Princess Spike

by Daelyx Len Auphydas

The Investigation part one

"Twilight! Are you sure I have to stay here?" Spike pleads, wobbling on his legs as he tries to hold himself up. He still hadn't gotten the hang of standing or walking, and flying was certainly out of the question.

Twilight bites her own lip, questioning herself. She direly wanted to be with her longtime companion and help him with this unfamiliar experience, but there had been enough magical disasters over the last decade that she was immediately concerned that something more major might have happened- After all, Starlight and her both seemed to also be affected, given that neither of them remembered the events of the previous day either.

But looking at Spike pitifully trying to walk, Twilight sighs and lowers her head, looking over at Starlight. "Starlight, do you think you can handle this one? I had probably better stay with Spike." She eventually asks, against her own better judgement.

Starlight puffs out her chest at the request and salutes. "Consider it done!" She announces, a hint of her past self's cocky tone entering her voice. Twilight frowns slightly- She still didn't entirely trust Starlight, even though she had given her a place at her castle to stay, and it would interrupt her pupil's friendship lessons... But she had promised to give the pony a second chance, and that meant doing her best to trust her. After all, she was just going to talk to some of the other ponies in the village... She would be able to do that just fine, right..? The somewhat smug look on Starlight's face gave Twilight pause, but she tries to brush it off.

For Starlight's part, she was just happy that her mentor was trusting her with the task, though the subtle frown on Twilight's face did not escape her attention. Setting her jaw, Starlight teleports out of the castle. Happy about it or not, at least she's trusting you with this task. You'd better show you have what it takes! Starlight resolves, as she blinks back into reality on the outskirts of the village.

Where should she start? Most of the village's inhabitants were still wary of her presence, given recent events, and exhaustive questioning might incite suspicion... It would likely be best if she prioritized those ponies she already knew, and besides, they would be the most likely to be able to tell her what she, Twilight, and Spike had been up to the previous day.

In her mind, she quickly cycles through the possible options. Applejack was the least likely to trust her, but would likely tell her whatever she knew anyways, being the element of honesty. Fluttershy would likely be the most likely to give her the benefit of the doubt, but since she was on the outskirts of town she would be less likely to have observed if anything was wrong.

Since the situation is magical in nature, it would make the most sense to ask a unicorn. Starlight finally reasons to herself, charging up her horn for another medium-range teleportation to Rarities boutique. She wasn't necessarily the most magic-savvy unicorn, by any means... But she was still likely the best place to start. If only Sunburst were here, I'm sure he would be able to figure it out... Starlight sighs remorsefully, thinking about her old fillyhood friend momentarily before shaking her head to clear her thoughts and focus on the mission at hoof.

"Rarity? You home?" Starlight calls out, knocking on the door with one hoof. She doesn't need to wait long before the door is opened by a sleepy-eyed Sweetie Belle, eyelids drooping. Has anypony gotten any sleep? Starlight wonders to herself.

"Oh, hi, Starburst. You want me to go get my sister?" Sweetie Belle asks, and Starlight smiles back at the filly's misremembrance of her name somehow crossing it with her old friend. Had the filly somehow heard about her friends name in a conversation involving her, she wondered, and gotten the wires crossed?

But correcting her seemed unnecessary. "Yes, thank-you. I just need to ask her about some things for Twilight." Starlight feels a little more at ease; somehow, she felt some affinity for the younger ponies around the village, maybe just because they were less likely to treat her with suspicion. Not that she didn't deserve the suspicion, after having almost destroyed the world a half dozen times over, she reminds herself. She'd been reminding herself that a lot, ever since she'd moved in with Twilight.

Starlight was pulled away from her thoughts by Rarity descending the stairs inside the boutique, yawning and rolling her shoulders. She looks slightly unnerved at the sight of Starlight, but doesn't hesitate to open the door all the way with an inviting expression. "Oh, come in, come in, darling. What are you doing standing out there for?" Rarity asks, motioning for Starlight to enter. "Would you like some tea?"

Starlight sits down on the couch, looking around curiously. She didn't think she'd been inside the boutique since her reformation; it was certainly every bit as extravagant as she had expected. "Um, that's alright, Rarity. Actually, I'm here on Twilight's behalf." She starts. "We seem to have had some kind of... magical incident last night, and worse, none of us can seem to remember what actually happened. So I was hoping you might be able to tell me if you knew anything about what we were up to the other day?" Starlight asks, hopefully.

"An incident? Why, what kind of incident?" Rarity asks, curiously. "Is everything quite alright?"

"Well..." Starlight starts, wondering how to explain. Did a spontaneous species change qualify as 'alright'..? I mean, it's not like they're any worse for wear... Starlight reasons to herself. But Rarity was waiting for an answer, so she puts that from her mind. "You see, Spike seems to have... Become an Alicorn, somehow." Starlight winces at the reaction.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Rarity blinks. "I could swear you just said that my Spikie-Wikie was an Alicorn. I must have misheard you." Rarity's tone drips with disbelief, as Starlight simply nods her head.

"Um... Yep, that's what I said. Whole nine yards, cutie mark and fire mane and all." Starlight states, bluntly.

Rarity dramatically gestures up at the sky as a couch materialized out of seemingly nowhere, just in time to catch her as she fell back on it. Starlight calmly sits and waits until Rarity regains their composure.

"But... But... Why? And how?" Rarity finally sputters out, eliciting a simple shrug from Starlight.

"Like I said, we don't know. So... Do you remember anything about yesterday?" That was the best place to start probably, so they could determine if the situation was localized to the castle or affected the entire village.

"Yesterday? Why, I was just working on my new line of formal attire. I don't remember anything particularly out of the ordinary." Rarity ponders.

Starlight breathes a bit of a sigh of relief. At least the memory problems weren't universal. "Do you remember anything about what... Well, Spike, Twilight, and I were up to that day?" Starlight follows up.

Rarity purses her lips. "Well, no, I can't say that I do. I didn't see any of you around town at all yesterday."

Starlight frowns and hops from her seat. "Hm. Well, thanks for your help, anyways. I'd better be off to continue my investigation, in that case." Without even waiting for Rarity to respond, Starlight teleports away in a flash of light for parts unknown.

Comments

[Leviathan Eclipse]

I'm definitely looking forward to more of this story. All hail princess spike!