiscious! You know, since owls eat, you know, mice. What a terrible, terrible bird! He must be punished! Right?”

Twilight only glared at him. “Spike! I don’t know what upsets me more: that you deliberately tried to set up Owlowiscious or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work! You’ve let your jealousy get the best of you, Spike. I am truly disappointed. This is not the Spike I know and love. Come on, Dusk. I think Spike needs some time on his own to think about what he’s done.”

“Right…” I complied, proceeding to follow Twilight out of the door.

“But, Dusk, wait!” I turned to look at Spike, not frowning or glaring, but with a look of disappointment. I made sure I never even raised my voice when I spoke.

“Spike, I understand why you’re jealous, but this is a step too far. I would say that you’ve let me down, both as a friend and my fellow assistant…but you’ve only let down yourself.” Shaking my head, I followed Twilight out and shut the door behind me.

“I can’t believe he did that.” Twilight fumed. “I’ve never seen him act like this before.”

“Neither have I… I’ll clean up the mess when we get back.”

“Thanks, Dusk. It’s good to know I can rely on you at least.” I didn't take that as the praise it was meant to be. If anything, it made me more ashamed of Spike. She was supposed to be able to rely on both of us, not one or the other.

I only sighed in response, hoping Spike would be okay…and that he would resolve his issues.


When we thought we’d given Spike enough time to think about what he had done, we returned to the library as it was getting dark, myself intending to pick up my saddlebag and head home after making sure that Spike was okay.

“Spike!” Twilight called. “Come down, I need to talk to you.” There was no answer. “Spike? Spike, where are you?”

There was no sign of him, even the mess he’d made trying to frame Owlowiscious was gone. For some reason, I felt dread form in the pit of my stomach, as Twilight hurried upstairs, while I searched the library. No sign of him in any of the separate wings, or the basement. A few minutes later we met up again, dread changing to fear.

“He’s not in the library anywhere.” I reported, hearing the quiver in my voice.

“He’s not in my room either and all of his things are gone! Dusk, he’s run away!” Fretting and muttering, she started to pace. “What are we going to do? Where could he have gone?”

“Twilight, please calm down.” I prompted, even though I felt like panicking myself. “I can use my puppets to find…”

“Hoo!” Owlowiscious was flapping frantically, trying to get our attention. He landed and gestured his head to a set of claw prints stained red from ketchup.

“Or we could follow those. Good work, Owlowiscious.” The owl hooted and flew back out of the door, Twilight and I following behind him.

While I could have easily used my color puppets to find Spike, though I’d never done it before with him, I wanted to save my energy. If Spike was where I thought he would be, I had a feeling I was going to need it. Sure enough, the footprints led us out of Ponyville and we arrived at the foreboding borders of the Everfree Forest.

“The Everfree Forest. Why did it have to be the Everfree Forest?” I groaned, feeling my legs shaking.

“This is no time to be scared. Spike could be in trouble.” Twilight reminded me, though she sounded equally afraid.

“I know, but… why is it always the Everfree Forest?” Swallowing in my throat, I galloped after Twilight, Owlowiscious leading the way in the air.

After battling through branches and brambles, but no monsters thankfully, we arrived at the mouth of a cave where the footprints went inside. A loud roar resounded inside, as did familiar cries for help. I felt fear grip me even further. There was only one creature in all of Equestria that could roar like that…

“Come on!” Twilight’s voice bolstered me a little, the two of us running to the mouth of the cave.

Filling up the whole interior was an enormous green dragon, one far larger than Spike. His scales glinted fiercely in the dark, the wicked points of his spiked tail as big as tree trunks. He was roaring in rage as Owlowiscious flew around his head, distracting him from a little purple shape that was crouched just behind his larger brethren.

Twilight began to wave frantically. “Spike! Over here!” He ran out of the cave past the dragon, his face a visage of relief.

“Am I glad to see you two!”

“Hurry! Hop on!” He jumped on Twilight’s back, Owlowiscious flying out ahead of them, the dragon shaking the earth with his footfalls.

“Here we go again.” I muttered, then in a louder voice. “I’ll distract him for a bit! Keep running, the trees will become too thick for him to follow!”

Twilight looked like she was about to argue, but she nodded and galloped away, Spike bobbing up and down on her back. Suppressing my fear as best I could, I looked right up at the dragon, who was about to lunge at me. Hoping this would work, I conjured up color words saying “STOP”. Surprisingly, it worked and the dragon looking a little confused at this display of magic. Now that he had paused, perhaps he could be reasoned with…

“Okay… now then, Mister, um…Dragon.” I began, a little timidly. “My, uh…friend, he no doubt upset you in some way…”

“He ate my gems!” the dragon thundered.

“Right…um, anyway…” Swallowing again, I continued. “So, um…I’m sure he didn’t mean any, uh…offense, sir, so…maybe we could just…call this one an accident and, uh…move on?"

“Perhaps.” He snorted steam. “Or perhaps I could eat you instead, then we could ‘move on’.”

“Ah… I was afraid you might say that.” I said. “Well…can I just say one thing to you before you do?”

“Fine. What?”

I used my claws to motion him to lower his head up to my level. After he did, I took a deep breath and blew a huge amount of smoke into his eye. Blinded by smog, I took this as a chance to escape him while he wiped it off.

“Good evening!” Screaming at the top of my lungs, I dashed away as fast as I could back into the depths of the forest, thinking of Twilight and conjuring a color puppet to follow through the dark.

Behind me, I could hear the ripping of trees and the shaking of earth as the dragon pursued me, driving me to keep running. Fear was a great motivator. I just kept following my light, the trees becoming thicker all of the time, my chest burning from the physical exertion. Even after I could no longer hear the dragon’s stomping feet, I kept on running until I reached the edge of the forest, spotting my friends by a tree. I stopped next to them, wheezing and panting, still feeling the fear in my chest.

“Dusk!” Twilight caught me in a tight hug. “You’re okay!”

“That’s… debatable…” I was still catching my breath and could barely speak.

“I was so worried!” Her face was full of relief, then she frowned and punched me in the arm. “Dusk Noir, you might be the stupidest pony I have ever met.”

“No… arguments… here.” I panted.

“How many times are you gonna throw yourself in front of a monster like that?”

“Believe me… I don’t want to make a habit of it.” I felt bad for making her worry, but a little proud that I’d at least been able to try and protect her and Spike.

“I almost lost one of my number one assistants and best friends today… I didn’t want it to be two.” It sounded like she was trying hard not to cry.

“I… I’m sorry, Twilight.” I hung my head, but it was lifted up gently by Twilight, who held my gaze.

“Apology accepted. Just…try not to do it again, okay?”

“Yes… ma’am.” We both exchanged a smile at the tender moment before Twilight turned to Spike.

“Spike, we were so worried about you. I was so worried about you. Why did you run away?”

Spike too now looked guilty. “I thought you didn’t need me anymore. And that you didn’t love me anymore.” Pity for my friend welled up in my chest.

“Spike,” Twilight began gently, “sure, I was disappointed, but you are my number one, dragon assistant and friend. And you always will be. It’s just that sometimes I need some help at night. I can’t ask you to stay up late. You’re a baby dragon and you need your rest. I can’t ask Dusk either because he has his own home to get to. Owls are nocturnal, so I asked Owlowiscious to help, but not to take your place. No one could ever replace you, Spike. Not even when you are being a jealous numbskull.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I never should have been so jealous.” he admitted.

“And I’m sorry too, Spike. I should have been more sensitive.” Twilight said.

“I’m at fault here too.” I put in. “As your friend and fellow assistant, I should have tried to help you with this, rather than let what happened happen. You’re still my assistant brother and always will be.” I offered my claw to his claw.

“Thanks, buddy.” I was surprised when Spike hugged me instead, which I returned, patting him on the head.

Spike then looked up at his rival, who was perched on a branch nearby. “And Owlowiscious… I know now that you weren’t out to take my job. Forgive me?”

“Hoo?” the owl replied.

“Me. Forgive me, Spike.”

“Hoo!”

“He forgives you.” Twilight told him.

“Hey! How did you guys know where I was?” he suddenly asked.

“It was your ketchup-covered feet. Owlowiscious discovered your footprints and we followed them all the way to the cave.” she explained.

“Funny how things work out like that." I remarked.

“Oh, yeah, the ketchup. It looked pretty real though, didn’t it?” he said, referring to the earlier incident. Twilight just glared at him, making Spike giggle nervously.

With that, we, the four of us set off for home, soon just being able to laugh about what happened, the jealousy incident completely forgotten. I was just glad to have my little friend back. This was going to make an interesting report to the Princess for sure.

As we walked, I looked up at Owlowiscious, who was flying overhead. The owl had certainly proved useful in his own right. He was intelligent, loyal to his friends, and rather good company, though not in the same way a pony was. It was a simpler kind of company, one that was inspired by loyalty and care, the kind of thing that only a pet could give. It occurred to me that the others all had pets too, with the exception of Rainbow Dash. For the first time, I could see the appeal of them.

Perhaps I should get one…

Author's Note:

After having quite the adventure, Spike had come to accept the new junior assistant Owlowiscious and learned that being jealous and lying would get you nowhere in friendship as well that to ever think that his friends would love him any less. A dear lesson to learn of not letting your own jealous of others cloud your own judgment and sense of reason. What will our heroes do next? Find out what will happen next time!



Hey, guys! What did you think of the chapter? Well, Twilight’s finally got herself a pet: the library’s new junior assistant owl Owlowiscious. And it looks like Dusk is coming to terms that maybe he should get a pet like that too, huh? Whether he’s gonna get one or not, that is gonna have to wait. For the next chapter, Dusk is gonna talk about the dark secret of his past. What dark secret, you ask? Well, let’s just say that it’ll be quite the story. Well, that’s all I got for this chapter! Don't forget to comment and rate the story to tell me what you think!