They Never Knew

by SilverEyedWolf

First published 16th of July, 2013

Human Spike living an AU life in Ponyville with friends.

Spike's side of the story, told as if everypony were human. Kinda actiony, kinda spyish, I mostly wanted Spike to have his own story and this is what happened.

The Begining

They never knew how old I was. They all assumed that because I was newly hatched, I was the same as newly-born, same as a baby. I was conscious long before she hatched me, before her magic stirred my physical body. I was awoken when that princess stole my egg, planning to hatch me into some twisted creature she could use as a bodyguard. Luckily, her sister saved me before the evil one could begin weaving her twisted spells over my mind. We “spoke” very briefly, and agreed that I was to be kept somewhere safe until the right person came along to take care of me.

After a small amount of time, I was awakened by the sounds of trumpets and cheers. The good one had apparently found the lair of the bad one, and banished her to a place where she could no longer harm anyone.
I sat, locked away in a plain box behind the princess’s throne, for over a thousand years after that. Some of the time I spent awake, listening in on the goings on of the court and the gossip of the maids and such. That quickly became dull, and I went into a hibernation state for a great many years. The princess would prod at my mind every now and then, making sure I was alright.

Then, about ten years ago, she woke me up for my true purpose. “I think we’ve found the right one,” she used her mind to tell me. Unknowing what to feel, I just sent back a general affirmative feeling. I’ve been told that after that my box was taken to the teaching wing of the classroom, but the only thing that I received from the outside world was noise. I was set upon an unknown surface, and there I sat in silence for some time.

Eventually I heard the rustling of pants legs as three more people were ushered in. I immediately sensed the magic of one with the Blood of the Old in them. It frothed, like a river of blue electricity. They were all whispering between themselves as they walked in, much too quiet for me to hear across the room. They all went silent, and I heard the sound of the princess’s gown over the floor.

“I cannot tell you how glad it makes me to see you all here,” she started, her soft voice seeming to come from everywhere above me. “I have waited long to find one as your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle. She is one of the few who could accomplish the task I am to set her, and the only one I know of who has the pure heart I require.” I heard a laugh, and I could hear the smile on her face as she said, “I will not take your heart, small one. You will keep both it, and the reward I am about to give you. I am sure you will earn it.”

I heard a scratching sound from beneath me and felt a slight rumble. “This is an old item, a precious tool, but still only a tool. The only way this will work is if the skill to use it lies inside you.” I heard a whisper, and a collective gasp from the people in the room who hadn’t been expecting the reveal. The tiniest voice I’d ever heard spoke. “But princess, I have my own wand, though I’m sure it’s not as good… You don’t have to give me such a very nice one…”

“It’s quite alright dear; these two items are best kept together. And besides, no-one else could use this one, as long as I’m right about you. And I’m almost certain I am…” The princess almost whispered the last bit, sounding very thoughtful.

“I’ll try my very best, princess.” The little girl sounded very firm. I suddenly realized that she was the person who I felt the magic within. I physically strained, and managed to shift within my shelled enclosure. I’m pretty sure she heard me, because I heard her stop breathing for a couple seconds.

“Yes, Twilight, there’s something else inside the box. That is the first time I have ever heard him move…” I heard another whisper (I’d figured out that these whispers were the sounds of my box being opened) and I felt myself moving in space. I felt myself shift, and then being sat down.

“What sort of egg is that, your highness?” asked an older, male voice. I guessed it to belong to Twilight’s father, and that the last presence in the room must belong to her mother.

“You’ll find out very soon, I promise you Mr. Sparkle.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Now Twilight, hold your wand, like so… very good, wrist a little looser… now, concentrate on these words…” I couldn’t hear what the princess said to her at this point. “Now, concentrate as hard as you can on those words, and let’s see what happens.” I shifted once more, trying to press my ear against my shell.

I almost immediately regretted doing so, for my shell began to glow. I’d never seen any sort of light before, and the new sensory input was a little too much for my poor eyes. I moved away and covered my eyes as best I could in the cramped darkness. “Go on dear, say the words aloud and complete it!” The princess sounded excited, and I started to get so myself.
Then, my world cracked. My shell was so old, that it almost dissolved as it peeled itself away from me. I pushed with my tail, flexing my back and breaking the rest of my enclosure.

The three Sparkles gasped again. I pushed myself over and pushed myself onto my hands and knees, and opened my eyes. “This, Twilight, is one of the last friendly dragons known to the kingdom.” I opened my eyes slowly, letting in the light slowly. The room was actually quite dark, lit with only candles. The first thing I noticed were the scales and claws I was staring at. I wiggled my own hands, and watched the claws dance on the table.

I slowly moved my head, feeling the spikes along my back and neck. I took my first look at the woman who had kept me safe for so long. Her hair, so long it almost reached the floor, was a mix of blonde and silver. The strands mixed in such a way that it was very hard to differentiate where the blonde stopped and the silver started.

She had a beautiful smile, but what I noticed most of all about her face were her eyes. They were grey, and beautiful, and so very sad. They weren’t dead, they were so full of life that it almost made me smile, but I could tell she was so very sad. I felt tears in my eyes and moved over the rest of her quickly, taking in her slenderness and improbable height. She stood at least a foot taller than Mr. Sparkle and a foot and a half over Mrs. Sparkle. I didn’t find anything special about them, so I sat up and looked around.

“Where…” I tried to start, and then coughed when nothing but smoke came out.

“Don’t try to talk yet,” said the princess. “I’ll have to teach you…”

“Where is she?” I asked haltingly, pushing out smoke but still making words. The princess’ eyes widened, and then she smiled and pointed behind me. I tried to turn around, but I wasn’t very stable yet and just ended up falling on the ground. I heard four feet step back, and four feet run to me. The smaller ones reached me first, and as she helped me up I turned to look at Twilight Sparkle.

Her dark hair concealed a lot of her face, but I could still see her vibrant, purple eyes. They were wide, and looked a little scared, but her mouth was set and her arms were tugging on mine, trying to help me up. I put my legs beneath me and pushed, putting my arm against the table to brace myself.

I then discovered something awful; I was tiny. I stood a foot less than Twilight’s height, who stood at around five feet. I stretched my neck, as it was a little stiff from breaking my fall. I looked up at the princess, who had been the second person to rush to me. The two elder Sparkles had moved away, almost touching the wall. “Your highness, is he… safe for Twilight to be around?” The princess made a face at Twilight and I, then spoke aloud to the father. “Of course he is, she wouldn’t be this close if he wasn’t. I would have stopped her.”

I looked up at them and took a breath, feeling my lungs stretch. My eyes were a little fuzzy from disuse. All I could make out was a couple of tallish figures, a brown blur beside a slightly shorter blue one. I blinked rapidly for a few seconds, trying to clear the dust from my vision.

They were trembling. The two elders, shivering in the corner like a couple of colts. I looked over at Twilight, who smiled nervously at me. It was hard to believe such a courageous filly had come from those two, but then I supposed to myself that heroes come from all kinds. I looked over at the two and cleared my throat.

“I swear,” I tried to start. I ended up coughing on some smoke, Twilight holding me up through the fit. “I swear… that I would never… hurt your Twilight…” I said haltingly, summoning the language from my memories of the last years.
The parents stared at me, eyes wide. “I… believe you.” Twilight’s mother stared at her husband, as though she hadn’t understood the words. He nodded to his wife. She looked me in my eyes, and apparently saw something within. “I… will trust you too,” she told me. I bowed my head. “Thank you.” I’d managed this last bit without any coughing, a huge achievement for me.

I was tired from the excitement though, and I sat heavily on the floor. Twilight kneeled beside me quickly, knees hitting the floor almost as soon as I had. “Are you alright?” I nodded, smiling. “He’s just tired, dear,” Celestia told her. Twilight nodded, then sat beside me, arranging her skirt carefully.

I took the moment to look at all of us with more care.

Mr. Sparkle was wearing a simple brown affair, an earthy tweed suit with a blue tie. Mrs. Sparkle wore a simple blue gown, some shades darker than his tie. They made a cute enough couple, reasonably attractive people in their own ways. They both shared very dark brown eyes, though Mrs. Sparkle’s seemed to glitter in the light. Both shared Twilight’s black hair, her mother’s in a long braid and her father’s medium hair split on the right side. Confident I could recognize them, I turned to the younger Sparkle.

She had pale skin when compared to her parents. When combined with her dark hair and bright eyes, it seemed to give off a low light, highlighting her almond eyes. She wore no make-up, and some might have said she was plain. I thought she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Remember that I’d just seen the Princess for the first time, and you’ll realize the impact.

She smiled and reached her hand out, and I cautiously reached out my chunky claw to her delicate hand. “This must be what… people mean when they say…” a small cough from me, “when they speak of pianist’s fingers.” Her face flushed and she wrapped her fingers around my digits. “Very nice to meet you…” She frowned and looked to the princess. “His name is Saelcane…” Celestia herself frowned, though her eyes sparkled. “You know, I cannot remember his true name at the moment. Maybe you two should decide between yourselves?”

Twilight and my eyes met, and she slowly put her hand on my shoulder and ran her hand up my neck, over my spikes, to the top of my head. “How about Spike? It’s very accurate, and sounds much better than Scale or Claws.” I smiled as best I could and nodded. “Spike… it is then.” My voice was still raspy, but I was getting the smoke under control.

Celestia laughed, and Twilight’s parents frowned. “Is Spike really a good name for such an ancient and majestic creature as a dragon?” Twilight’s father asked this directly to the princess. I laughed and said, “Yeah, real majestic here on the floor.” Her parents flinched and her father bowed his head. “My apologies,” he muttered.

Celestia rolled her eyes, causing Twilight to giggle once again. Her face drew serious, and she straightened to her full height.

Her voice deepened, gaining a little more authority and weight. “Now comes something that must be done out of necessity. It will be the cause of some pain to you Spike, and that I regret deeply, but it must be done.” She turned to the parents. “You two must be absent during this process.” She held up her hand when they opened their mouths to protest. “I’m sorry, but this will be something very personal. Only three can witness. I’ll even be sending my guard out.” She nodded at the royal guard, who bowed and opened the door for the Sparkles.

She turned to me and Twilight. “Twilight dear, you have a choice. You can join your…”

“I’ll stay here, with Spike,” she interrupted. The princess nodded, as though this was expected. She walked over to a cabinet in the wall and started pulling out supplies. She looked over to the unmoving Sparkles and frowned. “Leave.”
The word was uttered with such finality that both parents paled and hurried out of the room. The guards bowed and closed the door behind them as they left. Celestia sighed and started putting the stuff she’d pulled out away, leaving only a piece of chalk on the table.

“Twilight, what I’m about to do is a very old piece of magic. Power was not meant to be weaved this way, which is why Unicorns switched over to their wands. Before that, any person with the knowledge could use this old magic. At one point, long before my birth, someone performed a spell so intricate that nearly no one could even live long enough to finish the preparations for it.”

She looked into our eyes, putting away the last of the objects and picking up the chalk.

“It changed the very essence of magic, making it so only those who were born with the gift could use it. Wands appeared from some corner of the world, and that’s how magic as you know it came about. Before that,” Celestia held up the chalk. “We used chalk, circles, and runes.”

She pulled a thin, long stick from a corner and attached the chalk to one end. She used a wand of ivory at her hip to move the table to a wall, then put it back in its holder. She put the tip of the chalk to the floor, and in one movement made a perfect circle around herself. At a very quick speed she started flicking the chalk back and forth over the floor. Strange figures appeared on the floor as she moved, marking the inside and outsides of the circle.

After a minute or so she finished, then stepped out of the circle. “I need you in the center, Spike. Please be careful to not to smudge anything, or I’ll need to start all over.” I leaned forward and pushed on the floor with my claws. My muscles were still fairly weak, so I needed Twilight’s help to get off the floor.

I hobbled over to the circle, and walked around the sigil to the thinnest concentration of runes. “Princess, may I step in?” Celestia nodded. “Just don’t be in there when I start the spell.” Twilight gingerly stepped over the markings, then helped me step over. I thumped down in the middle, very careful of the letters that seemed to dance around the circle.

“Hurry dear, it’s catching the magics without me,” Celestia urged the young girl. Twilight started out, then hugged me and left the circle. Her skin felt so warm and soft against my scales. Thinking about it now, I’m almost crying.

“Now remember Spike, this will hurt a bit. Again, I’m so sorry, but it’s necessary.”

I nod, then think. “Wait… what are we even… doing?” Celestia shook her head. “The runes already dance, time’s almost up.” She put her arms out in front of her, almost like she was pushing on a wall. She began to chant, in some unknown dead tongue.

“మరియు ఈ విషయాల్లో నేను పాత మృత దేవతలు యొక్క ఆత్మలు, పెద్ద సార్లు మర్చిపోయి దయ్యాలు, ముందుకు మీరు కాల్.” I felt a pain in my back, almost a searing heat that burned and stung, like ants. “తన సుదీర్ఘ చనిపోయిన వాటిని అన్ని మ్యాజిక్ తో,” I arched my back, unable to control myself anymore. The pain was almost unbearable, and Celestia was sweating from the exertion of whatever magic she was casting. “శాంతి, తన జీవితం తన జీవితం సభ్యుడికి ఖర్చు చేయవచ్చు కాబట్టి, ఒక పాము నుంచి ఆ నడక రెండు కాళ్ళు ఒకటి ఈ తీరును మార్చండి..”

The spell ended, and I collapsed onto the floor. The circle, markings and all, had left the wood I laid on. My fingers spasmed as a last wave of pain spread from the top of my head down, this one colder than anything I cared to imagine. I panted, breathing great lungfuls of cold air. My arms didn’t feel as weak, and I easily rested there, on my hands and knees.
I shivered, and felt my skin tighten and flex with the contraction of warmth. I looked at the back of my hands, now so pale. I reached over with the other, touching the warm softness of the new skin. I reached up to where my spikes used to be, and ran my fingers through shoulder-length hair, fine and soft.

I sat back on my heels, and looked straight up into the tired eyes of the princess. She had a sheet in her hands that she wrapped around my naked form. I clasped it around my neck, grateful for the warmth. I noticed something, and before she could straighten I reached a trembling arm up to her face.

I placed a hand on her cheek and used my thumb to wipe away a tear. I moved my hand down slightly and used the same digit to wipe away a small trail of blood leaking from her nose.

She grasped my hand and smiled, then stood upright, still holding me. She turned to Twilight, who was standing silently nearby. She held out a hand, and the young girl took the woman’s hand. Celestia pulled her gently closer to me, and I used her support to stand on shaking legs.

I held out my arm to Twilight, and she gently took my hand in hers. A small spark struck between our hands as the three of us were connected. I realized that I stood at Twilight’s height now, and then my knees buckled and the world went dark.

The Fools and the Assassin

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling softness on my back and under my head. I moved my hand out from underneath a blanket and stroked the silk I was laying on. I encountered something warm and I moved my head to look at the sleeping girl in the chair beside the bed I lay on.

“This is the first time she’s been asleep since you passed out.” I turned my head slowly to the other side and looked up at princess. She smiled down at me, and I noted that her eyes didn’t seem nearly as sad as the first time I’d looked into them.

“You passed out. It was mostly from all the energy you used yesterday, not only to hatch but also to transform.” She stood up and moved to a set of drapes I hadn’t noticed. As I pulled myself a little higher on the bed, she opened them to show a night sky that glittered with stars.

“Tonight’s a new moon,” she said conversationally. Her voice wavered a bit, and I pushed myself away from Twilight, who still slept in her chair. I was dressed in clothes that were too big for me. They tangled in the bed and I nearly fell on my face getting out from beneath the sheets. I rolled up the pants to my shins and walked over to the princess, leaving the sleeves to hang to my fingernails.

She looked around at me as I padded over to her in my bare feet, and I saw the tears pooling in her eyes. I reached up and used my sleeves to wipe them away. “You miss your sister,” I croaked, my voice dry and cracked. Celestia nodded, then walked over to a table. She came back with a cup of water that I drained. The water was cold, and I shivered as it washed down my throat and chest.

“Thank you, milady.” She smiled and put her hand on my head, slightly ruffling my hair. “I thought I would have to teach you to talk,” she told me. I smiled back up at her, saying, “I didn’t have much to do besides listen, my princess. The courts aren’t the most interesting of things, but they are definitely a wordy place. I tried to pick up what I could.”

Her smile dropped. “You… were awake during those thousand years?” I nodded. “But of course I was. The Nightmare awakened me, and we spoke as you took care of me.” She nodded. “I remember doing so, but I always assumed that you went back to sleep after that?” I nodded. “I slept every now and then, but mostly I absorbed whatever was going on around me.” I leaned forward and pressed my forehead to the glass, staring up into the night’s sky.

I saw the black circle of the new moon, standing in relief against the bright stars. I looked down into a bright courtyard, watching guard patrols crisscross the cobblestone. I drummed my toes up and down on the wood floor, then looked back up to the princess.

“May we go outside? I’d like to feel the air on my face.” Celestia smiled and walked over to a wardrobe. “Of course we can. Let me see what I can find in the way of real clothes and some shoes.” I wiggled my toes and push a foot to the floor. “If it’s the all same milady, may we skip the shoes?” Celestia laughed from the standing closet and tossed a silky shirt to me, followed by a pair of trousers. I pulled of my pajama bottoms first and quickly slipped into the trousers, buttoning and zipping them around my waist. “A belt may be necessary, highness.” Celestia eyed my waist for a second, then dug into a drawer for a second. “You needn’t refer to me in such a way, Spike…” she said thoughtfully, pulling out several belts before she found a thin black one with a plain silver buckle.

“Celestia will do just fine, between us three.”

She closed the drawers and doors to the wardrobe, then walked over to me with the belt in her hands. “If you’ve been aware as long as you’ve claimed, then you’ve lived beside me for much too long to call me anything besides my name.” I slipped the shirt over my head and reached out for the belt. I looked at it for a second, than looked at Celestia. “I have no idea how this thing works. I heard of them through my egg, but I’ve never seen one put on before…” Celestia stared blankly at me for a second, then covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Just put it through the loops on your pants, dear. Buckle it in the front, over the zipper.” Doing as she said, I threaded the leather through the loops and pulled it so it seemed even. Celestia stifled another giggle and pulled at the belt, flipping it in the loops. She buckled it for me, making sure I watched the process. “The darker side goes on the outside.”

I tugged at the shirt to settle it better onto my shoulders, then walked over to the sleeping Twilight. I pulled the top blanket off of the bed and set it around her shoulders. The princess nodded and walked to the door, slowly opening it. “Mil…” A guard started, drawing himself to a salute. Celestia quickly drew a finger to her lips, pointing at the sleeping figure in the chair.

The guard nodded, we slipped out of the room and the princess closed the door gently behind her. “Make sure that my pupil is not disturbed,” she whispered to the royal guard. “If she awakes before I return, give her directions to the royal library and instruct her to enjoy whatever book she desires.” She pulled a scroll out of her sleeve, almost seeming to summon it from the air. “This is a scroll giving her free reign of the books; please make sure she gets it.”

The guard bowed, and took the scroll. “I’ll be heading into town, along with my friend here. I should be back in time to raise the sun, but my steward knows the process if I’m not back in time.” Once again the guard bowed, then pulled a wand from his hip and pressed it to his lips. I heard him whispering into the wand-tip, nearly word for word everything Celestia had just said.

When finished he paused for a second, listening. He nodded and said, “All units informed, instructions are clear. Enjoy your night out, ma’am.”

Celestia and the guard bowed to each other, then she walked down the, beckoning me to follower along with her. “Impressive bit of magic, long distance speech. And to multiple people too,” I said. Celestia nodded. “I developed it… a long time ago,” she said quietly. I patted her arm. “Sorry, princess.” I shook my head. “And I’m even sorrier for what I need to say now, but…”

“I know,” she said quietly. “I’ve been a little sensitive to things concerning my sister lately.” She looked at me and a small smile appeared. “You make me think of her. The way we met.” I nodded.

We had passed a few hallways and an entryway by this time, and had come to a set of huge double doors. The princess walked up to the left side and knocked on a part in the very center. A smaller door opened, and a guard bowed us out. “We really need to put a doorknob on the inside,” Celestia said in passing to the guard. “Sorry ma’am,” said the guard. “We haven’t figured out how to get inside the door without breaking it…”

Halfway through the courtyard, a thought occurred to me. “No one seems to think it’s odd you’re not asleep. What time is it anyway?”

“It’s around three in the morning.” Celestia waved at a patrol group on the wall, and they signaled the group controlling the front gate, and a smaller door was once again opened in a much larger set. “They know that I don’t sleep often, or long. Whenever everyone else is asleep, I usually walk around the city. It’s got enough people that there’s a lively enough night life, which equals out to a large amount of businesses staying open all night. Right now I’m heading to a deli I like, do you mind?”

“Princess, even if I minded, I wouldn’t know where else to go anyhow. Lead on…Celestia.” She smiled as I finally used her name, and we walked to the front gate together. “I have to pick up a couple of guards here, they won’t let me leave without two,” she whispered to me.”

As we approached the door a group of six guards lined up by the doors. Without stopping the princess pointed at two of them. The other four groaned under their breaths and filed back into the door, while the other two put themselves directly behind me and the princess.

We walked out the doors and were immediately immersed in the city. The two guards turned and closed the door, then relaxed and took position a little further back, talking quietly between themselves. “Most of the guards have seen me cast magic before,” she explained to me, “so many of them know I can defend myself well enough alone. These two behind us are for show. Most view my escort as a respite from the castle, extra free time to walk around the city. Before now I would usually be talking with them, mostly about their families.”

“Sometimes though, I get one who has ideas above his station,” she said in a slightly louder voice, and I turned around to see one of the two guards blushing furiously. I stared at Celestia, dumbstruck at the idea of anyone even making a pass at her. “He came to work still intoxicated from the night before,” she whispered to me. “I was trying to make the night easier on him, so I took my escort and bought them both some coffee.”

“W-what did you do?” She smiled and said three words. “Magical rapid detox,” she said simply. I shuddered, saying, “Well, at least no-one will come in like that again.”

“No one on my personal guard, anyhow,” she said smugly.

She opened a wooden door to one of the shops we’d been passing for some time, and the warm smell of fresh bread steamed out. I walked into a small room, with white walls and six tables. A tired clerk came in out of a side door, that lead out into an alley. Throwing a cigarette butt into the trash can on the way, he started what was obviously a memorized spiel.

“Welcome to Evander’s Deli and Sweet Shop, m’name’s Elliot, how can I help you?” The entire speech was called over his shoulder, for he had immediately walked behind the counter to a sink and proceeded to wash his hands. The princess turned to the guards and me, holding a finger to her lips. She stealthily walked up to the counter, and I saw her take a breath.

“Is this really how thou would treate the Princess, O uncouth youth?”

The poor young man froze and twisted in place catching himself on the counter, eyes wide and staring up at the princess. “By Celestia’s beard…” he breathed. Realizing what he’d just said, his face went pale and his mouth started moving soundlessly, like a fish gasping for air.

The princess smiled, and the guards were holding their faces suspiciously still. I leaned close to the one who had blushed earlier and asked, “Is she always this… lively?” The man shook his head. “She hasn’t been in this high of spirits for a long, long time,” he whispered, almost sadly. He smiled suddenly. “But she’s having fun now, and she’s happy.” He looked me in the eye. “And if it’s because of you, and you screw it up in any way, then I swear on every drop of water in the biggest ocean in Equestria that every guard in the Royal Forces will make you regret it.” I saw him tense his shoulders, and heard the cracks from his bones.

I turned silently back to face the princess and clerk. Elliot had regained most of his composure, and he was shakily making up Celestia’s order. I joined her at the counter and looked through the glass, checking out the meats, cheeses, and sweets they had in stock. I felt my stomach gurgle and heard a growling noise.

Celestia smiled and pointed at two different meats and a dual-colored cheese. “Those on wheat, baked until warm. And whatever my men in back want,” she said dismissively, waving her hand toward her escort. Elliot served the princess her food, a dark bread and light meat with a green paste and a slice of red.

We went to a round table in the corner to wait for my food, and the princess’s drink. The guards were at the counter, discussing what to buy themselves, and we overheard one of they say, “I’m not sure, I don’t really have enough money for that fine…” The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the princess sighing. Handing me a small purse (again from the suspicious sleeve) Celestia asked me, “Will you please go hand this to the clerk? Tell him that it’s for the four of us.”

I did as she asked, passing the message on to Elliot. Shaking he opened the pouch, and glanced inside. He paled again and looked up, shaking his head. “This is way too much, even for all four of you…”

“Don’t forget, milk for my companion, a house ale for one of my guards, and tea for the other and me.” She looked pointedly at the man I spoke to earlier, who once again assumed a blank face while his friend chuckled. He still couldn’t hide his blush.

Elliot looked uncertainly into the purse again, and then looked helplessly back up at me. “Take the money,” I whispered conspiratorially as the princess returned to her food. “Pour it into your register and be done with it.” He nodded, did just that and handed the purse back to me. I squeezed it, poured the last five coins back on the counter, and smiled pleasantly at Elliot before I walked back to the table.

By this point Celestia had finished her sandwich, which I promptly picked up and took back to the counter. Elliot was busy making up the guard’s sandwiches, frowning unhappily the entire time. He finished building our three meals, all of which were much bigger than Celestia's, than stuck them on a metal tray and pushed them into an oven. On top of it he put an iron teapot that held the two’s tea, then grabbed a glass from a cupboard. Bending down, he pulled a bottle and a carton out of a small icebox. Filling the glass with milk, he handed it to me and the bottle to the guard.

I took a sip, then a larger drink. We all retired to the table to wait for the three sandwiches to cook, and Elliot went back outside the way he’d come in. I saw him pulling a box out of his pocket just a second before he hit the door. “You two may join him, if you wish,” Celestia said to the guards before they sat down. They looked at each other, then back to the princess, who waved them away laughing. “You know I can take care of myself, you’ve both seen.”

They hesitated another second, then the blusher pulled his wand from its holster and cast a red web over the front door that disappeared after a second. Nodding his satisfaction, the two went to the side door and joined Elliot the clerk.

“Now, we can speak honestly between ourselves.” I pulled out my chair and sat, just as Elliot ran back in. I could hear the guards laughing before the door closed… most of the way. Someone had their foot in the door, keeping it open. Elliot grabbed a kitchen mitt from the counter as he passed it, sliding it on as he walked. He snatched the teapot off the stove just as is started whistling, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and pouring skillfully.

“Milk or sugar, your highness?” She shook her head, and he brought the pot and cup over to the table. He set the pot on a ceramic square he pulled from a stack on the way to the table, and the cup in front of the princess. He walked back to the icebox and pulled out a bottle of water, then was back out the door with the escort.

Celestia sighed and put her chin in her palm, elbow on the table. “I think I’ve made him nervous. Was I too harsh on him?” I shrugged. “I thought it was funny, as did your escort. Maybe that’s just the sort of person he is?” Celestia nodded slowly, perking up a little. “Anyhow, you wanted to discuss something… private?”

She smiled and said, “You speak as if you were so old, Spike.” “I learned from lawmen and royalty, highness,” I pointed out. She nodded, then let her gaze drift to the window. “I’ve been thinking of bringing Princess Luna back.”

I felt myself stiffen and forced myself to relax. “Has she returned to her normal self?” Celestia shook her head. “No way for me to tell,” she sighed. I leaned in close, and whispered, “Maybe I’m just biased, but I need you to remember what she did to my parents, and what she tried to do to me when she… ended them before the process could complete.”

Celestia’s face quivered for a second, then a lone tear fell from her eyes. She wiped it away and nodded. “I’m just… so very lonely.” She looked me imploringly in my eyes. “No one should be this lonely for this long.” I leaned over and grabbed her hand with mine. Her fingers were longer and narrower than mine, like Twilight’s. “But Celestia, isn’t that what me and Twilight are for?”

She nodded, face quivering again. I rested my hand on her shoulder and rubbed, as she had rubbed my head only an hour or so ago. She grasped it and put it back on the table, squeezing it. “While I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, grabbing a napkin and swiping at her eyes quickly, “I can’t let anyone see their princess having a vulnerable moment. Work will spread that Equestria’s leader if weak, and the nations might try to take advantage of it.”

She looked me in the eye and said, “I’ve ended too many nations already, I’ve no desire to kill any more governments.”
Thinking back to all my time in the egg, I could remember one or two times that I’d heard Equestria go into a war, and most of those times the war lasted only a week or two after we’d entered. Only once had anyone attacked us directly to my knowledge, and I remembered that only lasting two days.

“Are we so surrounded by enemies? I’d assumed that the ones surrounding us had learned better over the past ages.” Celestia shook her head and sipped her tea. She frowned at her cup and stood up, gesturing me to walk behind her.
“We are surrounded by countries and fractures of old foes, tenuous ties keeping us out of war but our nation’s prosperity keeping it a close prospect. I don’t know how ‘awake’ you’ve been the last few weeks, but the assassination attempts have gotten bolder for some reason.”

We’d walked into the kitchen in back, and Celestia was going through the cabinets, looking for something. I was looking at her in awe; most people would be holed up somewhere, hiding for their lives. Celestia was here, rummaging in this deli’s kitchen for who knows what, sounding annoyed at the very prospect of assassins.

“P-p-princess!” I turned and looked at the kitchen’s door, knowing who it was.

Elliot stood in the middle of the door looking scandalized. I saw the guards looking over his shoulder, with panic on their faces. They saw what was happening, then one of them clapped a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Milady, can this lad help you with what you’re looking for?”

“Honey,” she said, going through her third cabinet. “They’ve moved it since I was last in here…”

Elliot took a breath, walked over to a shelf on the other side of the kitchen, and grabbed a jar from it. He turned and walked over to the princess’s side, pulling out a drawer and taking a small spoon from it. He held both out to the princess, who took it and smiled, glancing at me and the guards. One of them sighed, and the other elbowed me gently in the side.
“Thank you so very much for your assistance,” she said, staring straight into Elliot’s eyes. I could see his ears burning red, and heard the guards on either side chuckle. She put her hand on his head and started to muss his hair, then the smile dropped from her face.

“Reconsider, and I’ll let you walk out of here with your life.” I saw the color drain from Elliot’s ears and neck, and my entire body tensed, my legs bending by instinct. The guards both reached for their wands, drawing them as I bent my legs until my heels almost touched my thighs.

“I cannot,” Elliot whispered. “They have my family.” He tensed his arm, whipping it towards Celestia’s face. The princess shoved him backwards and ducked the spell he shot from his hand, green magic bursting forth and burning the wall where it hit. I pushed the floor and leaped at the clerk, hands outstretched to snag his shirt. I saw a red spell fly past me, and felt another sting my back, propelling me forward faster.

I hit Elliot and we both slammed hard into the ground. I pulled a hand back to swing, but I stopped myself when he didn’t struggle. The guard’s spell had hit him in the middle of his chest, and Elliot no longer breathed. I felt my own back stinging then, and reached around to rub it.

“Don’t!” I looked up and across the room at the princess. Her hair was slightly wind-tousled, as if she’d been in a storm recently. “B-but that spell should have…” I looked around at the two guards, who had fully entered the kitchen and now had both wands pointed at me.

Celestia walked up to the nearest guard and took his wand away, an extremely angry look on her face. “Spike is not only a guest, but also one of my oldest friends. He is family, and the next time someone hits him with a spell like that, I will make sure they are hanged for treason!” She’d worked her way up from a dangerously low voice to a shout, nearly knocking over the man she was yelling at with the force of her voice alone.

She turned and strode over to me, wand still in hand. “That spell should have killed you, but it wasn’t designed for dragons,” she said to me, pushing my shoulder so that my back was to her. The two guards drew in their breath, and I understood now that only seven people knew what I was.

The burning on my back was getting worse, and I was starting to smell charred flesh. “Your skin is too thick for this spell to get through,” the princess was explaining as I felt her poke the wand into several places around my back, avoiding the burning area. “The magic just clung to you instead, creating a residue of the spell that’s now eating through your back.”
The princess then stabbed the wand into the middle of the burning area, and I gasped and grabbed the counter I was sitting near. The area began to get smaller and more concentrated, burning like fire that was slowly being extinguished from the outside to the in. Just as it became unbearable, the last drop was erased and I collapsed, gasping for air from having held my breath.

“Get him off of that corpse,” I heard Celestia say. I looked down and realized I was still on top of Elliot. I groaned and pushed myself up, letting one arm collapse so I rolled away from the cooling body. The two guards picked me up, and one of them slid a nearby chair underneath me.

“One of you needs to go to this address, check on the owner,” said Celestia as she snagged a nearby piece of wrapper paper. She used the wand to write on the paper, then handed both over to the guard she’d taken the wand from. He saluted and left, speaking quickly into his wand. Celestia sighed, then went over to the large fridge and took out several bottles of water. She set them all on the single table in the room, cluttered with utensils. She curtly pushed several items out of her way and sat down next to me, motioning the left-over guard to do so as well.

“Morris, any idea what we’re dealing with here?” Celestia cracked the wax seal on one of the bottles and handed it over to me. I drank half the chilly bottle, my hand clouding the outside of the bottle. Morris was also passed one, which he also drank deeply from.

“From what I could see, he sent a changeling spell at you,” said Morris, the remaining guard. “Which, in my mind makes it extremely unlikely that they’re behind this.” His voice had dropped its accent-less quality, and now sounded very northern. “I’d have to think it’s someone who wants you to do their dirty work for them, get rid of the changelings.”
“I thought the changeling were a myth?” I looked at Morris inquisitively. “And I thought all dragons extinct,” he said shortly, then flinched at Celestia’s look. “Sorry,” he said to me. “My grandmother was killed by a dragon; my father raised me to hate them.”

“I can understand,” I said. “I’m more concerned with the changelings, truthfully.”
He nodded. “They’re real, and they’ve claimed a crater far up north for themselves. Things can withstand the cold like nothing else I know of.” He shook his head, saying, “But when they send assassins, they send good ones. They would have killed and replaced me or Allain, they would have studied you for awhile and they would have known your favorite escorts.” He took another drink from his water. “But remember milady, Allain’s the one to ask this. I know almost nothing compared to him.”

Celestia sighed and nodded, leaning back against her chair and drinking out of her own bottle of water.
I sniffed the air and looked at Morris. “I think those sandwiches are done cooking. I don’t know about you, but I believe I’m starving.” He nodded and stood up, grabbing an oven mitt on his way to the stove in the other room. He brought the entire pan back with him, shoving the food onto two random wrappers that looked clean. He tossed the metal pan into a sink and sat down in front of his food.

Celestia cleared her throat and pulled her wand from her hip. She waved it over the food, and we watched as green liquid streamed up from the three sandwiches into the tip. “Sleeping agent,” Celestia said as she wiped her wand on another sheet of paper. “Would have knocked you,” she pointed at Morris, “out long enough for the clerk to try and finish me.”

Morris and I ate quickly. He was famished from the spell he’d cast, and I simply from not having eaten yet. We split Allain’s between us, and finished our bottles of water.

When we both had finished the last scraps of our food, Celestia stood up and looked out the kitchen’s window. “It’s nearly six; we should head back to the castle.” Morris nodded and stood out of his chair, talking to Allain and letting him know that we were heading back. “Let Celestia know that the owner and his family’s fine, they were in a stasis spell when I arrived here but they’re all revived. The owner’s been paid for the damages and told that the deli’s gonna have to be closed for the next few days, and he’s okay with it.”

Morris looked at Celestia, who nodded. “Received, see you at the Castle.”

Morris was the first out the door, looking everywhere he could before he stepped out the door. He waved me over, and grabbed my shoulder, bringing me close. “Stay behind her, stay close, stay watchful. Our life for the princess, boy.” I nodded, and he tore one of the badges off of his right shoulder and stuck it to my left sleeve, attaching it with a quick word and his wand. “You’re now an honorary member of the Royal Guard. Act with honor and hold yourself with pride.”
He turned and left the building, heading down the side of a brightly lit street heading towards the castle. Celestia followed close after him, and I after her. It was a tense few minutes, but we arrived quickly and unmolested. The door was already open, and Allain stood at the side, ready to close it. It slammed as soon as I was clear of it, and I heard many leavers and gears inside the gate turning and closing.

“I’m needed here milady,” Morris said, turning to the gate and holding his wand to it. “Spellproofing the gate and such. Goodnight, and pleasant evenings until next we meet.” He turned to the door, and as we walked away, the other four that I’d seen earlier came out and joined him and Allain, casting a shell over the gate and a large portion of the wall that disappeared after an instant.

We walked into the castle, taking the very same route by which we’d left. When we’d entered the castle proper, and the door was closed, Celestia leaned against the wood and sighed. She seemed very tired all of a sudden. “Will you see if my little guest is awake yet?” The guard by the door bowed, and spoke into the tip of his wand. He held it against his ear, and then nodded to the princess.

“She’s in the library, as you instructed. Went straight to the Starswirl wing, as you said she would.” Celestia nodded, smiling to herself. “Would you lead Spike there? I’m in need of some rest.” The guard bowed, then looked at my clothes, my tattered shirt in particular. Celestia laughed softly. “To the tailor first then. A wise idea.” She reached out and touched the badge on my left shoulder, almost thoughtfully. “Make it a uniform, different from the others, but still with these badges. Spike’s now part of my Royal Guard, and I want everyone to know.”

The guard looked a little surprised, then bowed. “I’ll have the tailor make him up an honorary Uniform, fit for the courts…”

“No no no,” she said, almost laughing. “I’m making him a full member, and I don’t want him to have some fancy silk suit to strut in front of the Royals. He needs something useful and rugged.”

The guard looked me over, obviously wondering what I’d done to deserve such treatment. Slightly behind her, I shrugged and mouthed, “I don’t know either,” to the guard. He stared at Celestia for another moment, as if making sure she was joking. He then bowed deeply, saying “As you wish, majesty.”

He motioned me to follow him, and turned to walk down the hallway. Celestia stopped me as I passed her, and said, “Not a word of tonight to Twilight. Let her think you’re newly born. If you need me, ask to be taken to the garden.” I nodded, then jogged to catch up with the guard.

I turned to wave at Celestia as we turned a corner, but she was already gone.

Twilight Learns a New Spell

I entered the library, wearing a new bunch of loaner clothes I’d received from the tailor after she’d measured me for a uniform, as well as a whole new wardrobe of my own. At my heavy insistence, the tailor had agreed to make all clothes dark, earthy colors. I’d still refused her offering of shoes, and the stone felt nice and cool on my feet.

Pulling at the white cotton shirt, once again trying to get it to sit a little differently on my shoulders, I walked up to the desk that the young librarian sat behind. “I was told that you could point me to the Starswirl section of the library?” She looked me over, then waved me away. “No one gets in there without the princess’s permission,” she said dismissively.

I put my hand into my pocket, the guard from earlier having prepared me for this. I took out the badge Morris had given me and put it on the counter, speaking the words my escort had taught me all recruits should know by heart, “For no glory, for honor only, I fight for my country, for my family, and for my princess. Through the power of the Royal Guard, I command you to tell me the location I desire.”

The librarian’s back straightened and her eyes flashed. “Down the second row to my left, to the very back, will be a door made of black walnut wood. Breath the princess’s name on the wood, and it will open.” She reached forward, grabbing my shirt and pulling my face so close to hers I could count the black flecks in her tawny eyes. “And if you ever use the Guard’s Oath on me again, I will skin you for a coat, dragon.”

She pushed me away, and glared at me as I hurried down the specified isle. I reached the wall and looked down both ways, realizing the woman hadn’t told me where on the wall the door was. I sighed heavily, and a panel on the wall in front of me shifted slightly. I jumped a bit, not expecting it, then went in closer for a better look. The panel snapped to its original position, and I smiled.

I walked right up to the door and breathed, “Celestia.” The panel flung open, hitting me in the face. I rocked back, seeing little black dots dance across my vision, and I could have sworn I heard quiet laughter from the front of the library. I put my hand to my forehead, muttering obscenities and cursing my bad luck for getting the vengeful librarian, and headed into the hallway kept secret by the trap door in the wall.

Two guards immediately pulled their wands. I held up the badge and yelled, “My life for the princess!” They lowered their wands, keeping them drawn, and one of them beckoned me down the hall. I walked slowly, and offered the badge as soon as I got within arm length. The guard that had beckoned me took the item and ran his wand over it, illuminating it with a blue-gold light.

“I’m so sorry sir,” he immediately apologized, hurriedly handing back the badge as though it burned him. “I didn’t recognize you, I must have missed your coronation…”

“What coronation?” I asked, surprised.

The two guards shared a look, and then looked back to me. “I only got this badge this morning, borrowing it from a good man named Morris,” I explained. “I’ve yet to get my own uniform, much less badges.” The two’s eyes widened, then their faces broke into grins and one said, “Ya’ speakin’ o’ tha’ same man who ‘ad the balls to come on’ta Celestia ‘erself an’ live to tell ‘is tale?” I burst out laughing and nodded vigorously. “One and the same, friend.”

They shared a smile and a low five between themselves, then reached over and yanked at the double doors almost hidden in the wall. “I’ll assume that the princess’s student is a friend of yours? She’s been reading here all morning.” The man’s face drew downward and he said, “Get that badge back to Morris as soon as you get your own. It shows rank beyond your stature, and it might lead to some… deadly confusion. Get you own, give his back, and always remember; Our lives for the princess’s.”

I copied his movement as he saluted, then bowed to him and moved through the doorway into a bright, spacious area with padded chairs and desks littered haphazardly around. I heard frantic rustling from one of the shelves, and I walked down it to investigate.

Expecting to find a young woman riffling through dusty tomes, I instead found her holding a glowing palm over a book as she flipped through the pages with her other hand, eyes radiating a soft purple light. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and my gut jerked, feeling as though they had dropped through the floor.

“Twilight?” She twitched, as though I had slapped her, and then she grinned, a wide, manic smile. “SpikeI’vebeenREADINGreadingsomuchbutit’sSOSLOWsoIlookedforaspellto
helpmealongandIFOUNDONEandit’shelpedmesomuchI’VELEARNEDSOMANYNEW…”

I interrupted her with a slap, soft but firm, on her cheek. She sputtered for a second, then the glow faded from her eyes and hand.

“Spike?” She seemed to ask, wearily. “I was reading this spell out loud…” I nodded, and hushed her. “You need to eat, you’ve used too much magic. C’mon honey, let’s get you some food.” She smiled and nodded, and I helped her to her feet. “We’ll get one of those nice guards to point us to the kitchen.”

I put her arm around my neck and wrapped my free arm around her back, using the other to study the both of us against the bookcases. “Did you bring anything in here with you?” Twilight looked around uncertainly, then pointed to a pale wooden wand near an empty slot in a shelf. I snagged it and shoved it in Twilight’s wand holster.

We walked slowly out of the library, Twilight refusing all help that didn’t come from me, and walked to the nearest dining room, which happened to be the guard’s dining room. I flashed Morris’s badge at the guard near the door as he started over to us, then sat Twilight down at the nearest chair. “My friend over did it with a new spell, she needs some food.”
The guard smiled and nodded. “I think we all know how that feels. Tell the chef over there and he’ll set you right.” I nodded, thanking him, and as I headed over to the kitchen I heard him ask, “So what spell was it, sweetie?” She muttered, “I don’t know, one to help me read faster is all I know…”

I was out of earshot for the guard’s reaction, but he was frowning when I returned with the toast, eggs, and pancakes. I set them down in front of the girl, and I smiled as I heard her stomach gurgle. The guard pulled me over as she began to tuck into her food. “Who is that girl? She described the spell, and what she said she did… I don’t think even I could use a spell so advanced, and I’ve studied for years.”

“Well, it wasn’t so much her using the spell as the spell using her,” I said hesitantly. “I’m not an expert, but it didn’t seem so much like she was in control.” The guard nodded, saying, “That’s how it goes sometimes, with the big spells like that. Where did she even find such a spell?”

I sighed, thinking of how best to describe the entire situation. I turned to Twilight, who was roughly halfway through the food and recovering her color nicely. “Twilight, did you happen to keep that letter? The one to get you through the guards?” She reached into her pocket and handed me a carefully folded sheet of paper, which I unfolded and handed over to the guard. As he read, his face got blanker and smoother, losing any sign of emotion. He folded the sheet carefully and handed it back to Twilight, who pushed it back into her pocket. She also pushed the plates away, leaving a piece of toast and a pancake.

“Is it that frightening, what that says inside?” I asked the guard. He looked me in the eye, keeping his face a slate. “That’s one of the princess’s letters, a special kind she likes to write that changes for every person reading it at different times. She speaks very highly of you two, and quite… extensively on what happens if anything happens to either of you two.”

“If she was that concerned about my safety, I don’t think she would have named me a member of her Royal services.” He nodded, saying, “Yeah, she mentioned making you member of her personal guard, the first full-timer in… well, since the last ones died some time ago.”

I looked at him, surprised. “I’m to be with Celestia all the time?” The guard shrugged. “Kind of, it’s more like she summons you whenever she wants you around, but you can also go see her whenever you wish… it was a really complicated system, which is why she never chose another when her last one died.”

He blushed slightly and added in, “Plus, well, rumors abound and such…”

I looked at him, surprised. “Surely not among the guards?” I asked, a little surprised at the sharpness of my words. He paled and bowed, saying quickly, “Of course not sir, mostly among nobles and housewives, people who had nothing to do besides make up these rumors.”

I nodded to myself, then frowned at him. “Why sir? You’ve surely been around longer than I?” He straightened and nodded slowly. “Yes, but you rank much higher than I do…” I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense. Do I have power to issue orders?” The man hesitantly nodded. “Then use your wand to get this about. Make sure no-one thinks they’re below me just because of some rank I know nothing about. I’m no higher than any other man I serve with until I’ve earned it.”
He frowned unhappily, but still repeated what I’d said into his wand-tip. He held it to his ear and waited for the confirmation, then nodded to me. “It’s done.”

“Thank you.” I looked over to Twilight, who was pouring over the letter again. “Twilight, I think it’s time we went and found Celestia.” She looked up at me, wide-eyed. “Do you think she’d be okay with us not waiting? Maybe we should wait until she summons us?’ I looked over at the guard and asked, “Do you happen to know if she’s awake? And where she’s located if she is?”

He whispered into his wand again, then said, “She’s still in the garden, but she’s not asleep right now. Should I summon an escort for you?”

“Unless you want to come see the princess with us? Get someone to cover your area and you could come with us.” He shook his head and whistled around the corner. “This is my area of duty, I could get me and whoever relieved me in trouble for just wanting to see the princess.” A man came around the corner, dressed in clothes similar to mine; white cotton shirt and dark brown trousers.

“Will, could you take these two to the princess’s garden?” Will bowed and turned down the hall, walking back to the turn. He stopped there, waiting for me and Twilight. I helped her out of her chair, and with a last salute to the man who had helped us, we were on our way to the garden.

“The castle seems to have a lot of unnecessary twists and turns,” I said conversationally to Twilight. She was engrossed in the architecture of the halls, and looked down each hall we passed and didn’t go down. “I think it’s supposed to be this confusing,” she said, “Keep attackers on their toes.”

We reached a door, almost identical to the one to the courtyard, except it had an ivy vine carved into the door’s edges. Will knocked in the middle of the door, and waited. After a second or so, the door opened and Will bowed, saying, “This is your destination. Whistle should you need any assistance.” We thanked him and stepped through the door, into the bright sunlight of midday afternoon.

Celestia sat on a blanket in the middle of the garden, sipping out of a cup. All around her were different kinds of flowers, multicolored and healthy. There was a small stream that ran through the middle, and several different species of trees grew on the other side. Celestia turned and smiled at us, looking much less tired than she had when I’d left her last night.
We joined her, and she motioned to the blanket. “Please, join me.” Twilight sat immediately, blushing lightly and staring intently at the stream that passed the flowers and wound gently to the wall. I sat next to her, on the grass. She looked at me and said, “Plenty of blanket free, Spike.”

“He’s never felt the grass before honey, let him enjoy it,” Celestia said, smiling and patting her on the shoulder. Twilight flushed a bit, then took off her own shoes and ran her feet through the grass. Celestia laughed out loud, then copied her, tossing her plain white flats on the grass. We all sat there, comfortably silent and enjoying the cool feeling on our feet.
“Twilight almost got herself into some trouble this morning,” I told Celestia, looking up into a deep blue sky, sun hiding behind a patch of clouds that stayed conveniently still.

“Oh?” asked Celestia. “What exactly happened?”

Twilight had blushed at my sentence, and was bright red now. “I was reading a book, hoping it could help me read more books faster… It was called ‘Words can Flow like Rivers’, or something like that. It had a spell it said could help, but I had some trouble figuring out how I would pronounce it, so I tried sounding it out like I did when I was little. It didn’t occur to me that just reading it out loud would actually cast it…”

Celestia looked Twilight over worriedly, but I waved at Twilight. “Twilight’s fine Celestia, just used way too much magic in too short of time. We got her some breakfast and she perked up just fine.” The princess nodded, then asked, “So, what do you remember reading?”

“Mostly theory, what magic is and where it comes from,” she said, excited all of a sudden. “I read at least four conflicting theories, all of them fascinating in their own ways… Mysterious objects from space, living energy borrowed from the world and returned, our own life force… So very many thoughts from so many people…”

Celestia laughed and patted Twilight on her head. “Anything else? More spells?” Twilight shook her head, and Celestia nodded. “Be careful with that reading spell, and make sure to use it only when Spike or I am around, and some food on back-up wouldn’t hurt.”

Twilight turned wide eyes to Celestia. “So, I can still use the spell? You’re not mad at me?”

Celestia laughed and nodded. “Of course I’m not mad at you, you learned a multitude of things of your own volition, and you didn’t hurt yourself too much doing it. Just enough to know to be careful next time, but not too much to never use the spell again. Why would I be mad at you for that?”

Twilight blushed at the princess’s praises, and plucked three pieces of grass from the ground, weaving them into a small braid. Celestia smiled and grabbed her hair. “Would you like to do that to me instead? My hair gets in my way quite often, and I’m sure a braid would help.”

Twilight reached out and gently stroked the princess’s hair, letting it run through her fingers like a waterfall. “Are you sure? Your hair is so beautiful, I’d hate to damage it in any way…” She slowly began to weave three large chunks of the princess’s hair together, gently tugging the braid tighter into itself.

The princess closed her eyes, and we three sat in silence for a while, enjoying the sun and birdsong. I leaned back, staring up to the sky and feeling the grass on my back. My eyes closed themselves, and I felt so very warm and comfortable. For a while, I slept.

Author's Notes:

What'cha guys think so far? Anything not looking good?

Spike's Employment

I awoke to find myself covered in flowers, with five or six blooms woven into my hair, the stems camouflaging with my darker green mop. I ran my hand through my hair, gently shaking the flowers out while I sat up. I heard a giggle and looked over my shoulder at a white table that had been erected in a patch of grass, away from the flowers.

Celestia and Twilight sat at the table, still barefoot. Celestia had grass stains from walking in the grass for what seemed to be all afternoon, seeing as the sky was orange and purple. Twilight’s feet were just as green, but hers dangled just out of reach of the grass, toes barely brushing the longest of grass blades.

Lanterns had been set up on poles around the table, but they were yet to be lit. I stood up and walked over to the table, taking a seat on the edge. There was an assortment of small finger foods, and a large pot of tea. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I grabbed a teacup and poured myself some.

“What’s been going on the last… How long have I been asleep?”

“A few hours,” said the princess. “Long enough that you’ve missed the sunset, and a group of nobles that passed through to visit with me. The children really enjoyed trying to braid the flowers into your hair.”

“Your hair was too thin though, it just kept undoing itself,” said Twilight, grabbing a piece of food from a platter in the middle of the table. I sipped my tea and asked, “Does that mean you were one of the ones trying?” She paused for a second, then continued eating the food she’d plucked from the platter, ignoring my question. I chuckled and grabbed myself one, popping the small piece of food into my mouth whole.

I immediately spat it onto the plate in front of me, grabbing my teacup and emptying the entire thing into my mouth as Twilight laughed, trying to cover her mouth with her hands. “By Celestia’s braid, how on Equestria can you eat something so sugary! It’s almost gritty there’s so much sugar…” I poured another glass of tea and swigged that one down too.
Celestia reached out and grabbed a different bit of food from the platter and held it out to me. “These two are meant to be eaten together,” she said, stifling her laughter. I tossed it into my mouth and the sweetness disappeared almost completely. I sighed and drank some more of my third cup of tea, washing the last of the sugar out of my mouth.

Twilight was still laughing, but at some point the laughter became a yawn. She smiled at me bashfully and said, “I didn’t get very much sleep last night, between staying awake at your bedside and waking up to find that letter.”

Celestia looked up into the navy blue sky, and stood from the table. “Perfection. Night falls and you’re tired, sounds like bed-time to me.” Twilight’s face fell and Celestia grinned. “Don’t worry dear, tomorrow we start the actual learning part of your stay with me. I wanted you nice and rested for that anyhow, going to bed early is just a bonus.”

Twilight and I stood and walked with Celestia to the door. “Take the young one to her room; she has a big day ahead of her.” I started to follow her, but Celestia stopped me. “Me and Spike have a few things we still need to discuss; go ahead and go to sleep, and we’ll all three get together tomorrow morning.”

Twilight nodded and held her hand out to me. I raised an eyebrow and pulled her close, giving her a small hug and ruffling her hair. She blushed and smiled at me, then turned and left with the guard. Celestia watched them leave, then gestured for me to follow her down the opposite way.

We spoke a little, mostly me filling in the princess on what I’d done today. She remarked that my clothes needed to be more than dark earthy colors, I respectfully disagreed, and we spoke about my bad tastes until we reached a set of double-doors, the same ones that lead us to the courtyard last night.

She turned and looked me over, combing my hair with her fingers and straightening my shirt on my frame. “Uhm, what are we doing?”

“I’m taking you to meet the rest of the Royal Guard, the ones you’re now a part of. The ones who’ll teach you how to defend yourself and your charge. That’ll be me and Twilight, in case you hadn’t figured that out yet.”

“I had, though,” I said, leaning away from Celestia’s hand and running my hand over my head, putting my hair roughly back the way it was. She frowned, then shrugged. “Your first impression, your funeral.” She knocked on the wood and the door opened itself again, giving me my second viewing of the courtyard at night.

There were maybe fifteen people, half dressed in the normal guard’s attire, same as Morris and Allain had worn last night. The others were wearing clothing so black it was almost as if they were shadows come to life, and I knew that if there were less light I wouldn’t have been able to see them at all.

“You’ve met some of my normal Royal Guard. The ones in black are my secret from most of Equestria. They’re the members of the Royal Guard who’ve seen the most action, drawn from the Royal Army and Royal Air Forces. And one of them,” she pointed to a woman with vibrant orange hair, “Is technically an honorary member, due to her other duties with the Air Forces.” The woman waved at me, grinning wildly.

“She tends to go a bit overboard on training new recruits,” whispered Celestia, “So she hasn’t had very many students.” I smiled and waved back. “Let’s go and meet everyone, and then I’ll introduce you to your teachers.”

“Teachers?” I asked. “Yes, teachers. All of them have their own specialties, and you’ll need to learn all you can if you’re going to be my chevalier, my full time Knight.”

I was swarmed by people, shaking my hand and clapping my back, congratulating me. “Good show last night,” Morris said to me, pulling me in close for a brusque hug. “Princess wouldn’t have chosen you for such a position otherwise,” he smiled, “Dragon-boy.”

I looked at Celestia and asked, “Anyone in the kingdom not know about me?”

“Considering Twilight’s parents, probably not,” she said cheerfully. Morris laughed and clapped one of his large hands on my back, nearly knocking me over. “No longer a secret’s a good thing boy. You’ll be a more effective guard with a reputation.” He gave me a not-so-gentle push towards the group, which was mostly just people chatting among themselves instead of any kind of actual organization now.

The bright-headed one immediately grabbed me by a shoulder and took my hand, pumping it up and down. “Spitfire, at your service,” she said, grinning. “I’ll be your flight instructor. Teach you how to really move in the clouds and all.” I frowned, looking her over. “How can you fly without wings?”

She laughed and flexed her back, rolling two orange wings from what seemed to be blank space. “All Pegasi have a basic hiding spell.”

“It’s a much simpler version of the spell I’ve used on you,” Celestia said from somewhere behind me. “Yours actually messes with the fabric of space and reality, while theirs only warps space around their wings, making them invisible… Except they’re not just invisible, more like they’re not really there.”

Spitfire nodded, a blank smile on her face. “Uhm, yeah, that’s what happens.” Celestia chuckled and turned to another of the black-clothed guard, and Spitfire shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not quite so read up on my theory as that,” she whispered to me, “All I know is that it works.”

“But,” I said, frowning, “Where exactly am I going to get wings? I barely had any in my other form, and none in this one…” Spitfire shrugged. “Celestia told me you needed a flying teacher, I said yes. If you don’t have wings, you’ll need to talk to her about that.”

“Can I… touch your wings?” Spitfire blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was an intimate thing, never mind…” She shook her head. “It’s okay, just a strange request.” She flexed her back and the wings appeared again. She turned and slowly extended her wing to me. I gently reached out and stroked the edge of her wing, surprised to find that it was very smooth and plush.

Spitfire shivered and pulled her wings back in, enclosing them in the spell again. “Your wing is very nice, soft and warm.” She blushed and motioned me away. “Go talk to someone else for a second, I gotta go find a drink,” she muttered and walked through the crowd, brilliant hair spikes bobbing around as she walked toward the gate.

“Morris,” I said, “Do you think my hair would look as good as hers in that style?” The older man eyed me carefully, then we both broke up laughing. “No lad, I don’t think it would,” he said between laughs. “Now c’mon, let’s go meet your stealth teacher.”

He walked me over to two people, a younger man and elder woman, talking between themselves, holding a crystal between them. They saw us nearing and the woman moved to hide the crystal, but the man shook his head and held the crystal in his hands. When we neared he held it out to me, nobody speaking a word. I looked up to Morris, who nodded, and slowly placed my hands on the glass as I had seen the woman do.

I felt my heart beat, and it felt as though it was going to tear through my chest. I saw two men fighting, using swords at first, then magic. I saw one man kill the other, and I watched him weep. I saw the man grow old, and I watched him lay in his deathbed. I saw him die with tears in his eyes and regret in his heart, and I watched his daughter pick up his wand and cry with her father. I felt my heart beat again, and wrenched my hands away from the crystal.

I looked to the man, who seemed to be swimming in a film. I felt moisture on my face, and wiped away the tears from my eyes. I looked at the man, who nodded and handed the crystal ball to the woman. “Brace yourself,” Morris said, and the man clamped his hands onto my temples. I felt all of my muscles slacken, and I know I would have fallen if this incredibly strong man hadn’t been holding me up by my head. I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head, and felt something like a river pour into my head.

I hit my knees, suddenly released from the young man’s hands. I looked up into his eyes and felt myself almost pierced by blue eyes so pale they were almost white. He smiled and straightened, looking above and behind me. I turned my head and saw everyone now unspeaking, staring at me. Celestia cleared her throat, and yelled over the crowd, “Well Dawnbreak?”

I looked back up to the man, who smiled and spoke quietly, “Pass.” I can never remember what his voice sounds like, only that I am always overjoyed to hear him. He reached out to me, and I used his help to regain my feet. When we were both standing again, he bowed to me and took the crystal ball back from the woman, who turned to me smiled, offering her hand.
“Glorious to meet you, Spike.” She had a rich voice that sounded much younger than her face looked, and her handshake was warm and firm. “I am Dawnbreak’s companion, Shadowfall. We make up the stealth and reconnaissance branch of her majesty’s secret guard.” She glanced over at the princess, who was talking to Allain and Spitfire, the latter with a dark bottle in her hand. Celestia stopped talking and looked over to us. She nodded at Shadowfall, then turned back to her group and began speaking again.

“We used to be called the Darklighters,” Shadowfall continued. “Dawnbreak and I’ve been around since nearly the beginning, when a group of Changelings tried to ransack the castle. We were pretty much trapped in a room with the princess and a couple of other guards, but she wanted to reward us for keeping her protected. This is what our instructor asked for, this special mission.”

“But, I thought the Darklighters did a lot more than just reconnaissance?” Shadowfall shook her head.

“We two,” she said, pointing to herself and Dawnbreak, “Are the only Darklighters left. “The princess redefined the secret guard’s mission some time ago, so we’re the last of the originals. She didn’t want to transfer the old name, so now it’s just a nameless group of guards, taking care of the princess when we can.”

“When we can? The members in black are only part time?” Shadowfall made a face, shaking her head. “Yes and no. Nearly no members work during the day, unless they have a side-mission of course, and nearly no-one works more than three consecutive days. We make up the schedule daily, of whoever can be here that night. Sometimes all of us work in a night; sometimes it is one person alone.”

I looked around, taking in again how little this regiment seemed to be. “The process seems to be very… selective.” Shadowfall shrugged, a noncommittal look on her face. “Very few people get close enough to the princess to gain her trust. And of those few, even fewer get placed on this squad. Not a lot of them are strong enough, see.”

“So… why was I placed on the squad?” Shadowfall grinned. “You have more potential than any of us, Spike. You’re young and old, loyal to two people only, you sleep as rarely as the princess does… You’re here because you’re the perfect recruit. Top that off with the fact that a killing spell only sizzles on your skin? No way you could’ve gotten out of joining us. If the princess hadn’t put you up, Dawnbreak himself might’ve come after you.”

Dawnbreak smiled and nodded. His crystal ball was flashing slowly between silver and white lights. I had the sudden urge to steal the thing and watch its cloudy depths forever… until Shadowfall snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Dawn is the only one who can hold that thing without going insane. Dragons included.”

I flushed and nodded, looking away from the ball. “Did you test it or something?”

“Dawn took it from a crazed Wyvern himself,” said Shadowfall, sounding almost smug. “Fought it hand to claw and everything.” Dawnbreak frowned and shook his head. Shadowfall sighed and said, “I may have helped him out with some enchantments, but the martial arts was his completely.”

Dawnbreak shrugged, then smiled at someone behind me and waved them over. I turned and felt a shiver run up my spine. The librarian I’d angered earlier was making her way over to us, smiling slightly. She reached our small grouped and bowed, first to Dawnbreak and then to Shadowfall. She turned to me and smirked.

“Nice to see you again, Spike.” I gulped and bowed to her, doing my best to copy her. “Ma’am,” was all I could say. She laughed and patted my head. “Don’t worry about it, Spike, you didn’t know.” Dawnbreak raised an eyebrow at us. “We’ve met previously, and I offended her greatly,” I said. “He tried to use the oath on me,” she said, smiling. Dawnbreak shot up both of his eyebrows and looked me in the eyes, surprised. Shadowfall grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. “And it worked,” she said, the smile dropping from her face.

Shadowfall stopped grinning and joined Dawnbreak in looking at me, wide-eyed and surprised. “Was that the first time you’d used it?”

“Well, I practiced with the guard who taught it to me a couple of times, while the tailor was messing with my arms and that piece of cloth.”

“A tape measure,” the librarian muttered. I nodded, but she wasn’t really paying attention to me anymore. She seemed lost in her thoughts, and her eyes weren’t really focused on anything. “She’s gone into her private library,” Shadowfall told me. “She’s probably looking for some incidence of someone as strong as you at the oath. While she’s busy, I’ll tell you a little more about her.”

“Maybe we should wait until she comes out of her… library?” I looked into her eyes, still glazed over. “…Maybe you could explain the ‘private library’ thing.”

“Well, that’s simple enough. Her name is Silent Scroll, and she has what she equates to a library in her head. She’s the only person we’ve found who can do it naturally, but she can unlock the ability in other people. It’s pretty much what it sounds like, she stores information in her head that she can retrieve anytime she wants.”

“How does she keep herself safe?” Shadowfall smirked and kicked a rock up towards Silent’s face. I twitched towards Silent, putting myself between her and the rock. I saw Shadowfall’s smile drop off of her face, and she reached towards me with panic evident in her eyes. Before she could reach me I felt pain in my back, and I saw myself flying over the crowd. I landed heavily on my back, the ground knocking all the air out of my lungs.

I gaped for a few seconds. I’m sure I looked like a fish, and it would’ve been funny if I’d been able to breathe. I saw Morris’s face pop into view, and I reached up to my mouth and tapped my throat. He shook his head and tapped my chest. “It’s in here, just breathe. Take deep breathes, even if you can’t.” I shook my head and pulled in a small puff of oxygen. “… no sense…”

Morris grinned and stood up, addressing the sudden crowd around me. “He’s fine, just got the wind knocked out’a him.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a sitting position. I tried to lean over towards my knees, but he grabbed my shoulder and kept me upright. He started rubbing my back, and I asked, “So, what just happened? Last I remember… I was over by Silent Scroll.”

“Well, that right there tells you what happened. She go into her library?” I nodded, and he smiled. “And then you got close to her, right?” I nodded again, and he ruffled my hair. “You’re not the first, and I doubt you’ll be the last. She’s got a sort of programing in her head, it automatically attacks anything that gets too close to her when she’s ‘away’. You’re actually lucky, she only threw you. You could be pinned right now, and we’d have to wait until she woke up again to get you out.”

I looked over at the direction I’d come from and saw Silent still standing as she had been when I last saw her, facing the opposite direction. Her eyes were still glazed over, but her hands we in different places then they had been what felt like only seconds ago. One was much higher, one lower, both with bladed palms.

“Why would you have to wait until she woke… up to get me out? Surely someone here could do something about her…” Morris sniffed and gave me a severe look. “I’m not getting thrown just because you got to close to something dangerous, and I’m not gonna hurt her to get you out. You would have been fine, just uncomfortable.”

I pulled in more clean oxygen and nodded, getting my arms beneath myself and rising to a standing position. “Right now I’d agree with you, I don’t want her hurt for my sake. Now, if I was folded up under her… might be a different story.”

Morris grinned and patted my shoulder, saying, “No boy, I don’t think it would be.” I shrugged and started back over to where I had been, making sure to keep a safe distance from Silent. Shadowfall was looking at me worriedly, but Dawnbreak only smiled at me. I smiled back at both of them, and looked back over to Silent. “How much longer us she going to take?”
Dawnbreak shrugged, and Shadowfall said, “No real way of knowing. Seeing as how rare that bit of info probably is? Gonna be awhile. We might as well go meet the rest of the crew, ask Celestia who your main teachers are going be.”
I grinned. “I thought you were all gonna be my teachers, I was worried for a second.” Shadowfall grinned back.

“We all are, but not all of us are going to be here all of the time. Silent’s definitely gonna teach you her library trick, and probably how to read and other bookish things. Morris is pretty good at tactics and military stuff. I heard Spitfire’s going to teach you how to fly, Celestia’s probably going to speed up the growth of you wings… Me and Dawnbreak’ll end up training you in stealth, more than likely… Alain’s good with a sword, and Celestia herself will teach you magic if you can cast.”

“You know, I have no idea if I can. I haven’t had the opportunity to try, with no wand and all.” Dawnbreak smiled and tapped me on my shoulder, then started rummaging around in his pockets with his free hand. Shadowfall sighed and took the orb, flinching slightly as she held it.

Dawnbreak pushed his now free hand into his other pocket, then pulled both out and pushed his right hand into his left sleeve. His face brightened and he pulled out a small cloth pouch. He gestured me closer, then drew a clear, flat stone from the pouch. He pulled my hand out and placed the stone in my palm, wrapping my fingers around it.

“Hold it until it gets warm, then let Dawn see it,” Shadowfall said, switching the orb from one hand to the other. I squeezed the cold stone, feeling its smooth surface on my fingers and palm.

“What’s he doing, exactly?” I asked Shadowfall, watching Dawnbreak pull a measuring tape from the pouch.

“He’s measuring you for a wand. Among our other talents, Dawn’s unusually good at reading personalities, which is very important for a wand.” She snickered and leaned in close. “Celestia was using this awful ceremonial thing made of diamond before Dawnbreak made her the ivory one.”

“I didn’t think it was awful,” said Celestia, walking up to us from behind Shadowfall. “I will admit it was a bit tacky, though.” Dawnbreak bowed to her, then took my arm and held it straight in front of me, measuring me from my shoulder to my wrist. He held out a bit of parchment and a burned piece of charcoal to the princess, who smiled and took them.

“Fifty-eight and a half,” he said, and Celestia wrote it down for him. He walked around me and measured from the base of my neck to the ground, then from my wrist to the ground, spouting numbers that the princess took down.

“Nothing!” A sudden yell caused everyone to look over at Silent Scroll, who was standing by herself now. She looked around and targeted me, striding over to where we all were now standing. “I found absolutely nothing! No one has ever had a successful attempt on someone as strong as me, not after only a day of learning!”

“Well, has there ever been a Dragon in the ranks?” asked Shadowfall. Silent thought for a second, then shook her head. “Well there you go then.”

I smiled, then looked down at the stone. “This thing’s getting kind of hot, how long do I need to hold it?”

“That’s long enough, let’s see it.” I held out my hand and opened it, revealing the stone. It had turned a translucent gold, with an opalescent sheen. It had a large vein of brilliant cobalt running through it; it was hard to look at anything else.
Dawnbreak studied the stone for a second, then took the paper and charcoal from the princess and began sketching on it. “I’ll need a Rune Smith majesty. A good one.” Celestia looked startled. “For a wand?” Dawnbreak nodded, still sketching. “Also a good amount of steel, a little gold, and wood from the Hawthorn and Willow trees.”

Dawnbreak and Celestia looked startled. “I’ve never heard of a wand of two different woods,” said Celestia. “Wouldn’t they work against each other?” Dawnbreak shook his head. He stopped sketching and looked closely at the paper, then stuffed it into a pocket. “I’d like to get started now, please,” he said, looking around the crowd. “Of course,” said Celestia.

She waved on of the normal guards over, and gave him a small pouch she pulled out of a sleeve. “Give this to Graphite and instruct him to come here at once, along with all his supplies. Tell him he has free reign of the supplies room, and that this will probably be an all-nighter.”

He bowed and hurried off, marching through the castle doors and into the hallways.

“Who’s Graphite?” I asked, holding the stone back out to Dawnbreak. He shook his head and pulled out a leather cord with a little steel frame hanging off of it. “One use only,” said Shadowfall as she picked up my stone. Using just her free hand she popped it into the frame, and Dawnbreak looped the leather over my head and onto my neck.

The cord was long enough for me to pick the stone from where is rested on my chest and look at it. I looked up to Shadowfall and asked, “Does everyone have one of these? Does Dawnbreak do this for everyone?”

“Mostly. He usually just gives out advice though, you’re only the third person who he’s actually made a wand for.” I raised an eyebrow. “Celestia, you, and me?” Shadowfall nodded. “Mine he made as a sign of friendship, Celestia’s he made as a sign of loyalty… I believe he’s making yours as a sign of honor.”

“Honor? I’ve done nothing deserving; not yet.”

Celestia shook her head. “You’ve defended me against that assassin already, that’s more than deserving of recognition. I don’t know a lot of things any more deserving.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the guard return with a man dressed in heavy cotton clothes with a black smock on over everything. We all turned to them and the stocky man bowed to Celestia. “You summoned me, highness?”

“I did indeed Graphite. Dawnbreak here requires your services for tonight.” Graphite turned to Dawnbreak. “I require someone who can work steel into something stronger than usual. This will need to be able to withstand being beaten against stone with no blunting on its edge.”

Graphite grinned and said, “I’ve been working on this new alloy. I think it’s what’cha need.”

Dawnbreak grinned and bowed to Celestia, then departed after Graphite, with Shadowfall in tow. I turned to Celestia and asked, “Why does it need to be able to hold an edge? Wands don’t have edges…” She grinned and said, “We’ll see, probably tomorrow morning if Dawn drives Graphite as hard as he wants to. Now come on, we have more people to meet.”

The rest of that night passed quickly, with very little else happening besides Celestia formally introducing me to the Royal guards and the rest of my teachers. Mostly I stuck with Celestia, listening to her tales as she chatted with the rest of the unnamed guard. One by one the guard dismissed themselves, until it was just me and Celestia again.

“Let’s go see what Dawnbreak’s up to, shall we?” I nodded and followed her into the castle. She went straight up the corridor, a new direction I’d never gone before. It led us out a back door, into a courtyard. I saw a stable across the way, and heard the ringing sound of a hammer hitting steel from a half open stable door.

We walked up to the doors and peered into the workshop just as Graphite lifted a sword into the air. He seemed to be studying it, as if he could tell the sharpness of the blade just by eyeing it. It was impossibly long; double-edged and straight, ending in a point. The hilt was surprisingly small, two sharp points upwards. Graphite swung it suddenly, slicing through a training dummy he had nearby.

Dawnbreak and Shadowfall were sitting on a bench by the opposite wall, Shadowfall sleeping on Dawnbreak’s shoulder. He was wide awake, watching Graphite carefully. Graphite turned and offered the sword to him, and Dawnbreak took it in both hands, looking it over very carefully.

“These runes are very well done, you must really be experienced. The gold is a nice touch.” He turned the sword so that he could look at the edge, and I saw clearly for the first time the flat of the blade. It was mostly a matte black, but golden runes run all along the center of the blade.

“I cannot believe that you finished this sword in one night,” Dawnbreak said, balancing it in his hand. “It helps that I had one mostly prepared, this was mostly just adding the magic and shaping the hilt. I just can’t believe you wanted the bugger five feet long.”

“That’s a wonderful looking sword,” Celestia called into the shop. “But I thought you were making a wand?” Graphite jumped, but Dawnbreak just smiled. He walked over to us, still holding the sword. He held the sword out to me, displaying an exquisitely carved handle, Hawthorn and Willow wood wrapping around each other.

I reached out and took the handle, and Dawnbreak twisted the sword. A quiet click was heard, and I slowly pulled the handle away from the blade. The wand was long, almost a foot and a half. There was a gold ring with a small extrusion where the handle locked into the blade, and the wand slowly tapered off after this ring. It was very light, and I held it straight up, admiring the way the woods twisted around each other.

“What kind of core is it?” Graphite shrugged. “Something your friend there pulled out’a his little bag of tricks.”

Dawnbreak smiled widely and held up his finger in a sort of hushing gesture, then covered his mouth to stifle a yawn. He held out his hand to me, and I gave him back the wand. He snapped it back into place, then walked over to the table. He picked up a piece of leather and walked back over to me. He slid the sword into the sheath, then, making sure I was watching, he twisted the hilt. Four snaps popped open and the sheath split in two, baring the blade.

“Make sure you twist the hilt,” he said to me, snapping the leather back together. “Or you’ll draw your wand, and not your sword.” I nodded, then gingerly took the sword. It was much lighter than I expected it to be, it felt light enough for me to wield it with one hand.

I tried tying the belt around my waist, but the sheath dragged along the ground. Dawnbreak smiled and took the sword back and secured it to my back. The tip very nearly touched the ground still, but I could reach back and grab the handle comfortably. I twisted the handle experimentally, and drew my wand. I looked at it, and reached back and put it away.

“Thank you both so much,” I said to Graphite and Dawnbreak, bowing to both. “If there’s anything I can do, for either of you, ever…” Dawnbreak grinned and bowed back, and Graphite looked away and mumbled, “I’ve already been paid…”
I straightened, then looked at Celestia, who was smiling. “What’re we going to tell Twilight about the sword?” Her smile dropped a little, then got even bigger. “Time for you to learn your first spell.”

I felt my eyes widen, then I smiled and drew my wand. “What is it, princess?” She laughed and took out her own wand, then said, “Lean your sword and sheath against the wall there.” I did so, then joined her where she stood, about twenty feet back.

“Now, hold your wand as I am, and think very hard about your sword getting smaller.” I did as she asked, concentrating as hard as I could. “Now, just flick your wand, as so…” She flicked her wand quickly at the sword, and a stream of pink energy shot out of her wand tip.

The energy hit the sword and shot off, racing towards the stables. It hit one of the planks of wood, which began rapidly shrinking. It splintered and tore as the nails held it in three different places. Celestia stood, frozen and unmoving as the plank finally finished shrinking and Graphite poked his head out the door.

“Princess, I put a few spells on the sword. The only magic that could target that thing is probably its own wand, and that’s still no guarantee. I’ve also carved a rune into the pommel so that Spike is the only one who can use both the wand and the sword. I actually need to activate that rune, so if you could come over here for a second…”

He disappeared into his shop once more, and I walked over to the doors. He reappeared with a knife and looked at me. “I think you know what needs to be done,” he said to me. I nodded and held out my palm. He sliced into it, making a straight and shallow cut. “Now press it to the rune, and it should register to you alone. No-one else will be able to use your wand, at least not very effectively. And definitely not against you.”

“Again, thank you.” He shrugged. “It was mostly that sorcerer’s idea, he even taught me the rune to use.”

I looked over to Dawnbreak, who was busy attempting to wake up Shadowfall. “Did he teach you anything else interesting?”

The blacksmith grinned and put a finger to his lips, just like we’d seen Dawnbreak do. I smiled and nodded, then rejoined Celestia. “Ready for me to try it?” She nodded, and gestured to the sword. I stared at the sheathed blade, imagining it shrinking down to the size of a quill.

I snapped my wand forward and flexed my wrist, flicking my wand as I’d seen Celestia do. I felt the wand pull a small amount of energy, and saw the magic swirl towards the sword, violet this time. The sword seemed to absorb it, and it started slowly shrinking. The magic continued until it was the size I wanted, then I twisted the wand away, breaking the connection.

I walked over and picked up the sword, inspecting it. I buckled the belt around my wrist, making it into a bracelet. It was the same weight as it had been; I swung my arm around experimentally. I still had about the same reaction time, but I couldn’t stop my hand as quickly as possible.

“I don’t suppose you have a spare wand holster lying around I could have?” He walked back into the shop, passing the newly awoken Shadowfall. She smiled up at Dawnbreak, then stood up and stretched her back. Dawnbreak had been collecting his stuff, and he offered his arm to her. She smiled, took it, and they both walked out of the shop.

“Pleasant dreams,” Celestia said as they passed us, and they both smiled and bowed before disappearing into the castle. “Those two will have a fine child,” Celestia said absently, and I grinned and turned back to Graphite, who had reappeared with a leather holster. “That one’ll fit on your belt, anyhow.”

I slipped my belt off and then looped it through the holster. My wand fit comfortably in it, though the point stuck out from the end quite a bit. “Do I have to worry about snapping this?” I asked Graphite, who smiled. “Nah, I worked a spell into the wood as I carved it. That thing’s harder than steel, could probably use it as a knife and not worry about it.”

I frowned, thinking about when I would have to use my wand as a knife. Dismissing the thought, I turned to see Celestia wander into the stables. I said goodbye to Graphite and followed her.

She was scratching a horse’s neck when I walked in, murmuring gently to it. She smiled as I walked to her and turned to me. “Let’s go see if the Tailor’s awake yet. I want to see you in some clothes that actually fit.” I smiled and nodded, and we left the stable and went into the castle.

Author's Notes:

Apologies if something's off structurally, I'm very sleepy as I edit this. Let me know of any errors and I'll fix them.

Bringing Her Home

I looked up as Twilight entered the room, and I waved her over. The tailor had just been waking up when we knocked on her door, and she’d had a suit of my clothing that she’d finished last night. After I’d changed out of the loose, baggy things I’d been wearing, Celestia and I had retried to the library, waiting for Twilight to wake up.

“Why the library? Wouldn’t it make more sense to meet her at her room?” Celestia had laughed and pointed out where she had gone when she woke up yesterday.

And she’d been right. Twilight had walked into the library only ten minutes after Celestia and I had sat down, Celestia to a book of fairy tales, while I’d cracked open a book on magic theory, the same one Twilight had been reading yesterday.

Twilight smiled bashfully and walked over to us. Before she could speak, Celestia asked, “Have you eaten anything yet?” She stopped and shook her head, and Celestia sighed, shutting her book. “Come on then, let’s go get you something to eat. You really should take care of your body along with your mind, dear.” Twilight nodded, looking down at her feet.

I laughed and ruffled her hair. “Celestia just cares about you dear, she doesn’t want you accidentally hurting yourself.” She tried to scowl, but didn’t quite succeed as she was too busy looking pleased at the prospect of Celestia worrying about her. We walked out of the library and down the hall, back to the cafeteria Twilight and I’d eaten in yesterday.

“Besides, a full stomach helps bring out the full power of spells. Celestia can’t teach you if you’ve no energy, can she?”

“I suppose not…” said Twilight unhappily. Her face brightened and she asked “Does that mean I’ll be taught something today?” I shrugged and looked over to Celestia, who looked at us and started laughing quietly. “Sure, I’ll teach you some spells today. Food first, though. You can’t cast on an empty stomach.”

Twilight nodded and turned to the chef who served food from behind his counter. She ordered after me, and surprised the chef and I when she ordered the same things I did. Balancing a tray, I ported piles of eggs and bowls of porridge to a mostly clear table. Celestia moves behind me with her own modest piles of food, and Twilight behind her with a stack of toasted bread and our utensils.

I set our places and we all sit, bowing our head in respect to the sun that grew the food we ate, and to the animals we domesticated for food. We finished and picked up our spoons and forks. Twilight immediately dug into her eggs, eating as though she hadn’t had food for day. I smiled and put my hand over hers, pushing the fork away.

“Twilight,” Celestia said gently. “We have all day to spend together. Please don’t make yourself sick.” She flushed and nodded. I moved my hand from hers and she started eating again, still a little too fast but not shoveling her food anymore. I smiled and reached over to the tower of toast.

Even with my and Celestia’s slow enjoyment of our food, we were done within thirty minutes or so. Twilight gave up about halfway through her breakfast and handed the remnants over to me to finish. Celestia sat and smiled, waiting for Twilight to return to a comfortable state while I finished her food.

I wiped my mouth with a cloth napkin handed to me by the queen, and we all stand and leave the table with our dishes, much more manageable now without food. We turn them over to a busboy behind the counter and walk out into the hallway, Celestia lead us through a maze of hallways into a courtyard I recognized. We were lead through a door and onto a field I don’t recognize.

The green grass was cut to an even length over the entire field, and a shed stood on the edge of it. “This is mainly a field of training for new recruits, but we don’t really have any right now, so this will be our area for practical learning.” Twilight nervously adjusted her wand holster, straightening it on her hip. She asked, lowly, “Are you sure I should start with practical lessons? Shouldn’t there be a little… classroom study first?”

Celestia smiled and nodded. “Probably, but we both know that you’ve more than taken care of that. And besides, this will mostly be a testing of your skills so I can know what you know and where we should go from here.”

Twilight nodded and drew her wand, holding it at her side. Celestia mimed to me to do the same, and raised her own wand. “We’ll start with something small, levitation. We’ll just be moving different objects differing distances.” She pointed her wand at the field, and conjured a small round stone from the dirt. She waved her wand and duplicated the stone, making a copy of it from the stone itself. She lifted one over to Twilight and the copy over to me, setting them both at our feet.

Twilight immediately pointed her wand at the stone and flicks it upward, pulling the stone up to eye level. I pointed my wand at the stone and tried to concentrate, imagining my hand reaching down and picking up the stone. It slowly floats upward, coming to an unsteady rest at around the same level as Twilight’s. Celestia smiles and nods, putting out her hand and lowering it to tell us to let the stones rest.

While Twilight lightly returns the stone to its resting point, mine falls much more quickly and bounces a little when it lands, rolling away a little. Twilight grinned and I blushed, picking the stone back up with magic and placing it, gently this time, where it belonged.

Celestia smiled and pointed her wand at the stones, doubling their size. This continued until we had stones the size of my torso. Twilight was having difficulty keeping hers steady, and I was putting true effort into keeping my stone within a two meter radius. Celestia pointed her wand and the stones recombined and shrunk to its original size, then disappeared completely.

“Very well done, both of you.” Twilight wipes a little sweat from her forehead and I rub a small bruise on mine, hers from exertion and mine from a bit of cockiness unearned. “We’ll continue after we’ve had you two something to drink.” She tapped her wand and spoke into it, asking for someone to bring some water out to the training field.

We talk a little while waiting for the drink, Celestia and Twilight giving me pointers on steadiness and power (I’d gotten the bruise from putting too much strength into the stone and having it rocket skyward, my head unlucky enough to have gotten in the way).

After a guard had walked up with a small table and a large jug of water, and Celestia had shown us how to conjure our own glasses from the air, we tested our abilities at changing the existing world, shrinking and growing stones mostly. We dabbled a little in transformation, but neither of us was really ready to transform living things yet.

Celestia looked up into the sun. “It’s about noon, are you two ready for lunch?” Twilight nodded and said, “I almost wish I had finished that breakfast now, I’m famished.” Celestia nodded and gave Twilight a very serious look. “Remember that, remember how many calories magic consumes. Using magic is very nearly the same as using your own energy to do the same thing. Some people can do great things with magic, but they’re also very careful about eating before they attempt any great magic and making sure they don’t use too much at once.”

Twilight nodded gravely, but she was still glowing with all she’d done today. Teaching seemed to suit her, and she’d had almost as much fun helping Celestia instruct me as she’d had showing off for her teacher.

We ate quickly and retired to the library after our lunch, taking the afternoon to study some history and magic theory. Silent Scroll smiled and nodded at us, passing through our section, and I smiled back. She was putting books away at the time, but I saw her pull a book from a different section and walk over with it on the bottom of a stack of other books. As she passed she laid the book on the desk in front of me, walking on before I could ask her about it.

I stare down at a book entitled Speed Reading and More! How to use a Photographic Memory to your advantage. I smiled to myself, wondering if she was going to hand me a book on how to obtain a photographic memory. Twilight was busy listening to Celestia speak on the theories behind levitation and how it is achieved, and I snuck the book into a bag I’d taken to carrying around with me. I mouthed a thank you to Silent, who smiled back.

I spent the rest of the evening reading whatever caught my eye as Celestia and Twilight spoke at length on any subject Twilight had questions about, pulling in nearly every passerby for a brief discussion on whatever subjects they were pursuing. After hearing my stomach rumble Celestia smiled and held her hand up to the current lecturer, an elderly man speaking about biochemistry in living transformation spells. “Thank you very much for your time, but my young assistants are hungry. Would you like to join us for dinner?”

The scholar declined, and we left for the cafeteria again. “Do you always eat with the guards, milady?” Celestia nodded an affirmative to my question, saying, “I do usually, unless I’m in the garden or holding an event. If it’s good enough for my protectors, it must be good enough for me. Besides, it boosts morale to see your princess sit with you.”

I nodded, understanding how they felt.

We reached the cafeteria and ate slowly, Twilight yawning through the meal. We made our way to Celestia’s garden after we filled, and I napped while Twilight and Celestia went over the lessons of the day. It was night again when Twilight gently shook me awake, and I escorted her to her room. I found my way back into the garden, and found Celestia asleep in her chair.

I looked around the mostly empty garden and shivered, noting all the hiding spaces and dark spots. I took the shrunken sword from my wrist and attached it to my back again after I’d returned it to its original size. Celestia stirred and opened an eye, and I smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

She smiled and squeezed back, and returned to sleep. I smiled, happy that she already trusted me so much, and took a place beside her.

She woke up around an hour later to the smell of tea and small sandwiches set on a small table in front of her. I smiled at her and she back, then she sat straight up with a small look of panic on her face. “How long was I asleep?”

“Only an hour or so, Celestia.”

She sighed and nodded, reaching for a teapot. After she poured herself a cup, I drew my wand from my sword and pointed it at the liquid, returning the tea to warmth. I’d been practicing while she slept, and had only reduced one cup to ashes.

She smiled and sipped at the tea, then made a face. “Why does my tea taste like soot, Spike?”
I grimaced and smiled awkwardly. “I’m self-taught on this, I’m not really even sure what it is I’m doing.”

“Well, you seem to be heating the tea leaves in the brew, instead of the water itself. You just need to learn to differentiate a little, is all.” I hang my head a little and nod, pouring another cup for the princess. Watching her heat her own tea, I pour my own cup and peer into its amber depths.

I concentrated on the water itself, nothing but the liquid. I try once again, and I found the tea tasting much less like soot than Celestia’s had.

I smiled to myself and asked, “What was so important tonight, that you needed to be awake?”

A sad look drew upon her face, and a little shame. “Tonight’s a full moon. I… I look for her sometimes, on the face of the …”

My smile drops and I reach over, touching her lightly on the back of her hand. She smiled a little and sipped at her tea, looking up into the cloudless night. “I ask the Pegasi to try and keep the skies above Canterlot clear on this night. I’ve had a special telescope installed in a wing, one that lets me see very clearly the surface of the moon.”

“Have you seen her, walking around up there?”

She nodded, tears building rapidly in her eyes. With a sniff she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they were much clearer. “I must bring her back. She is repentant, I know she is, but I don’t know if everyone will support my decision. There are stories still…”

I held up a hand. “Milady, what speak have you heard of dragons lately? Tales will be tales, and most will never dissipate until proven wrong. It doesn’t matter what others would think anyway. You believe that your sister’s debt is repaid, then return her.”

She smiled, and it seemed to me that she meant it more this time than before.

“You know, there’s this old tale, this legend foretelling her return a thousand years after her banishment. That’s not long from now…”

I smiled at her, the biggest grin I could summon. “I think the problem’s been solved for you, then. Who are we, to get in the way of prophecy?” The princess smiled, then stood and pulled me up into a hug. I blushed and hugged her back, then we split and she smiled widely at me.

“Come on Spike, let’s go get planning. My sister’s coming home, and we have to have everything set up for when she returns to me.”

We spent that night and the next five years planning for the return of Luna. Twilight still tutored under Celestia some days, but more often she was assigned a person to learn from for a week or so, until she mastered what it was she wanted to know. Her interests kept the topics varied, and she was well on her way to becoming a scholar of everything, well learned in all sciences. Her aptitude in the arts was a little weak, but with such a mind as hers it was no surprise.

I spent most days with her or Celestia, learning reading and writing to help the princess with her courtly duties. In our spare time she taught me more practical skills than she did Twilight, teaching me how to meditate to rest my mind and body more than sleep did, and how to concentrate on one thing to the point that the rest of the world fell away but still be aware of my surroundings.

During my nights however, I was trained by the members of Celestia’s guard. I learned survival skills like water purification and how to forage and hunt in the woods. I learned different aspects of swordplay from nearly every one of my teachers, and brawling from the regular guardsmen. Offensive spells came, and while I learned many lesser defensive spells, they were all very potent. Distastefully, I learned poisons and stealth killing from the assassins Dawnbreak and Shadowfall, though I enjoyed their company almost as much as I enjoyed Twilight’s.

“I know it seems honorless,” Shadowfall was telling me as she showed me the way to mix a powerful powdered herb. “But when it’s just you and this grenade against a legion trying to kill the princess, you’ll thank me.” I felt myself tense at the mention of Celestia in danger, and I complained no more.

Spitfire lived up to her promise, teaching me how to fly after the princess showed me how to summon my wings. It wasn’t painful, merely surprising when the large, leathery wings burst from my back, shredding my shirt. Spitfire had run her hands across the membranes between the large, light bones that made up my wings. It had sent chills chasing shivers up my spine, and I’d understood why she’d reacted so strongly when I’d felt her downy wings.

Mostly what I’d learned was speed, but she also taught me how to fight in the air, using daggers instead of the huge sword I’d taken to carrying around on my back. Twilight still thought it was only a bracelet, and I’d been very careful about not letting anyone beside the guard see me carry it around.

Celestia had talked with her personal guard about bringing back her sister, and while they all had fairly strong feelings on the matter, none had complained to the princess. She’d done a little studying into psychology, and quite a lot of searching the face of the moon.

Luna had recently become much more active, apparently sensing her return approaching. Celestia had gathered that while sorrowful, she was still very agitated. She hoped for peace quickly after calling her sister back, but it didn’t look very hopeful. So all of her guardsmen prepared in their own way. Many strategized with others, making series of back-up plans that stacked on top of each other.

I chose not to align myself to any of their plans, simply trying to prepare for any situation that may pop up and staying fluid. A few of them groused at me for being a wild card, an unknown, but they all understood. I allied myself more with the princess than with any of them, or even with Equestria. Most of them were the same way, just a little too old to be able to trust Celestia the way I did.

The "Calm" Before the Storm

It was three weeks before the summer solstice, the day that I had heard planned as the day of Luna’s return, when I learned of Celestia’s plan to send us ahead of her to Luna’s destination. It wasn’t very unusual, I had gone on a couple of reconnaissance missions with the Darklighters a couple of times, but this was the first time I’d gone without help from the others of Celestia’s personal guard. It was also the first time the princess had sent along Twilight.

When he’d asked about it, Celestia had chuckled (she was loosening up nicely with my help) and said, “Of course I’m sending you. You’re the only one not prepared to harm my sister before letting her run loose. And the reason I’m also sending Twi… Well, you’ll need company, and to be honest…”

She looked around conspiratorially and whispered, “She’s getting a bit of scholar’s gut, just sitting around the library all day.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth and squeezed to keep the laugh in, and Twilight herself was sitting across the table, immersed in a book and not even listening. She looks up at my pained breathing and asks, “Are you okay, Spike? You’re awful red…”

Celestia starts to giggle quietly, and I just laugh harder and struggle to keep quiet in the middle of the cafeteria we were taking our lunch in.

I shook my head at Twilight, and she glanced worriedly at Celestia, then shrugs and returns to her book.

It was the week of the summer solstice, a couple of days before the main event was scheduled. Twilight and I were flying to the small town in a royal carriage, towed behind two horses enchanted with Pegasi wings. With the open back, we had decided that we felt safer with a piece of rope tying us to the handles of the open-backed chariot.
“I can’t believe Celestia sent me to check on this festival thing. She knows how much I dislike leaving Canterlot…”

“Maybe that’s the reason she sent you Twi. You’re getting awfully pale; all this sun has to be good for you.” I poke her arm gently as I joke with her.

She has to reach up to flick my nose now. Five years has gone by a lot more kindly for me than it has her. I was now a foot and a few inches taller than Twilight, who hadn’t grown much over the years. I’d also tanned quite a bit from being outside, while she had paled with years of staying mostly inside with her books. Our hair hadn’t changed much, mine left a little shaggy but still spiky, while hers now trailed to her mid-back.

We were both pretty thin, me from constant training and her from missing one too many meals. Celestia and I both worry over Twilight’s health, but she never seems weak when she’s in the middle of a debate. She gets very worked up when she speaks of any subject she knows and feels as if she has to defend. She and one of her teachers once had a three hour argument when Twilight found a formula she believed disproved one her teacher had formulated himself.

Twilight had been proven right by three other professors.

Her intellect had soared, and she quickly became much smarter than I even aspired to be. I kept my learning to reading, writing, and math. That, and whatever my night tutors deemed necessary. I’d mastered everything except the most complicated of poisons and the strongest of offensive spells, and many of my teachers felt that I was ready for my own solo assignments.

Shadowfall still felt that I needed more practice mixing some of the more venomous concoctions, but in the end I’d convinced her that I wouldn’t need many of them with the swordplay I’d learned from Morris. Besides, I’d become adept at the transformation spell Celestia had taught me to bring out the wings of my other form, and had taught myself how to bring forth the claws of my dragon side.

There wasn’t much that I hadn’t been able to pierce with my claws. So far stone was all I could find that would give them pause, and I had spells to soften stone.

Twilight had learned many more spells, all much more peaceful in intent than any I had learned. She learned a few spells for self-defense, but nothing near as threatening as the ones I had committed to memory. She had a few shielding spells, ones that guarded about the level of the most basic of mine. While Twilight had much more magical variety, I had the upper hand through sheer power level.

I’d also had the great opportunity to learn some of Celestia’s ancient circle magics. All were defensive, except for one killing spell. They took time and concentration to cast, so they were more for planned defense than the fieldwork I’d been trained for.

Twilight sighed and brushed at the ponytail flying behind her. “My hair’s going to be a mess when I take the hairband out.”

“Then don’t,” I offered, shrugging.

She rolled her eyes and muttered something about fashion, and I said something about how the only fashion she knew of came out of books, and she flicked me again. I rubbed my poor nose; it was getting a little tender.

We landed on the outskirts of town and waved as the guards left, going back to prepare Celestia’s personal chariot. They looked resplendent in their golden gear, but shifted and pushed uncomfortably. It was a large change from their usual leather and steel, more for show than for defense, but it was what the public expected.

We walked into town, I carrying our luggage, looking around at our festive surroundings and taking in the sites of the town. It was a very cute place, full of brightly colored houses and businesses decorated to reflect what they sold. We even passed a small pink building with what appeared to be blue frosting adorning the top, sprinkled with bright blues, greens, and reds.

We walked inside, following the smells of fresh baked bread and sweet treats. We walked up to a counter being attended by an older woman with light blue hair, like cotton candy. While she shoves cupcakes and éclairs behind a glass display window, she called into the back of the store, “Customers, dear!”

A young woman bounced into the front, bright yellow and pink dress under a frilly, batter-stained blue apron that nearly matched the other woman’s hair. She gasped as walked into the room, putting her hands up to her mouth and pulling back in shock. The action caused her white hat to shift on her head, and it seemed to strain against an unknown pressure.

She took off her apron and tossed it on a rack in the corner, tossing with it her hat and unleashing a torrent of lively hair, loose pink curls flowing and bouncing over her shoulders. It was a bit of a mystery to me as to how she even got the poor hat on.

The youth jumped the counter, clearing it easily, and ran over to us. She stopped a couple of feet from us and bounced on her toes, tossing her hair into a sea of movement. She still had her hands over her mouth and was squeaking quietly, keeping rhythm with her own bounces. “You’re new!” she exclaimed, hands bursting from her face and extending as far as they could.

She bounced to me and reached up to gently pat my head, then bounced over and copied her action on Twilight. I had tensed, ready to strike, but I felt absolutely nothing from her but pure excitement and glee. “Where are you staying?” Twilight was stunned, so I said, “The library…”

She squeaked again and ran out the door. She made a small return and yelled across the store, “I’m taking my lunch break Mrs. Cake!” and was gone again.

The woman straightened and chuckled, then held out her hand and shook our hands when we reached the register. “I’m Mrs. Cake, and that whirlwind of pink was Pinkie Pie, my assistant. I apologize, but that’s the usual way Pinkie greets new guests. What can I help you with?”

We explained that we were in town to inspect everything for the Princess’s coming, and we were looking for directions to the aforementioned library. She pointed us in the right direction, and we thanked her and bought Twilight and I a couple of cupcakes. We stopped in a deli on the way to the library and grabbed a few wrapped sandwiches for dinner later. Neither of us had really had time to learn culinary skills, Twilight with her studies and I with mine.

We reached the library without another Pinkie Pie incident, and promptly dropped off our luggage in the upstairs bedroom, which we’d been told was unoccupied. The Mayor was there to greet us, offering a handshake and a large, genuine smile.

We discussed our plans with the Mayor, and received a map with a few numbers written across it. “The numbers show the locations in the order you want to visit, if you want to keep schedule and still have a little down time.”

“What are all these… question marks across the map?”

The Mayor sighed and rubbed a hand across her eyes. “That’s Rainbow Dash. She’s who you’ll want to talk to about the weather tomorrow. Unfortunately, today’s her day off, and there’s no easy way of telling where she’ll be. All we know is that she’ll be floating within earshot of the ground…”

“Floating within earshot of the ground?” Twilight asked, bewildered. She hadn’t had many friends in Canterlot, and not a lot of reason to learn about Pegasi, so she had no idea that they handled the weather directly and could touch the clouds.

“Yes,” the Mayor said, “she likes to float around Ponyville on her days off, a little cloud not really working according to the wind.”

This was our first time to hear the name of our town, and I smiled at the thought of a bunch of little ponies with a town of their own.

“How are we supposed to find her if we don’t know where she’s going to be?” Twilight asked, sounding slightly irritated. The Mayor pointed at the question marks that spotted the maps.

“These are the places she’s most often seen during the day. I would simply go about your business until you happen to see her, it’s the best way I could think of finding her, without another Pegasus to help.”

“You don’t have any other Pegasus to help us?”

“Sorry Twilight,” apologized the gray-haired woman, “but with Rainbow off today all the rest of the Pegasi are busy with the weather prep and other miscellaneous duties. Our mail deliverer might be able to help you, but I’m not sure how useful she may actually be…”

“That sounds great, where can I reach her?” I asked.

“Well, she may be at home with her little sister, they may both be at the park in the middle of town, or they could be at the deli.” Using a pencil, she marked a number seven in three places. “Or she could be wandering the streets in between one of those places. You’ll be looking for a girl about your age, with a little sister around eleven years old. Looks just like a younger version of her older sister, two pretty blondes with pale skin and yellow eyes.”

“Any other defining characteristics?” I asked. Twilight gave me a weird look, like Where’d you learn to speak like that?, and I shrugged.

“Yeah, uhm…” The Mayor looked slightly uncomfortable. “The older sister is kind of… cross-eyed?”

I nodded and made a mental note of her description, literally imagining a pencil scribbling a note on a scroll; it was how Silent had taught him to remember important things.

“Just the older sister, not the young one?” Twilight asked.

“Just her,” the Mayor said, still uncomfortable. I frowned and asked, “How many people make fun of her?” She flinched and muttered, “Too many.”

Twilight and I shared a look and Twi said, “You realize we won’t say anything, right?” The Mayor smiled and thanked us, then wiped her eyes and bid us goodbye. We watched her pause at the door and blow her nose on a tissue.

We packed away our overnight bags and sat at a table to study our maps, eating the exquisite cupcakes as we planned our way around town. Twilight and I both had to admit that following the numbers on the map seemed to be the fastest route around town, except for the question marks randomly set around town. There definitely wasn’t a good way to find the weather girl, and there didn’t seem to be a good way to find the mail Pegasus either.

Twilight stared at the map for a while, then sighed heavily and rolled the map up and put it into her sleeve. “Oh well. Let’s just head for the caterers, they’re the first stop recommended by the Mayor.”

We reached the farm to find the land covered in apple trees. It only surprised us a little; Celestia was a big fan of apples, and any dish that contained the fruit. It was a little strange that she order an entire festival worth of foods from an apple farm, but we soon discovered it was more a combination of ranch and orchard.

Set apart from the trees were animal pens, containing pigs and various fowl. A field held cows and horses, a windmill supplying steady water tow all the animals. A large man was walking along the horses, scratching their ears whenever he wandered close. He brushed the sandy–blonde hair out of his eyes and smiled at us, waving.

We walked over to the fence and reached the barrier at the same time he did. He offered a large hand we both shook and said, “Ya’ll aren’t from ‘round here, are ya’ll?” Twilight giggled at little, I assumed at his accent, and I lightly kicked her in her shin.

“We’re here to check on the catering,” I told the young man as Twilight hopped around, clutching her leg and cursing my family in very creative metaphors. I pointed out that she was pretty much half of my family, and her metaphors became much more pointed.

Looking confused, the big man pointed us to the barn, where he told us most of the cooking was going on. We walked there, Twilight limping over-dramatically, and knocked on the barn’s large double-door. A young girl, ten or eleven, opened the door and looked up at us. “What’d you want?” she asked.

A large hat came from behind her and smacked her in her head, and a woman replaced her at the door. “Sorry ‘bout Apple Bloom,” she apologized. “She hasn’t quite learned how to treat strangers yet.”

“Ah have too!” came a voice behind the door, and the hat was swiftly administered again. Replacing the headwear over her blonde ponytail, the young lady grinned at us and held out her hand, squeezing it nearly as firmly as her brother had. “I’m Applejack, pleased to meet’cha.”

“We’re here to check on how the food’s coming for tomorrow,” Twilight said as she rubbed her hand, apparently sore from the repeated squeezing. We were invited inside, where we met the entire extended family; they’d gathered for a reunion before the festival, and everyone had volunteered to help with the preparations.

After a whirlwind of faces, hands, and hospitality, we retired with Applejack into her house to talk about times and payment. In addition to whatever money they charged at the event, Celestia paid them enough to cover the expenses of food and other supplies. Twilight had been authorized the offer whatever she felt was fair, and it wasn’t long before we’d settled matters and left the house for our next destination.

We headed for the second stop on our route, a small cabin-like house near the edge of a small forest of oak trees. We could hear birds in the trees, chickens clucking in a pen, and frogs croaking near a pond around the back of the house.

We knocked on the front door, but nobody answered. We looked inside the front window, but the house was mostly dark. Walking around the side, we saw a young, pale woman seeming to conduct a chorus of birds with a baton made of an oak branch. We sat and listened to the bird song for a minute of two, and the young woman finished with a small flourish and the birds all erupted into the same, harmonious note.

We started clapping, and the young woman squeaked and hit her knees, covering her head with her hands and yelled softly. Something about taking whatever we wanted; her voice was muffled by her hands and the long pink hair that now covered her face.

Twilight and I shared a glance, then walked over and kneeled in front of the woman. “We’re not here to take anything,” Twilight told her. “We’re here about the entertainment for tomorrow’s Sun Festival.”

The young woman peeked at us through her fingers and a few errant strands of hair. I smiled at he and her eyes widened. I quickly closed my mouth, forgetting the fangs that had become a regular part of my life around Canterlot. She quickly placed her hands on my cheeks and gently pressed, pooching my lips. “Let me see them,” she said, firmly.

Bewildered, I parted my lips slightly and showed her my fangs. She seemed to study them for a bit, testing the sharpness with a finger. Pulling back she broke into a wide, white grin. “You’re Draconi, aren’t you?”

I smiled back. “Yes, although that particular word’s been outdated for a few years now.” No book I had found on transformed Dragons, a sparse subject at best, had used that word beside one from well over three-hundred years ago. I’d taken the book to Silent so she could translate it, but she had taught me the language instead. Something about it coming in useful later.

The young woman blushed and curtsied to me, introducing herself, “Hello Draconi, my name’s…” She trailed off, getting too quiet for me to hear when she saw Twilight behind me.

“What was that?” Twi asked, looking confused.

“I said its Flu…” The rest of her name was lost underneath her hair again. I looked into her eyes and smiled again, and she smiled back and said, “Fluttershy. My name’s… Fluttershy.”

“Well thank you, Fluttershy,” I said, holding her gaze. “We’ve just come to check on your music and pay you. We think your birds sound beautiful.” She blushed deeper, and we went into her house to discuss payment. After a bombardment of offers for cookies, cakes, and teas, we finally left her a coin-purse with a little extra in it. We bowed our ways out, Fluttershy still trying to offer us food for the road as we left.

I’d been watching the sky as we made our way across town, letting Twilight lead me to make sure I didn’t trip over anything. She’d gotten her revenge for what happened at Applejack’s twice before I’d had to threaten her nose with a claw.

It was halfway through my third trip to the ground that I saw the small cloud heading west. It wouldn’t have been so unusual, if it hadn’t been the only truly substantial cloud. And hadn’t been floating lazily against the wind. I rolled over onto my back and pointed up, leading Twilight to stare upwards. I hooked the back of her ankles as I got up, dumping her on her butt.

“Hey! Is that Rainbow Dash?” I called up, as Twi grumpily got to her feet. “Warned you,” was all I said to her as she glared.

“Who wants to know?” called down a feminine voice, husky from sleep and irritated.

“Twilight and Spike, royal emissaries of Celestia!” I called up, straining my voice to be sure she heard me against the wind. It was pretty peaceful up there, but there was no way of knowing the conditions up there.

“What kind of a dumb name is Spike?” she yelled down, finally poking her head over the edge of the cloud.

“What kind of name is Rainbow Dash?” I yelled back up. I heard her laugh, then saw her roll off of her cloud and plummet down, towards the ground. Her wings shot open a few meters above the ground, and we could see the shock of frizzy, multicolored hair.

“Oh,” I said lamely, sounding dumb in my own ears. She laughed and asked, “So, what was you were needing, Twilight?” We explained about needing the skies clear all tomorrow, from an hour before dawn until the last light. Rainbow blew it off as the simplest thing in the world, we paid her the wages for tomorrow, and agreed on a meeting time. She flew back up to her cloud, kicking an errant cloud back into place, and we started back on our way to stop number three.

It turned out that the town’s civic center was the next stop on our list, and we were to meet with a…

“Does that say Fashionista?” I asked Twilight, holding the map out to her and pointing at the words beside the number three. “What the heck is a Fashionista?”

Twilight shrugged. “From the base definition, I’d have to guess it’s a lady who has dedicated their life to fashion.”

I opened the door and bowed Twilight in, eliciting a curtsy and a giggle in return. It was much cooler inside the building, a pleasant turn from the hot sun. Twilight shivered a little, body acclimating to the new temperature. “They like keeping it cool in here, don’t they.”

“It’s to help me work darling,” came a voice from the middle of the room. A girl was standing there, swirls of violet curls spinning as she cast ribbons from a basket at her feet using her wand. Her white dress swirled gently around her ankles as she turned to and fro, tying ribbons to the rafters and support beams.

“I can’t concentrate when I sweat,” said the girl, summoning a new basket from a far wall. “So I asked the caretaker to turn down the thermostat for me.”

We stood back and watched her work, trying our best to stay out of her way as she brightened up the hall with colorful yards of cloth.

“This must have taken quite a bit of effort,” I said, beckoning around me at the highly decorated walls.

“Not really,” said Twilight and the girl at the same time, and the Fashionista finally turned so we could see her face. She was a very lovely woman, and I felt myself flush when she smiled at us.

“You must be another Unicorn,” she said, holding her hand out to Twilight. “My name’s Rarity. I’m the center of fashion around town; if you ever need something to wear to an event of any kind, I run a boutique near the edge of town. I also do decorations for formal events, such as the Festival tomorrow.”

“That’s actually why we’re here,” Twi said, gesturing to herself and I. “We’re emissaries from Canterlot…”

“Canterlot!” Rarity exclaimed, eyes widening. “Why dear, you should have said so before! Are all the decorations to your liking?”

“Well yes actually, I was ab…” Twilight started.

“Good! Then I must insist you accompany me to my boutique. We have so much to discuss!” Rarity flung the last of the ribbon out of her basket, looking careless but still landing in ways that were pleasing to the eye, and stacked all of her empty baskets inside each other.

Twilight looked at me, pleading in her eyes. I smiled wickedly and pointed at my shins, saying, “That sounds great Rarity, we would love to join you.”

Twilight plastered on a smile as Rarity gathered up all of her supplies and levitated them outside to a cart by the door. She was talking all the way to her store, peppering Twilight with questions as I pulled the cart along behind me. Twilight struggled with some fashion questions, and I had to help her with a couple of landmarks, but otherwise Rarity seemed to be quite happy with our answers.

We reached the boutique and Rarity opened the door, floating her gear in from the cart that I parked beside her door. We entered the cool shop, I shutting the hot air out behind me, and Twilight was immediately drawn to a lavender dress, simple in its shape with what appeared to be constellations stitched over it. She ran a hand over what appeared to be satin.

“You can try that on, if you’d like,” Rarity said, closing the door to the storeroom she exited from. “I finished it this morning, and I’ve no prospective buyers.” Twilight nodded and gently removed the dress from the mannequin, walking over to a dressing room pointed out by Rarity.

“She’s going to buy that dress,” Rarity said, sounding a little smug. “That dress is quite outside of my usual designs, and I wouldn’t have made it for anyone in this town.”

“Does that happen to you often?” I asked. “Making a dress for someone you don’t know yet?”

“Not often, but not rarely either.” She busied herself pulling out a full-length mirror and a box of what appeared to be cosmetics and hair products.

“Do you usually offer a full make-over with your dresses?”

“Yes actually,” she grinned at me. “I take great pride in my role as Fashionista, and I’ve dedicated myself to beauty. Everyone should look good darling, and I help them with that.” She tossed me a bottle and pointed me to a room. “And you’re no different. Wash your hair with that, I’ve got a suit for you as well.”

Frowning at my revenge’s backfire, I obeyed and went into the bathroom and rinsed my hair with the smelly shampoo. I made sure that the rest of me smelled presentable, swiping the sweat away from my face and cleaning the backs of my neck and ears.

When I walked out Rarity was nearly done with Twilight’s hair, and was getting some hair accessories ready. She saw me and smiled, then pointing to a package sitting out on a counter. “Change please. I’ll have Twilight done by the time you get back out, and we can start on your hair.”

Twilight snickered as I grabbed the box and walked into the changing room she had used earlier. I stuck out a tongue as I walked past her, amplified three times by the mirrors.

It didn’t seem a difficult suit, but it still took me awhile to get it how I thought it should look. I walked out without the jacket on; it’d been a warm summer, and I didn’t want the sweat to dirty the new shirt. Rarity looked me over, adjusted a couple of things, then nodded and smiled. “How’s it feel. Need any tailoring?”

I shook my head. “No, it feels pretty great.” I wiggled my shoulders, feeling where my wings were hidden. I hoped I didn’t need to use them anytime soon; it would be a shame to ruin such a nice shirt.

“Good. Now, come here and let’s see what we can do about that hair of yours…”

We left shortly after, heading to the library in our new, black tie clothes. In my case, they were blue tie.

Rarity had tired a couple of products and styles on my hair before giving up and sticking my hair back into the rough spikes I was accustomed to. She said it was what looked best anyhow, and she didn’t want to mess with a good thing. We’d thanked her and paid for all the decorations, and our brand new clothes.

We were on our way back to the library, to our temporary living arrangement; it was the only thing the princess could do with the distinct lack of a hotel in the town. Twilight had made it clear that she didn’t mind at all, but I made sure there was a shower and kitchen before I gave my own okay.

It was early night when we got home, the last wisps of the sun disappearing behind the horizon. We were both tired from the day’s activities, and the social call Rarity had imposed on us hadn’t helped. I dropped our old clothes by the door, along with a few other items Twilight and I had accrued.

I heard breathing and froze. Twilight hadn’t noticed as tired as she was, but I couldn’t stop from noticing the multitude of inhales and exhales. I turned, drawing my wand and flicking on the light.

“Surprise!” called Pinkie Pie, elongating the “i” until the word lasted ten seconds. A crowd joined her, popping little streamers and cheering. The cheer died out when they saw me with my wand extended, with a few fire spells on my lips. Twilight had jumped, not expecting the light or the party, but I was able to holster my wand before she could see the way I was aiming it.

“Wha-what is this?” Twi stammered, holding a hand to her chest as though to keep her heart from beating out of her chest.

“Why, it’s your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ surprise party!” Pinkie said, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet and clapping her hands together softly. “Welcome to Ponyville!”

Twilight sighed and walked over to a table laden with assorted foods and drink. “How in Equestria did you manage to pull this all together in your lunch break?”

Pinkie waved at the rest of the party and they seemed to relax, everyone starting to speak among each other and set some quiet music on the simple radio. “Well, Mrs. Cake let me have a little time extra on my break, and I know lots of people who like to help me set up welcome parties.”

Twilight poured herself a glass of drink from a bottle without a label, then took a sip. She swallowed a little and then spit the rest back into her cup, eyes watering from her gagging. Pinkie handed her another bottle that she chugged as I picked up and smelled the previous bottle.

“Pinkie, why would there be an unmarked bottle of pepper oil next to the drinks?”

“You can’t really blame Pinks for that one.”

I turned to see Rainbow Dash swagger up and grin at me, taking the bottle from me. “The best pranks are always the ones pulled on the unknown target.”

“That’s nah funny Rainbow,” said a country voice from my left, and Applejack walked up to us, frowning. “Ah’ve been on the receivin’ end of your pranks one too many times.”

“I must agree with dear Applejack here Dash, that was a bit too harsh.” Rarity also appeared out of the crowd, Fluttershy following along with a small cup and straw. Rarity had changed out of her white dress into a blue affair, chaste enough to be socially acceptable but still suggestive of her features, enough that I found myself blushing as I looked away to the foods on the table. A giggle made me suspect she noticed.

Rainbow dash frowned and held up her hands. “Okay guys, I get it, don’t have to all gang up on me.” She turned to Twilight and handed her another water bottle from the table. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Twilight swallowed half the bottle, then swished a mouthful around before answering. “No, I’m okay. Just very, very surprised.”

“And not good party-surprised, even!” Pinkie contributed.

Rainbow threw her hands up and walked away, muttering about people with no sense of humor and how Vinyl appreciated a good prank.

Twilight finished washing the heat out of her mouth and looked around the library. “Who are all these people? Is all of Ponyville here?” she asked Pinkie.

“Of course not silly! Quite a few people have to get up early to prepare stalls for the festival, and some have their businesses open for the tourists, and poor Lyra is sick and her wife Bonbon is home taking care of her, and…”

“I understand, Pinkie,” Twilight said, copying the other woman’s infectious grin. “Everyone that could make it.”

Pinkie nodded and scooped up some dip with a carrot, crunching loudly and happily. Fluttershy joined her, making the very act of eating seem introverted. I smiled and joined her with a carrot from the plate, and she flushed at the attention.

“How long is this party planned for?” Twi was asking Pinkie, who had moved on to a celery stalk.

“Until sunrise silly. Everybody is going to be awake anyway, may as well party the night away!” Pinkie shot both of her hands into the air with this declaration, celery dripping ranch into her hair. She quickly wiped it away with a napkin from the table.
Twilight nodded, her face puckered in a frown that suggested she had suspected as much. “Well, I’m pretty tired. You’re welcome to use the library of course, but I think I’ll opt out. Coming Spike?”

Pinkie’s crestfallen face brightened again when I said, “Actually, I think I’d like to get to meet some more of these people. Pinkie herself seems worth the time.”

Looking between me and Rarity, Twilight deadpanned, “Uh-huh. Okay then, enjoy yourself.” She turned and walked up the stairs into her room, waving over her shoulder at us right before she shut the door.

I shrugged at the other three people. Rarity nodded, understanding; Pinkie shrugged, keeping up what seemed to be her usual grin; Fluttershy continued sipping at the drink she’d recently refilled.

New music started rolling through the library, louder than before and with a heavier bass. A cheer went up and I looked over at a youth with spiky blue hair messing with equipment I didn’t recognize. I wasn’t able to figure out how she could see through the thick red glasses she had balanced on her nose. Either she could, or didn’t need to.
I motioned towards her with my drink. “Who’s she?” I asked Pinkie.

“She’s the person you call for new-agey techno music.” Pinkie said. “I wasn’t sure what kind of music you two would be into, so I guessed. Like it?”

I grinned. “Not really, but most of the other people here seem to, and it doesn’t bother me.” I smirked and gestured towards Twi’s door. “It might be bothering her, but that’s kind of what she gets for being such a sour-puss.”

Fluttershy giggled and Rarity frowned at her, making her flush and apologize quietly. The joke passed over my head though, so I just mentioned that I was thinking about going over to talk to Rainbow. The ladies bid me goodbye, and I started across the room.

It proved to be difficult to make any progress across the room. I met scores of people interested in introducing themselves, and more people who had heard of “Celestia’s pet dragon” and were curious about the princess and myself. It took much of the night to reach the deejay’s stand, and by the time I got there Rainbow had moved across the room again. I sighed and headed to the front door, looking for some fresh air.

I managed to reach a door, but I wound up in Twilight’s room instead of outside. “Bathroom’s downstairs and to the right,” a very sleepy voice called down from a loft that housed a bed.

I walked up the short staircase and to Twilight’s bed, sitting down near her feet. “Having a good welcome party, Twi?”
She waved at me and grumbled something, and I smiled and left her room. On my way out I locked her door, and I descended the stairs back into the crowd.

It was much quicker making my way to the outside door than it had been to cross the room. I squeezed my way through, pressing gently on the edge of the crowd to pass between the door and the frame. I breathed in the chill night air, feeling goose-bumps bloom as my lungs absorbed the air. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

I turned to Rainbow Dash, who was leaning against the wall with a drink in-hand. I joined her, sitting on the stoop beside her calves. She slid down to the dirt, and we sat silently beside each other for a moment.

“You’re hiding something,” she said evenly, taking a sip from her drink.

“Everyone is,” I said, shrugging before my shoulders could tense. She smiled and tapped my forehead.

“You’re hiding something special. Something not even Twilight knows.”

I shrugged again, unsure of what to do. Who was this Rainbow, and how did she seem to know so much about me?

She looked into my face and laughed. “I can see your mind trying to puzzle me out. You won’t ever get it, though.”
She handed a scroll of papyrus over and I was surprised to see stats and columns of information about me. At the bottom was a seal in black ink: a lightning bolt with wings.

“Spitfire always did get a bit much into the cloak and dagger of things. I mean, who even uses that old paper anymore?” She grinned at the dawning realization she saw on my face. She saluted crookedly and intoned, “Our lives for the princess.”

I looked her over and asked, “Aren’t you a bit young, to be part of the princess’s personal guard?” She bit her lip and looked up into the moon. “Yeah actually, I am. I’m what Spitfire calls a Sidelighter, pretty much just support for the real Darklighters.” She poked me in my side, gently. “And I want you to tell me how you got in, when I know you’re younger than me.”

“I rescued Celestia from an assassin when I was two days old,” I said, keeping it as deadpan as possible. Rainbow gazed wide-eyed at me and I couldn’t help but grin. “It’s because I’m one of the last dragons, and because I’ve been with her for a few centuries in my egg.”

This information didn’t lessen her gaze, and I stared up into the leaves and at the stars twinkling between the branches. “That’s… pretty cool.”

I turned to her and echoed her grin. “I guess it sounds cool.” I punched her lightly in the arm and stuck out my tongue. “Way cooler than ‘Sidelighter’.”

She punched my arm much harder, though just as playfully. I rubbed the spot and made a face. “What, the big bad dragon not unbreakable?” she taunted.

I grinned and pulled my wand. Repeating the words I had memorized, I transformed my arm. Thick, leathery scales grew and my arm thickened as new muscles grew in place of my human ones. Her eyes widened again, but then she scoffed and chocked out something along the lines of Transformation magic being all illusions. I held my arm out to her, offering to let her give it another smack.

Instead she carefully placed her hands on my forearm. “It’s… smooth. And kind of soft. How is it so soft?”

“I guess it’s because I never have my true form out? I never use it unless I need to block something…”

It might not seem very defensive, as long as it took me to cast the spell to turn myself, but it was useful for before battles. I could turn just the skin quicker, but it was thin and felt insubstantial, even if it was just as tough without the muscle.

Rainbow ran her hands over my arm a bit more, than withdrew her hands. “Thank you. I’m sure not a lot of people have felt living dragon-skin before.”

I let the human skin cover my arm again, shivering at the cold water feeling. “No, I suppose not many alive now have. And those who have are probably left scarred. Not many dragons are tolerant of outsiders at all, much less friendly.”

She reached out again and felt my arm, now smooth and soft if a little sun-worn. Her hands were as soft as the clouds she worked with, and nearly as pale. I shivered at her touch and pulled away slowly. I wasn’t used to anyone touching me the way she had, and I was surprised when I discovered that my skin missed her touch.

“So,” I started, rubbing my face to get the blood out of my cheeks. “Spitfire asked you to help me out?”

“No, not really,” she said, grinning. “Mostly she just told me about you; told me to make sure you knew you had help here.”
I looked the girl up and down. “Just you then?”

She punched me again, but ended up with bruised knuckles this time. “Ow ow ow… Yeah just me, who else would you need?”

I laughed, patting her shoulder and saying, “I was mostly just curious. Thanks for not saying this in front of Twi. I… don’t like having her worry over me. She knows pretty much nothing about the Darklighters; I’m not even sure she knows we exist still.”

She stood up, holding out a hand to help me up. “It’s cool, Dragon-boy. Spitfire told me the Darklighters were pretty incognito, I figured you would want to hide that from your sister.” She gave me a sideways look. “She is just your sister, right?” I snorted and coughed, surprised at the idea.

“Yeah, Twi’s just a sister to me. No blood, just grown up together.”

She rolled her eyes. “I could figure out the no blood part myself, Spike.” I stuck my tongue out at her, letting it split itself and wiggling both halves separately. She scrunched up her face and made a gagging sound, then turned with me and walked up the stairs.

“Speaking of romance,” I said as we stood at the door. “Who’s the apple of your eye?” I asked pointedly, imagining Applejack’s brother to be about her type.

She blushed and smiled. “Fluttershy’s my special someone, actually.” She winked at me and left me standing on the stoop, flushed and staring.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter will be the last one, and I'll release an epilogue at the same time.

Love and The Following

The rest of the party saw me sitting around, random people coming up and introducing themselves and asking all sorts of questions about life in Canterlot and living in the same castle as Celestia. Nearly everyone had left by the time a tall, reedy girl with golden eyes and dirty-blonde hair walked up and sat beside me, letting out a sigh of contentment as she sunk into the couch.

“Some party, huh?” I said to her, handing over an unopened drink I had with me. She popped the seal off and took a drink, smiling as the fizz hit her tongue.

“Yeah, I just wish I could find the guests of honor. I heard one of them’s a dragon!” she said, obviously excited at the prospect of meeting such a mythical creature. I smiled and held out my hand. “Well hello then. My name’s Spike, emissary of Celestia.”

She gasped and turned to me, pushing a lock of her hair out of her face to look at me with… one of her eyes. Her other eye seemed to have a mind of its own, looking wherever it wished. With excitement scrunching her face and widening her eyes, I had to decide that she was absolutely adorable. I smiled widely at her as she took my hand gingerly and shook it. “You must be the mail lady the Mayor told me of.”

She nodded, letting her hair fall back over her eye. “Yup, that’s me! My name’s Ditzy, but everyone calls me Derpy. I’m not sure why, but you can call me whatever you’d like.” She leaned close to me, feigning mystery. “So, is it true?”
I leaned in as well, lowering my voice to match hers. “Is what true?”

“Twilight’s a grumpy old dragon?”

I burst out laughing, scaring the poor lady with the suddenness and volume of my mirth. She joined me as the surprise wore off, then Pinkie Pie plopped down beside her and joined us. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands, tears quickly evaporating into the air. “What’s the joke?” asked Pinkie.

“Please don’t say it again,” I said to Ditzy. “I’m just starting to catch my breath.” Giggling, she whispered to Pinkie, who kept her solemn face until the end. She nodded, as if she’d been told a great secret, the excused herself to go outside. I could hear her frantic giggles as she walked through the party and outside.

Leaning back, I held out my palm and slowly pulled up the pattern of my scales against my human skin. She ran her fingers over the leathery surface, and for the second time that night gooseflesh adorned my shoulders and arms.

“I didn’t know dragons could turn into humans,” she said, absentmindedly stroking my scales.

“It took a lot of magic and tons of help and knowledge from Celestia.” She nodded, hypnotically tracing the creases of my hand. I slowly released the scales, and she held my hand as she felt them trickle away under my flesh. When my scales were hidden she retraced my palms, as if feeling the difference. She blushed suddenly and took her hand back, as if she’d just realized how intimate our actions seemed to be.

I thought about it and realized for myself how that had probably looked from an outsider’s standpoint. I felt myself flush yet again, and took a drink to help rinse the red from my cheeks. Dear Celestia, I thought, I’m going to end up with bruised cheeks after this night.

“Spike?” Ditzy’s voice asked, from over my shoulder. I turned back to her and found myself eye-to-eye with the woman. I sat still as she looked into my eyes, and I saw that both of hers were working together for a moment to search my soul, one of hers still peeking out from under her hair. She grinned and her eye went back to doing its own thing, as if it had lost interest.

“You have beautiful eyes. I thought they were purple, but they’re flecked with green and black.”

I looked back into her eyes, gold flecked with black. I pulled back a little and sighed. “You have gorgeous eyes too, Ditzy. Thank you for the compliment…” I trailed off as I saw some light leave her eyes. She pulled at the hair covering her eye and muttered something.

“What was that?” I asked, knowing I misheard her.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” she said, covering her eye with her hand now. “I know I’m weird, and my eyes are ugly. You don’t need…”

She stopped as I took her arm and gently pulled her hands away from her face. She tried to look away, but I put a hand softly on her cheek and pulled her gently to face me. I looked straight into her eyes and said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry people have lied to you, have been cruel. But anyone who could find your eyes anything but beautiful has a soul blacker than soot.”

Tears began falling from her eyes, and she pulled herself close to me and buried her face in my collar, near my shoulder. Surprised, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held her as she sobbed quietly into my chest. Panicking I looked around at the rest of the people. Most were quietly talking among themselves, Vinyl having packed up her equipment hours ago. A few were looking at us, and there were even a few people just sleeping on furniture and on the floor.

Of the few looking at us, Rarity and Rainbow were among them. I looked pleadingly at them. Rarity waved a hand at me, as if telling me to lay in the bed I’d made. Rainbow, however, gave me thumbs-up and winked at me. Rarity looked surprised, then winked at me and grinned devilishly. I made a face at them and resigned myself, leaning back and holding Ditzy a little firmer.

The sobbing trailed off and she eventually looked up at me; cheeks and eyes red, her entire face seemed wet. I took my long sleeve and gently swiped at her face, drying her as best I could. Rarity walked over and dropped a cool, wet washcloth in my hand, then returned to where Rainbow and Fluttershy were chatting with Vinyl.

I wiped at her face with the cloth and she smiled at me, grabbing my hand. “Thank you Spike. It’s been… well, never since anyone said anything like that to me. I made me feel… pretty good.”

I nodded awkwardly, holding out her drink for her. She smiled and took it, the kissed my cheek and leaned against me. Unsure of what to do, I looked back over to the group of friends. Rarity was miming at me to kiss her; Rainbow and vinyl were making… certain gestures with their hips. Fluttershy smiled and moved her arm as if putting it around a shoulder.

I looked down to Ditzy and she was looking back up at me, smiling slightly. Thankfully, her back was to the group of romancers. I pulled my arm from between us slowly, and wrapped it around her as she snuggled up beside me. She was warm and soft, softer than I knew a person could be. I gently laid my chin on top of her head, gently smelling her warm hair.
Rarity looked like she was doing a little cheer; Rainbow and vinyl were pretending to throw up, and Fluttershy was only smiling and nodding. I closed my eyes and let myself get lost in the feeling of the woman touching me.

I awoke to the feeling of someone prodding me in the forehead. I swatted at the hand and opened my eyes. I’d fallen asleep apparently, and Ditzy was still clinging to my chest. I looked up into the grinning face of Rainbow Dash. “Wake up Romeo.” She gestured towards the clock, which showed roughly five-thirty. She beckoned me to follow her and started towards the door.

I gently tapped Ditzy on her arm, and her eyes fluttered open. “I have to go help prepare for Celestia.” She smiled and nodded, then kissed my lips, very chastely. “I’ll look forward to your return.” I stood and she laid where I had been, pulling a pillow from the couch underneath her head.

I walked outside and saw Rainbow standing in the yard. I stretched and pulled in the wet morning air, breathing in as deeply as I could. She tossed another scroll my way, not waiting for me to finish. “Celestia’s going to be in the civic center in a few minutes. She says that she’s going to summon her sister before raising the sun. Something about reintroducing her at the height of the festival.”

I skipped through the scroll, detailing what Celestia planned to do and when she was going to do it. “Alright then. Let’s head there.”

Rainbow grinned at me. “Are you sure your girlfriend won’t miss you too much?”

I grinned back and said no, I wasn’t sure. We talked and jabbed at each other as we walked down the road, across town and up to the doors of the center already opened and flanked by Morris and Allain.

They took hold of their swords when they saw Rainbow approaching, but relaxed when they saw me beside her. “Hey Spike. Meeting new ladies, are we?”

I rolled my eyes at Morris. “No flirting guys, she’s as well as a Darklighter and could probably fold you into a trashcan. Besides, you’re not her type.”

“Oh?” mocked Allain. “And you are?”

She shook her head. “Nope, and even if he was, he’s much too busy making eyes at a certain blonde.”

Morris grinned and held up a hand, while Allain merely looked surprised. I shook my head at Morris and asked, “What is it Allain? Surprised that I could get a lady?”

“A little surprised that you have an interest. You never showed any at Canterlot.”

I readied a retort, but was interrupted by Celestia poking her head out through the door. “Spike, as fascinating as your love life is, could you talk to these old hens later? I need your help in here.”

I winked at Morris. “Duty calls ladies. We’ll catch up later.”

Morris made a passing remark that earned him a look from the princess, and Rainbow jogged behind Celestia and I as we walked to the main room of the center. She was trying to say something without talking directly to Celestia, and I grinned at her sudden loss of speech.

“Celestia, this is Rainbow Dash. She’s an ally to the Darklighters.” Celestia nodded and smiled back over her shoulder.

“Wonderful to meet you, Rainbow Dash. It’s always nice to meet a friend of Spike’s.” Rainbow flushed and nodded, mumbling something about it not being a problem and she was mostly a helper to Spitfire.

We entered the large main room, the second time I’d been there today. Celestia withdrew her wand and rolled up the rug covering the room, making sure it moved to keep the paint underneath from scratching. Sometime before the festival, someone had come here and painted a runic circle onto the floor.

Celestia walked the entire room, using magic to change one or two things but otherwise seeming satisfied. She looked up at me, face glowing with happiness. “I’m getting my sister back tonight,” she said, as if she couldn’t believe it.

I smiled and nodded gently, not voicing my doubts and fears. “What time do you want to begin? It needs to be done before the moon sets, I assume?”

Celestia drew her wand and looked into my eyes. “We can start now.”

I nodded and held up a hand, then ran to the front doors. “Morris, Allain, locks the doors and get in here. We’re beginning.”

They nodded, both solemn now. They walked into the hallway and locked the doors behind them, then walked to the end of the hall with me. “Good luck,” Allain said, before shutting the double doors and locking them from the outside, leaving Morris on the inside with the rest of us. He set himself squarely in front of the double doors, pulling his sword partway from its sheath to facilitate a quick draw.

I pulled my sword from my bracelet, quickly resizing it and strapping it my back. Rainbow looked around, then pulled her wings and flew up to the balcony, taking a boxer’s stance. I took my spot beside Celestia, both of us in our own circles a few feet from the main one, a large loop taking up the center of the room.

Celestia looked around, affirming that we were all in our allotted places, then lifted her wand to the moon, perfectly framed by the large round window.

“Let’s begin.”

I’m not sure how to describe the ceremony we used for summoning Luna. It was long, with some chanting required from me. It was important that I was the one helping Celestia; something to do with the magic Nightmare Moon Had used on me when I was still an egg.

It was actually pretty boring, up until the last minutes of the process. Mostly it was a lot of talking, until the circles and runes started to glow. Celestia nodded at me, and as one we split the skin on our palms and poured blood into areas designated within our circles.

The blood immediately took on a life of its own, flowing through painted channels and mixing together in front of the middle circle. The runes glowed bright white, then all light went out as a moonbeam struck the pool of blood. A smoke filled the circle, pushing out on the edges all at the same time, then collapsed into the middle.

A young girl formed out of the mist, kneeling on the ground. She had her hands up to her eyes, and was garbed in a loose blue gown. She groaned and looked up, into the wet eyes of Celestia. “Sister…”

A massive tremor shook her, and she screamed, looking at me in terror. She flung a hand at me, looking terrified. “Not him, anyone but him,” she screamed, sobbing. I tried to look at Celestia, but found myself unable to move.

I hit my knees and felt a cold pool slowly moving up from my gut. I opened my mouth to scream as pain wracked my body, but instead of air black smog dripped from my lips. I gagged and felt my body push up more of this slime, painful contractions radiating from my chest.

I finished expelling the cold darkness and fell forward, catching myself on my hands and knees. I watched as the darkness gathered and flung itself through Celestia’s wards, not prepared for an attack from this side, and watched it fly towards the sobbing, screaming girl. I felt my face make contact with the cold concrete, and heard the throaty laughter of Nightmare Moon as I drifted into unconsciousness.

Aching, I awoke to the feeling of something cold and wet on my forehead. I looked up into golden eyes, smiling kindly down on me. I smiled back, and drifted out of consciousness once more.

……………………………………

Shivering, I opened my eyes again. I felt the cloth against my forehead still, much warmer this time than last and less wet. I turned my head to the side, and felt myself smile at the sight of Ditzy’s golden hair. She’d fallen asleep beside the couch I was laying on, and her head was resting on the side of the pillow I lay on.

I kissed her head through her hair, and looked back up into another pair of golden eyes. Both of these seemed to obey their master, and were gazing down into mine full of curiosity. Her blond hair formed a halo for her head, glowing with the light directly behind her.

I swallowed and managed to push out, “Hello. You must be Ditzy’s sister.”

She nodded, taking the rag from my head and dunking it in some water, squeezing it out, than soaking it in a glass of fresh water. She put it to my lips and squeezed, letting me drink the water from the cloth. After she squeezed most of the water into my mouth, she folded the cloth and placed it back onto my forehead.

I tried to ask her where everyone else was, but I slurred heavily and she put her finger to her lips and slid the cloth down over my eyes. I shivered at the cool feeling of the cloth sliding over my face, then accepted the darkness and fell back into sleep.

…………….……………………

I came back to consciousness much later this time, with the rag back up on my forehead. I looked around and saw a bunch of people sitting around the table, looking grim. I pushed myself up on an arm and smiled, breathing out, “Hey guys. What’s going on?”

Ten heads turned to look at me, all with much less weight. “Spike,” breathed Twilight, and she moved around the table to hug me. I sat up all the way with her help, and looked around at the faces peering at me. I attempted to hide my naked chest, but Twilight was more concerned with looking me over.

Twilight had a strange crown on, and I reached up to touch a point on the start crowning the jewelry. “It figures. As soon as I’m out of the picture for a minute you go all girly girl.”

She smiled at me and motioned to five of the other people. “Spike, I’d like you to meet the Elements of Harmony. Loyalty,” she said, and Rainbow grinned at me. “Kindness,” she intoned, and Rainbow raised the hand she had entwined with Fluttershy’s. “Honesty and Friendship,” she said, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie raising their hands and waving. “And Generosity,” she finished, with Rarity smiling and looking away, abashed.

Counting on my hands, I frowned. “That’s only five. There have always been six Elements…” I trailed off as I looked up at Twilight’s crown. Pointing to herself, she smiled and said one word.

“Magic.”

I grinned up at her and hugged her. “Only because there isn’t an Element for books,” I said jokingly, and she punched me in the chest. I’d expected it to hurt, but I didn’t feel it nearly as much as I used to. I frowned and moved my hand over my chest, feeling nothing different. I looked up at Twilight, who was frowning worriedly.

“Hit me again. Harder,” I said. Her eyebrows jumped up and she looked confused. “C’mon bookworm, did I hurt your hand the first time?” I jeered.

Confused, she hit me again, a bit softer than the first time. I felt no pain. I felt the pressure, but not the pain I usually associated with Twilight’s ire.

“I think I may be able to explain what you’re feeling,” came a small voice, and a young girl with violet hair about Ditzy’s sister’s age stood up and walked around the table. “You’re not feeling as much pain as usual, are you?”

I shook my head, shrinking a little from her instinctually. I saw her face fall, and I apologized, “Sorry Luna. It’s just… history.”

She nodded, then touched my chest. “It felt so cold, didn’t it?” I nodded, remembering the darkness pooled in my lungs. “That’s Nightmare Moon. That’s the presence that haunted me, warping my feelings and desires. I thought she had died up there on that moon, but I suppose that she… it, implanted part of itself in you. Probably when we…”

She stopped speaking, tears sparkling in her eyes. I reached over and, haltingly, patted her hand. “It wasn’t you. Please, don’t cry for my sake, I know it wasn’t you.”

She nodded and swiped at her eyes. “Anyway, what you’re feeling is Nightmare’s presence missing. She probably was hurting you, lying dormant over so many years. The fact of what you are is probably the only reason she didn’t try and possess you.”

Luna grinned hollowly. “She was afraid of dragons, you know. It was probably torture for her to even be inside you.”

Celestia walked up behind her sister and put her hands on her shoulders. Luna shook off the look and leaned back against the princess. “I’m still shaking off her influence, sorry.”

I waved my hand. “It’s okay princess, I understand.” I stretched my back, cracking the vertebrae in my spine. I felt something strange, and reached back and felt my wings stretching back against the couch. I looked at Twilight, panicked that she might have seen my secret, but she was merely smiling.

“Celestia told me Spike.” Confused, I looked up to her. She was smiling and nodded.

“It felt good, getting everything off my chest to Twilight, and it helped me catch Luna up on what had happened in the last thousand years. Say hello to the six newest Darklighters.” Each one of the six reached into a pocket and pulled out a badge exactly like mine, but with a moon in the middle of their seals.

“The moon is for me,” Luna said smugly. “These six will be not only my sister’s agents, but also mine. While Celestia uses her agents to lurk the night, these will be my eyes during the day.”

Celestia giggled and whispered to me, “We made each other our own personal Darklighters. It was fun.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, smiling, glad that Celestia and her sister were off to such a good start again. When I opened my eyes, I looked past everyone to see Ditzy and her sister sitting with the other five Elements around the table.

I smiled at her as I felt the blood in my chest swirl. I motioned her over, and she shyly sat between me and Luna. I leaned against her slightly and wrapped my arm around her, saying aloud, “Twilight, Celestia, Luna, this is Ditzy. I believe she has taken my breathe away, and until I get it back I think I’ll stay beside her.”

She blushed as I introduced her to the people I considered my family, and Twilight blushed a little at my sappiness. “Get over yourself,” she muttered.

Celestia looked delighted however, while Luna looked politely patient. “How long have you known each other?” Celestia asked, sitting down beside her sister. The couch was getting crowded.

“Uhmmm… Twenty-four hours?” I asked Ditzy, looking up at the clock. She giggled and said, “Twenty-five.”

Celestia looked surprised and Luna cocked an eyebrow, but before they could say anything I looked sharply back up at the clock. It seemed to be eight-o-clock, but I could see no sun through the windows.

“Celestia, what time is it?” I asked her, looking at the clock.

“It’s eight in the morning she said, looking confused by the question. “Why?”

“What time was the sun set to come up?”

“Well, around seven-forty…” She trailed off, eyes widening. She jumped up and ran outside, looking up into the sky. “Why hasn’t my steward raised the sun!?” She ran back in grabbed Luna by the hand. “Ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go raise the sun and murder a steward. I also need to show Luna how to use the machine that casts the spell, so I’m taking her with me. Write me often, Spike. I’ll miss you at the castle.”

She leaned over to kiss my forehead, then pointed her wand at the ground and cast a short spell. She and her sister disappeared into a fog, which flew through the open door towards Canterlot. The door gently shut behind the mist.

Applejack stood from the floor and stretched, also popping her back. “Ah don’t know about tha’ rest of you ladies,” she said, yawning. “But I’m plum tuckered from last night. Ah think Ah’m gonna go home, go ta’ bed.”

A general consensus rang through the room and everyone left until it was just me, Twilight, Ditzy, and her sister.

Twilight looked around awkwardly, then busied herself with clearing away the food and dishes from the table. Ditzy and I just leaned against each other. Her little sister helped Twilight with the dishes, and even brought me a plate of cold leftovers from the party last night. I found myself starving and immediately dug into the food.

I was done before Twilight cleared the table and she grabbed the plate from me and said something about how lucky I was that I was sick. Ditzy smiled and asked in a hushed voice, “Does she always mutter this much?” I nodded, and we dissolved into giggles as Twilight reentered the room. She rolled her eyes and sat next to me, with Ditzy’s sister sitting beside her.

We sat there in awkward silence for a while, until Twilight yawned. I smiled and bumped her with my elbow. “Go to bed, sleepy.” Twilight tried to stick her tongue out, but interrupted herself with another yawn.

“Fine,” she said, standing up and stretching her arms out in front of her. “You have a bed in there as well, if you want to sleep out of the main room.” She looked at the other two ladies in the room. “Or in case you want your sister in there instead. Goodnight.”

She left us blushing, everyone red at her implications except for Ditzy’s sister who didn’t seem to understand. Ditzy turned to her sister.

“Actually, that sounds pretty good to me. Why don’t you join Twilight, Dinky?” Dinky nodded and yawned, like a delayed aftereffect of Twilight’s own yawning. She kissed Ditzy goodnight, then shyly kissed my cheek before she followed Twilight up the stairs. Ditzy grinned as I rubbed my face.

“She must like you,” Ditzy said, laying her head on my chest. I sighed happily as I held her closer with my arm already around her. “She doesn’t even look at strangers most of the time. Getting a kiss is something special.”

“Hmm. I think I may prefer your kisses,” I said, grinning as I leaned down and pressed my lips against her temple. She giggled and turned her head, laying on the couch fully and placing her head in my lap.

She looked so beautiful, her golden hair fanning around her shoulders as she smiled up at me, eyes once again cooperating and staring up into my face. I had to lean down and kiss her, a little more passionately than before. She blushed when I pulled away, as I’m sure I did. “I’ve never kissed anyone else before, Spike,” she confesses. I smile and told her the truth; that I hadn’t either.

We lay together and spent a while together, enjoying each-other’s lips. Eventually she had to break of in the middle of our session to yawn, and I smile at her flushed face. “You’re exhausted.” I pulled her in closer, pulling the blanket over us both. I realized that I’m naked, but it’s too late to cover myself. She runs her hands over my chest and nods.

“Yes, I suppose I’m pretty tired.” She smiles and starts pulling off her shirt. Seeing my eyes widen she giggles and kisses me again. “I usually sleep in the nude.” She removes her shirt and pants, leaving on her underwear. “You may get lucky enough one night, but I think it’s a little early now. Plus, I’m pretty tired.”

I nodded and made sure to look in her eyes the entire time. She kisses me again, and turns, pressing her entire back against my chest and stomach. She starts to wiggle against me, getting more comfortable. She stops suddenly and gives me a look over her shoulder, both of us blushing furiously.

“Later,” she says firmly, and I nodded quickly. I can see her ears flushing as she rolls back over, and I feel her press against my lightly, once more. “Later…” I hear her murmur to herself, and I kiss her shoulder. She fell asleep quickly, and I decide to meditate until she wakes up.

The next few days were spent almost entirely in the library, with two trips outside. The first was to shop for food, and Twilight quickly regretted her decision to come along. She was mobbed by reporters, people looking for the story behind the savior of Celestia and Equestria. They only really left us alone after I used fire to burn one of their notebooks. Although it wasn’t actually burnt, just sent back to his house.

We’d stocked up as well as I could carry, with the three girls helping me with some of the smaller stuff.

The second excursion was just me and Ditzy. We went to her house and grabbed some clothes and hygiene stuff for her and her sister, along with some stuff Dinky needed for school. We’d finally got her speaking around me, though she was still a little shy and quiet with Twilight.

Once she’d decided she liked me enough to speak, we’d talked about all sorts of things, mostly her classes with Cherrilee. She loved the teacher almost as much as she loved her sister, although she admitted I was pulling ahead. While a little bit of a tom-boy clothes-wise, she was definitely a little girl in all the rest of her tastes, enjoying a doll set she played with quite regularly and a decidedly pink room.

We’d spent a few days together when we found Twilight sitting in the middle of a half-packed room, crying.

I sat on the bed nest to her and held her as she cried, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to speak with her until she was done. I asked Ditzy to make Twilight a pot of tea with plenty of honey, Twilight’s go-to thing when she needed a pick-me-up. Strangely, this seemed to make her cry harder.

When she’s calmed down a bit I handed her a wet cloth and she swabbed her face. When she’d cleaned herself she had a sip of tea and cleared her throat. “I don’t know what to do, Spike,” she told me. “I have a place back in Canterlot, a library twice the size and suite in the castle to which nothing in Ponyville can.”

I shook my head. “I’m not understanding the problem here, Sparkle.”

She sighed and looked straight into my eyes. “You’re staying here Spike. We both know you are. Plus I have five new friends… six even, with Ditzy. And this library is pretty expansive, as small as it is. And having a small library means I’ll be able to expand it with whatever I wish. And the bed’s pretty comfy,” she finished, almost pouting now.

“So… why don’t you stay? Take the library off the Mayor’s hands, and move here.”

“Oh Spike… what about Celestia? We both know how lonely she is…”

“Was,” I interrupted. “Luna’s back now Twi. Celestia doesn’t need us like she used to. I know she wouldn’t mind. Yeah, she’ll miss us, but it’ll be easy for her to travel here, and nothing’s stopping us from traveling back to Canterlot.” I gestured out the window, towards the train station. “It’s only a few hours away. That’s not even far enough to feel homesick.”

Twilight looked at me, falteringly. “You’re sure… she won’t mind?”

I made a frustrated face at her and pulled a mirror out of my pocket. I tapped the surface three times, turning it a milky white. The white fell away and Celestia’s face appeared in the mirror, looking flushed and happy.

“Oh, hi Spike. I was just catching up with Luna. She had a game she played up on the moon, to pass the time. You have to…”

I held up a hand and stopped her, grinning. I’m glad you’re having fun princess, but I have an important question.”
Her face drew in and she asked, “One or both of you?”

“Uhm, both of us,” I said, hoping I knew what she was talking about.

Celestia cursed quietly as a triumphant shout sounded from outside the mirror. Luna’s face poked in beside Celestia’s. “I told her you would both move out. You with your girlfriend and Twi with her… girlfriends.”

“And books,” chimed Celestia.

“Anyway, we understand and support both of you, but we have a game of moon-ball to finish up. We’ll have Twilight’s clothes and personal things sent to the library. We’ll send your stuff along with hers. Bye!”

The mirror was covered again by the milky-white, then returned to its original state. I looked at Twilight and lifted my eyebrow. She was looking a little surprised, then she chuckled and wiped at her eyes again. “It’s like she’s young again. I’m glad she’s not alone anymore.”

I smiled and hugged her again. “Neither are you, dear Twilight, and don’t forget it.”

She smiled and hugged me back then pushed me out of the room, telling me to make something for us to eat while she unpacked.

Author's Notes:

Hehehehahaha.... And now it continues.

Dreamscapes and a Return

Author's Notes:

Some of you will recognize this. There's a reason.
Some of you will not. This is for you, and me as well.
If anything surpasses the T rating, please let me know exactly which bit, so I can fix it. Danke.

Welcome back, guys.

It wasn’t long after the Nightmare Moon incident that Ditzy moved me in with her. Twilight hadn’t put up too much of a fuss after I told her that I’d help her out whenever she needed me to. It didn’t take her too long to actually employ me, working me seven easy days a week. She even paid me, more than enough bits to feed the three, then four of us.

And yet, I’m ahead of myself. Let’s start at the dinner party a few weeks before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sent me downstairs to do some cooking, while she stayed upstairs and unpacked. I looked around the kitchen and smiled as an idea formed in my head and I ran to the main room. I took a few pieces of paper and a pen from the desk and scribbled a few notes. Five, to be exact.

I then busied myself around the kitchen, and the diner was nearly ready by the time my small family poured into the kitchen. Twilight started pulling dishes out of the cabinets and setting them on our normal table, but she stopped when I said, “Actually, I was thinking it would be a nice day to eat outside. I’ve already enchanted the table to repel bugs and all.”

She nodded, smiling slightly. She knew that I preferred the outdoors and loved eating outside, and she put away our glass plates and grabbed a stack of stouter wooden plates. While she wasn’t looking, I grabbed all the rest of the stack and handed them over to Dinky, who secreted them outside while Twi wasn’t looking. She stealthily grabbed a handful of silverware on her way out.

Ditzy lifted up the main pot as I grabbed as many of the sides as I could, leaving Twilight only the plates and some silverware. She almost had some potatoes to carry, but Dinky snatched them up before Twilight could look too long at them. Twilight looked at me narrowly, as though she thought I was setting her up for a prank. I did my best to look innocent and walked through the door to our backyard.

As soon as she walked through the barn-styled door she dropped her plates, her hands flying to her mouth. A quick flick of a wand caught the plates and silverware, then distributed them amongst the rest of the set plates.

Her five friends grinned in greeting, plus two little sisters and a friend. All eight had brought something with them, either juices and other drinks or extra courses for the multitude eating with us. I set the course we had contributed on the blankets, yards of cloth set out like a banquet table.

After tearing up a little and going around and hugging everyone, Twilight sat at the end of our blanket and offered thanks for our food and our friends. After a few minutes of quiet eating, Pinkie and Rainbow started up conversations on the end of the blanket. It didn’t take long for everyone to start chattering, thanking each other for making certain dishes and complimenting the food.

I stayed quiet mostly, thanking the others every now and then for compliments and handing out a few of my own. Mostly I listened to Ditzy as she spoke at length on the possible contents of a certain brown-paper wrapped box she’d had to deliver that had been small, but still required a cart to move. The man with a blonde mohawk she’d delivered it to had seemed to pick it up with no strain though, and she debated with Rarity across the food on whether the item was magical or if the receiver was simply very strong.

I finished my plate and sat there, listening to the two of them and smiling. Reaching over, I took her unoccupied hand and enjoyed the warmth of it in my hand. I shared a small smile with Rarity when we noticed her face flush and her smile grow wider as she continued to speak about her day.

On the other side and down the blanket of me was Fluttershy and Rainbow, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie across from them. Fluttershy was discussing a treatment for some of Applejack’s animals with a skin rash, and Rainbow was describing an intricate prank in the making with Pinkie. It was the most serious I had ever seen either of them.

Twi was at the head of the table, as much as there was a head. She sat beside me, and we spoke about overdue books and her usual topics. She tried to engage Dinky with banter about her schoolwork, but she was still acting skittish around both of us.

Everyone ate their fill, and I wrapped up what leftovers there were and stuck them away. Everyone lingered for a few hours, until Rarity mentioned something about a dress she needed to work on. Everyone agreed that it was a bit late, and with hugs everyone went to their mostly separate homes.

Ditzy was the last to leave, staying behind to help me out with dirty dish duty. We chatted about my day then, the books I’d checked out and the seemingly strange topics some people were interested in. She ended up leaning against me, pressing her shoulder to mine as she dried dishes I cleaned. She then handed them to Dinky, who put them away. While not yet developed, her magic allowed her to put the higher dishes away.

Sooner than I wanted, I was walking her to the door, taking the towel she had dried her hands on. She stood on her tiptoes and closed her eyes, and I knelt down to brush my lips against hers. She opened her eyes and lifted an eyebrow, then reached up and pulled me down into a deeper, much sweeter kiss.

After flickering ages, passing much too quickly, she pulled away and smiled. “Every kiss better always mean that much to you, got it?”

I nodded happily and leaned forward to kiss her again, then closed and locked the doors after I watched her walk away. I turned and saw Twilight giving me a look, and I shrugged.

“You’re grinning like an idiot.” She walked up and used a tissue to wipe some of Ditzy’s lip gloss from my face.

“Well, surely only idiots can be this happy,” I told her, refusing to let her ruin the moment I’d just had. Twilight was rolling her eyes as I walked to the windows, were I closed the shutters and locked them. We made sure that there weren’t any books sitting in the night return, then went upstairs.

I looked around the small room and at the cramped twin beds. “Twi, what’re we going to do with the space in the basement?”

She sighed and muttered something. I turned and stared at her. “I know I didn’t hear you right. What was that?”

She sighed and said, slightly louder, “I hoped to transfer a laboratory here from the castle.”

I gazed at her a little longer, completely silent. She fidgeted under my gaze for a while, then sighed as she lost our silent battle, head downturned. Without a word, I picked up most of the bed I’d been sleeping on and toted it downstairs, into the mostly empty basement. I didn’t mind sharing a room with the night return slot or the almost abandoned shelves that sagged with age and missing weight.

I returned to Twilight’s room to find her in her bed already. I went over and kissed her forehead, earning a harrumph from the grumpy scientist. I picked up the rest of my bed and turned out her lights as I closed the door.

I set up my bed and moved some of the bookshelves around, planning my room. I then grabbed all of the books and placed them together on a single bookshelf. Pulling my wand, I shrunk the rest of the bookshelves and stacked them onto the spare space of the last shelves, leaving the whole ordeal for Twilight’s scrutiny.

I turned and grimaced, pulling my wand once again and creating a siphon to pull all the dust and dirt from the floor and walls into a ball on the tip of my wand. I opened a small window, painted closed many times, and tossed the filth outside.

I looked back over my room and wiped a hand over the wall, checking for dust. I decided that it was the best that I wanted to do at the moment and looked around my bare room. I liked it, though I felt it was still in great need of a wardrobe. And some clothes to put in it. That would have to wait until morning though; I wasn’t going to wake up Twilight for something I didn’t need.

Sitting on my bed, I realized that this simply wasn’t one of the nights I needed sleep. They were getting fewer, far fewer, and I found myself at a loss for what I could do while passing time for the sun. On my sleepless nights I usually just spent time with Celestia, but now she was hours away and my transportation spells were still hit and miss.

I could fly and be there in an hour or so, but that would still leave only six hours in exchange for two lengthy flights. I didn’t find the idea attractive, so I went back upstairs and perused the library I had at my disposal. Its size left much to be desired, but there seemed to be a varied selection. I browsed for a while, but I bored quickly and gave up, sitting on a chair and allowing myself to descend into a sour state of mind.

I looked up to on the clock on the wall and groaned. It was eleven-o’clock, and Twi usually didn’t stir until at least eight in the morning. I had nothing to do until the library opened at eight-thirty, and I didn’t feel like sitting around for nine hours. I walked to the front doors and opened them as quietly as I could. Locking the door, I set a seal over the keyhole, so no-one could magic their way into the library while I was out.

I walked into the center of town and saw the cupcake house I’d first met Pinkie at. The light in the shop was still on, so I walked up and tried the door. It opened, and the bell softly chimed again as I shut the door behind me. A voice came from the back, “Pinkie, did you forget to lock the door? Go send them away, and make sure to lock the door this time.”

“Yes Mrs. Cake,” An almost tired-sounding Pinkie said.

“We’re closed right now, can you…” Pinkie started as she walked out of the room behind the counter. She saw who it was and smiled, speaking over her shoulder, “It’s not a customer Mrs. Cake, it’s just Spike.”

“Just Spike, am I?” I asked her, locking the door. “If you don’t want people looking for delicious baked sweets, your lights shouldn’t be on.”

She stuck her tongue out at me and grinned, beckoning me into the kitchen. I walked around the counter and stepped into the kitchen, where Pinkie tossed me an apron and a small white cap. “I assume you’re bored? Come help us make dough for the bread tomorrow.” Mrs. Cake was wrist deep in a mound of her own dough, and there was another pile not far from hers.

I faked a sigh as I put on the borrowed gear and washed my hands. “Poor servant dragon am I, that never gets a break from work even after I cook a meal for twelve and then wash all the dishes.” A wet towel hit me in the face as I turned, and I heard the women giggling.

“Stop speaking like a dork. And I know for a fact that a certain lovely blonde helped you with those dishes.” She laughed as I adopted the grin I acquired whenever Ditzy was mentioned.

I was shown the flour, water and other ingredients, then instructed to start on a flatbread. Mrs. Cake asked me some stuff about my past, mostly where I grew up and other tidbits. I told her as much of the truth as I could, including the fact that I was a dragon and everything except the Darklighters. She’d looked at me a little strangely out of the corner of her eye, as if she thought I was simply a crazy person Pinkie had invited into her bakery.

I pulled a flour-covered hand out of my pile of dough, and let the scales and claws show through. She stopped kneading dough for a moment, eyes widening as she turned her head to look at the claws protruding from long, knobby fingers. I pushed my fingers against my palms and moved them in circles, presenting a whispering noise as the scales brushed over each other.

She shivered and turned back to her own dough, seemingly lost in thought. After some time she finished with her dough and put in in her fridge, in a covered bowl. She washed her hands as Pinkie finished with her own batch and toweled her hands off with a strip of cloth hanging near the sink.

“Don’t leave yet, Spike. I have something I would like to see you do,” she said and left the room. I finished with my batch of dough and added it to Pinkie and Mrs. Cake’s own. She returned quickly, holding a decrepit book. Pinkie gasped when she saw it. “That’s the book we keep all of our recipes in!” She whispered to me furtively. “She never takes that out of the safe under the register!”

Mrs. Cake slowly opened the tome, and I heard the aged paper crinkle as it was turned. She opened it to an index first, near the very front. After scanning it she turned all the way to the end of the book. She flipped a few pages back and showed me a recipe of extreme length. “I’ve never seen this bread made. Could you do this?”

Scanning the contents of the page, my eyes widened. “I could try, but this seems rather complex. Where did you even get this recipe?”

She grinned and shook her head. I looked back to the book, then went over to the sink and washed off all of the excess flour and dough. I took out my wand and used it to arrange two small circles, some of Celestia’s runic magic. I looked up at my audience.

“This is going to be a bit more complex than I’m used to. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, I’ve never done quite this before.” I placed my hands into the circles and applied some of the same magic I used with my wand through my hands.

They grew incredibly hot very quickly, and I tensed the muscles and said a few ancient words, directing the magic how I wanted. The magic complied and the heat poured out, filling out my hands until they were the same as what I had showed Mrs. Cake minutes before.

I pulled them from the surface and grimaced at the twin scorch marks in the wood, where my hands had turned into claws. “I’ll fix that,” I told her, apologetically. She merely looked at my twin paws.

“Why didn’t you just change them like last time?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, last time I was just showing you what they looked like.” I reached over, and ran my talons over the palm she offered. She shivered and ran a hand over the back of mine, her smooth skin clashing with the leathery scales. “These are my real hands, as they should be. I’ve conjured up my scales before with some simpler magic, but for this recipe I needed the claws as complete as possible.”

I offered my other hand to Mrs. Cake, and she gently touched the scales. She shivered and withdrew her hand quickly. I pulled the other from Pinkie and flexed my hands, experimentally. They felt much different from the last time I’d had them, many years ago. I tapped my fingers against my palm and realized what it was.

“I’m turning more humanoid,” I told Pinkie, who raised an eyebrow.

“Like, you used to be more lizardly?” I nodded and flexed my hand, feeling the skin beneath my scales tense and relax. “Like, how much lizardlier?”

“A lot. I don’t remember having actual fingers, just vague digits with claws in them.”

“Uhm… Maybe it’s because of the last five years or so as being a human?” Mrs. Cake suggested. I looked at her and nodded slowly.

“That makes sense. I think I’ll send Celestia a letter about it. But for right now,” I said, flexing my claws at the cabinets, “Let’s try making that bread you’re so interested in.” She nodded and in a few moments I had all of the ingredients in front of me.

I rolled my shoulders, readying myself for the effort this was going to take. Looking over the cookbook one last time, I started humming as I mixed all of the spices and flour. Letting my draconic side take over my vocal cords, I opened my lips and starting singing the words the book detailed. I felt my magic flowing from my lips into the words and out of my hands into the dough.

I could see the walls vibrating ever so slightly from my voice. I realized that my singing had become little more than a flowing tone, winding its way through the wood of the house as it left the magic I had given my voice in the air. A bedraggled man nearly fell on his way down the stairs and looked at me, questions dying in his mouth as he saw me.

I realized that some of the air was actually glowing, and the dough that I had been kneading on the table was starting to float. Pinkie rushed up the stairs to the man I assumed was Mr. Cake. She grabbed him and dragged him down the rest of the stairs, sitting him beside herself and Mrs. Cake across the table from where I was putting on my impromptu show.

I had the feeling that dust should have been falling from the rafters as I reached a plateau in my song. Sustaining the note for as long as I could, I put the dough on a tray prepared for the oven. The bread rose even as I held the note, doubling in size and even nearly tripling before I had to gasp for breath.

The glow faded from the air and seemed to soak into the resting dough. I kneaded it into shape one last time, humming again. When I was done, the bread had a golden glow. I walked it over to the oven and opened the door and set it on a tray inside, near the back. Leaving the door open I walked back. Tensing my throat and flexing, I felt that peculiar clicking that only happened when I was dragon. I opened my mouth and clicked one last time, igniting my breath into the fire I directed into the oven.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw everyone jump, and watched Mr. Cake fall most of the way out of his chair before his wife steadied him. Pinkie was overjoyed, clapping her hands together as I streamed green fire into the oven.

The book had said to “bake” the bread in this way for as long as I could hold the flames, but no longer than four minutes. I counted to two-hundred and thirty-eight before I let go of the fire, panting heavily as I gulped in air. Cautiously I reached into the oven and pulled out the tray, slightly warped by the heat but shining brightly as though it had been cleansed of all age.

The bread was golden-brown and steaming. I looked over the book and nodded. While it was a shade or two lighter than intended, it was still within an acceptable range.

“It’s going to take about five minutes to cool enough to be edible, according to this. I need to rinse my hands, could somebody else set the table? The book suggests honey or jam and butter.”

Pinkie grabbed some plates and set the table while I rinsed and Mrs. Cake explained to her husband what was going on and who I was. Using water this time, I changed my claws back into my human hands. Using a towel, I set the rather large loaf onto a plate and toted it over to the table, where Mrs. Cake sliced it delicately.

The inside was pale, and very porous. Steam escaped the bread as she sliced into it, and the warm smell seemed to calm Mr. Cake a little. He finally relaxed for the first time, and a small smile played across his face as we all breathed in the warm scent.

I used a knife to spread some honey over my slice, then took a small taste of it. Then a larger taste. I looked around the table, confused.

“This bread… It tastes sort of bland, doesn’t it?”

Confused and crestfallen faces greeted me as I looked around the table. Three nods, and Pinkie was across the room, reading the recipe. I felt a small warmth blossom in my chest, and ate more of my honeyed bread. It didn’t add any more flavor, but it did increase the warmth.

Looking around, I noticed everyone looked perkier. I finished my slice and joined Pinkie across the room. “It pretty much only says its name, and how to make it. Nothing of its flavor, or why a dragon has to be the cook. This seems to me a pretty standard bread recipe…”

She pushed her hand against her chest and pushed slightly. I noticed her flushed face, and realized that I too felt hot. I looked over to the table at the Cakes and noticed that they’d become red as well, and were staring at each other in a way I recognized.

“Pinkie, what’s the name of that bread?”

“I believe it’s called ambrosia, and it seems to be intended to increase…” She peered very closely at the book and shut it, a small look of panic in her eyes. “It’s said to increase virility.”

I looked at the two Cakes, who were getting closer to one another quite quickly. I picked up Pinkie and threw her onto my shoulder. I walked her out of the room, and heard a small crash of plates knocked off of the table as I unlocked the door. I turned off the lights and slammed the door behind me, locking it. I walked a little ways away from the bakery and breathed deeply.

“Uhm, Spike?” Pinkie’s voice came from behind me, over my shoulder. “You’re touching…”

I realized exactly where my hand was holding Pinkie to keep her balanced on my shoulder, and I quickly put her down. She leaned into me, as if her legs wouldn’t support her. She looked up into my face, and her body somehow found more blood to push into her face. I realized that the bread was probably affecting her much more than me and moaned under my breathe.

I felt her place her hands on my chest, and when I looked down again she stood on tiptoe and tried to kiss me.

“Oh, no no no no. Ditzy’s more than enough for me.” I picked her back up again and started back to the library, watching carefully where I put my hands.

“Oh Spike, you’re so rough,” I heard her moan, and I bounced her a bit, trying to get her to stop.

“Pinks, try saving it until we get home.”

“Oooh, taking me to your house now? What would Twi say,” Pinkie giggled, bending more at her waist. I wondered what she was doing, until I felt her hands grab my butt. I jumped a little and, without thinking, swatted her in the most easily accessible area. Of course, this simply made her grab harder.

By the time we’d reached the library Pinkie wasn’t being quite so nice. She’d tried removing my pants twice as I was walking and was in the process of rolling my shirt up to my shoulder blades. I used my wand to open the door and close it again, as quietly as I could with Pinkie still giggling and moaning as I jiggled her.

I walked down the stairs as roughly as I could, bouncing her on my shoulder as I descended. This seemed only to encourage her, and I felt her pull of her shirt and throw it on the stairs. I opened my door and threw her on the bed.

She looked at me and grabbed her chest and spread her legs, underpants peeping out from under her skirt. She motioned to me with her head, running the second one away from her breast and down towards her skirt. “Come get me, lover…”

I slammed the door, tearing my eyes away and locking the room, sealing it so she couldn’t try and get out through the window. I heard her moan throatily and bolted up the stairs, away from the sounds of the gorgeous woman doing who knew what to herself behind the door.

I picked Pinkie’s shirt up as I ascended, and closed and locked a second door at the top of the stairs. I turned and noticed Twilight Sparkle, standing at the top of her stairs in a small nightshirt and rubbing her face sleepily. “Spike, what’s with all of the noise…”

She stopped speaking as she saw the disarray of my clothes. My shirt was still riding right below my neck, and my pants had lost their belt and now sagged open on my thighs. I saw her take in the pink shirt in my hand. Confusion running across her face, she asked, “Is that Pinkie’s shirt? What is she doing running around withou…”

Her eyes widened and she flushed, deep red. I looked down and noticed for the first time the result of Pinkie’s ministrations, and my own reaction to the bread. I moved behind the counter used for checking out books, and cleared my throat.

“We were baking bread. If you could send a note to…” I looked up at the clock. Three in the morning. “I guess to Luna. See if Celestia’s awake too, tell them I need… help with a certain type of magic.”

She nodded and started back up the stairs. I blushed and coughed. When she looked back I said, “Maybe wear pants on the way back down.”

She looked down to her bare thighs and flushed brighter, than ran up to her room and slammed her door. I straightened my shirt and tried pulling up my pants. They were a little too tight at the moment though, and I couldn’t button them. I gave up and tossed them onto a chair, along with Pinkie’s shirt.

Twilight came back down in jeans and a heavy sweater. “I sent word of… your problem. Luna said she’s sending Celestia.” I nodded, keeping my body close to the counter. She looked at the pile of clothes on the chair and shifted uncomfortably. “Is there something… I could do to help?”

I felt my eyes widen as I stared at her, and her eyes widened and she turned bright red again. “No no no, I meant, do you need a sheet or something!”

I grabbed my chest and breathed, letting my forehead hit the counter. “No, I don’t think it would… hide much right now. I think I’ll just stay here. Close to the counter.”

She nodded, looking anywhere besides me. I shuffled some papers around the workspace, trying to keep my mind away from Twilight moving up the stairs…

“Uhm, can I have some cold water and a towel, please?”

Twilight gave me a funny look, but returned with a glass of water and a towel from the kitchen. Staying as far away as she could, she put the items on the desk. I grabbed the glass and dumped it over my head, gasping as the cold water made the breath hitch in my chest. I wiped away the excess water, and looked down.

All the water had done was make my clothes stick to me.

Twilight eyed my wet body and asked, “Help at all?”

I shook my head and she smiled a bit, as if enjoying the torture I was undergoing. I leaned over and her smile faltered.

“Milky white calves leading up to supple, smooth thighs,” I said, grinning and blushing bright red myself. Twilight twitched and covered her face with her hands, looking to the door and squeaking something about how the Princess should be soon. The smile fell from my face. “How much did you tell them, exactly?”

“Just that we had a non-urgent situation that was embarrassing to speak of.” She still had her face covered with her hands, muffling her speech a bit.

Someone knocked gently on the door, making us both jump. Twilight rushed over and pulled open the door, letting the Princess walk in. Celestia almost glided, a look of concern covering her face until confusion replaced it when she saw me standing behind the book counter, dripping. She looked over to the pile of clothes on the nearby chair. I could see gears turning in her head as she looked between the pink shirt and me, and I started shaking my head.

“I thought you were dating the blonde, not Pinkie? Is… is that the problem, Spike?” Celestia asked, a very worried and slightly panicked look replacing the confusion.

I could only gawk at her, making offended noises and shaking my head. “No no no, I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk and I came across the Cake’s bakery and then Pinkie asked me to help them and then Mrs. Cake had this recipe and I made it…”

Celestia held up her hand, stopping me. “Spike… What? That made no sense, slow down.”

I took a breath, and in that moment of silence, a loud moan came from behind the closed basement door. Three heads turned slowly in that direction. They both looked at me, and I simply said, “I couldn’t leave her around Mr. Cake.”

Celestia looked at me for a bit longer before rubbing her forehead and closing her eyes. Twilight went pale and sat in a chair on the far side of the room, facing away from me and the door.

“Okay Spike. You went to help Pinkie Pie make bread because you couldn’t sleep?” Celestia asked.

I shook my head. “I went for a walk, because I couldn’t sleep. I came across Sugarcube Corner while I was walking, and I went inside.”

“That’s when Ms. Pinkie asked you to help her?”

“Her and Mrs. Cake, yeah. I helped them with some bread dough. We got to talking, and it come up that I was a dragon. Mrs. Cake had a recipe that could only be truly completed with a dragon, so we tried it.” I stayed as calm as possible, trying to remember every detail. I assumed it was the bread or the… blood loss, but my mind felt a little fuzzy and I couldn’t remember properly.

Celestia arched an eyebrow and asked, “Did this recipe have any clue as to what kind of bread you were making?”

I fidgeted. “Yes, but we didn’t check until after we’d had some. Me, Pinkie, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I left them in the kitchen when I left, but I didn’t want something… embarrassing to happen with Pinkie so I took her.”

Celestia had to hold up her hand again, and I stopped to take another breath. “Did this recipe have a name? What was the description?” She asked.

I looked away and muttered the name. Her eyes widened and she got extremely close, looking me in the eyes. Again I muttered, “Ambrosia bread…”

She looked deep into my eyes. “How long did you last?”

I blushed and stared at the princess, shocked. She shook her head vigorously and asked, “How long did you cook it for? The full four minutes?”

“Uhm, no, I stopped a few seconds short of four…”

“At least ten seconds, right?” Celestia asked, face full of hope. Twilight just looked on, silent.

“Uhm, closer to eight…”

Celestia laid her head on the counter, directly in front of my abs, and sighed. I felt her hot breath hit my cold skin, and suddenly noticed the low-sweeping back of her dress. I couldn’t help but look down at the top of her head, then down her back to her shapely hips…

A sudden noise on the underside on the counter seemed to announce my current train of thoughts, and with both hands resting on the top of the counter, I had no alternative explanation as to the sound. Celestia slowly moved her head up and looked directly into my eyes, a blank slate. Twilight hadn’t heard the noise, thank Celestia.

The Princess raised an eyebrow, keeping my eyes locked in hers. “How… bad is it?” she asked, quietly.

“Uhm…” I said, hesitating. I was trying to think of any non-suggestive words to describe my current predicament, but I had become engaged in a battle to keep my eyes on Celestia’s face, and not lower. Much lower…

She put a hand on her dress and pushed it to her chest, glaring into my eyes. I guessed I hadn’t kept my eyes on hers as well as I had tried. She glared for another second, then sighed, turning her head away. “Twilight, go ahead and go to bed. We’ll handle the spells he needs; you probably won’t want to see him… during the magic.”

Twilight stood up and quickly walked up her stairs. She paused halfway and turned to Celestia. “It won’t hurt, will it?”

Celestia smiled wryly at me. “Not enough.”

Twilight nodded, then cast one last worried glance at me before finishing her walk up the stairs and shutting her door. Celestia immediately cast a spell over Twilight’s door. When I raised an eyebrow, she blushed and said, “Silencing spell.”

I was about to ask what the silencing spell was for, when my forehead exploded in pain and everything went dark.

Awake, the Next Day

Author's Notes:

This is where the heavier story changing comes in, but I'm still just improving the stitches of Suspected. When I'm done with the old bits you'll be getting new, so I plead for your patience. Thank you.

Also, big thanks to my new editor leonz11 ! Catching the slips I don't get myself, big danke.

I awoke to two soft lips on my cheeks. I smiled up at Celestia… then tried to leap away as some of the memories of last night came back. I managed to kick off of a table beside me but didn’t get enough air to clear the chair. It went to the floor with me, cracking something as we hit and I kicked again, rolling across the floor and under another table.

My mind was racing with memories of last night, of what the Princess had done with me. Had all of that happened, or had it been something in a dream? Was it all the fault of that bread? Was Pinkie okay?

My train of thought ceased abruptly when I noticed Celestia’s dress in front of me. I watched as she bent at her knees and turned her head to look at me under that table. Her dress didn’t even look stretched, after what I remembered happening last night.

I started stammering and stuttering, trying to apologize for what had happened, knowing I had been in a foreign state of mind. She held her finger up to her lips and shook her head, then offered me her hand.

I hesitated for a minute, then took it and let her lead me from under the table and back across the room to where Luna was sitting near the chair I’d spent the night in.

“Spike,” Celestia started. “I understand that you probably don’t want to talk about last night, or probably ever think about it again.”

Looking at me, Celestia put her face in her hands and rubbed gently. “I honestly don’t much want to think of what you did either. That bread you made doesn’t affect only you, but the people around you. Twilight might have gotten caught in its magic if you hadn’t had called on us.”

Celestia looked straight at me, catching my eyes in hers. “Besides Spike, none of that happened. Not the way you remember it, anyhow.”

My mouth moved by itself for a bit, mind taking in that information and rejecting it. I tried again and it was rejected much more quickly this time.

“Princess, I remember in very graphic detail most of last night’s… activity.”

“As well you should,” she sighed. “It did happen… in your sleep.”

She smiled and gently pressed a finger into the center of my forehead, sending a sharp pain through the spot.

“I cast a sleeping spell while you were… distracted. Your head hit the counter pretty hard, but I think you’re fine. You’ve been in that chair most of the night, while I chanted the spells to get rid of the effects of your… experiment. ”

I looked at the chair laying on the ground, thinking slowly of what I had thought was last night. My mind was much more accepting, with Celestia’s new information and my much calmer mind. This actually made much more sense than last night’s events. I frowned and looked into Celestia’s face.

“I’ve never had a dream like that before, Celestia. Was it just that bread I ate yesterday?”

Celestia made a face and looked over at the wall, seeming to study the spines of several of the closest books. “It was mostly the bread.”

Celestia reached across the table and gently squeezed my hand. “Remember Spike, Luna is capable of entering dreams, and she’s been very lonely for the last thousand years. Because she knows you, it would be easier to find and enter your dreams than those of a stranger. In addition, she would have… sensed the ‘mood’ of your dreams.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at me and I flushed, hiding my face and the flush scrawled across it. “I didn’t ask about what you dreamed,” she told me, “So what happened last night is entirely between you and Luna. Although now that I think of it, if she doesn’t mind, I may ask her what transpired…”

I blushed furiously. “Celestia, you’ll have to pry it from my cold lips. You’ll not hear of it from me.”

Celestia looked over to me, but I was already shaking my head frantically. She looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Someone will tell me,” she said. “Or I shall have Dawnbreak find out for me.”

I shuddered at the thought of her son, a powerful telepath, and began telling Celestia my dream. I didn’t get far before Celestia waved a hand at us, covering her face with the other one. “Spike… you’ve been getting into the forbidden arts section of the library. I thought I stopped that years ago.”

I smiled, still hanging my head. “I never stopped reading any part of that library, Celestia. I just got better at hiding it.”

She started to give me a look, but gave up halfway and sighed. “Spike, you know why I didn’t want you going in there…”

“I do, but I also memorized the list of books Silent Scroll warned me about, all the ones that may be dangerous for me. And if there ever was one I wasn’t sure about, I asked her about it.”

Celestia still looked unhappy, but she waved her hand in the air. “That’s all beside the point. I’ve heard more than enough of this dream. I’m going to go back home, I feel like a nap will do me some good.”

She hesitated. She walked around the table and gently kissed my forehead.

“You didn’t cheat on Ditzy,” she said, firmly. “You just had a good dream. Think of it like that, okay?”

I nodded, and she bent over and gave me a soft hug. Then she left me and my thoughts in the library, alone.

The silence didn’t last long. I heard a knocking from downstairs, through the closed staircase door. I remembered my other guest, and made sure I was clean and completely dressed. I looked again to my shirt, then decided against it. The tattered cloth would merely tease if Pinkie was still… bewitched.

I unlocked the top door and descended the stairs in the darkness, bringing my draconic eyes forward to let me see Pinkie’s heat. She was sitting on the bed, away from the door. I let my eyes return to normal and slowly opened the door.

She had her skirt back on, laid flat against her legs. She was wearing my sheet as a shirt, covering from her waist to the shoulders. She waved, cheery but subdued. “Hi Spikey. I’m sorry about last night, I’m not sure what came over me. I think it was that bread?”

I smiled and nodded. I walked back upstairs, leaving the doors open, then returned with her shirt. I tossed it to her and turned as she got dressed, rooting through my dresser until I found a shirt to pull on.

When I turned she was standing near me, and she lightly hugged me. “Thank you for holding back, Spike.”

I patted her head awkwardly, then smiled down at her when she pulled away. “You’re my friend Pinks, I’d never do anything like that to you in that sort of state. Even if I had wanted to” -which I had, I must admit- “I could never have done that without your wanting me to.”

She smiled brightly. “I suppose I’ve found another drinking buddy then.”

I smiled and nodded, then led her up the stairs and into the main room of the library. I pushed the broken chair out of the way, and threw my tattered shirt on top of it. I walked Pinkie to the door and opened it for her. I received another hug, this one much tighter, and waved goodbye to her as she started skipping down the road, humming a cheery song to herself.

I closed and relocked the door, leaning heavily against it and sighing in relief. I’d been afraid that since she hadn’t had Celestia she hadn’t been able to relieve the magic’s effects, but it was apparently a timed event.

I pulled my wand out and walked over to the chair I’d broken, picking up some of the larger splinters on my way over. I patched the chair as best I could, but it wobbled a bit still. It held my weight though, so I put it back. The shirt I could do nothing for, so it went straight in the trash can.

A knock drew me to the front door, and a red-faced Pinkie. “Uhm… Mr. and Mrs. Cake are still… going at it…”

I nodded and stood aside so that she could enter. She looked at the chair, then around the library. “So… Did they at least look good?”

I looked at Pinkie and tilted my head to the side, a confused look playing across my face. She looked down at her chest and pressed her arms together a little. I blushed and looked away.

“They were very nice Pinkie, I think you have a gorgeous figure. I would have stared a little more if I thought I could have gotten away with it.”

She reddened and smiled a little, looking satisfied with herself. She wandered over to a section of books and pulled something to read, still humming her happy tune.

.............................................

She spent the morning immersed in her book with a bottle of water, while I cleaned around the library. I also walked down to my new bedroom and took the sheets off of the bed to wash. I walked back into the room to make sure that was the only thing I wanted to clean. Walking into the room, I realized why Pinkie had the water.

Sniffing lightly, I picked up my mattress and walked upstairs with it, leaning it against a wall right outside of the back door. Pinkie had not gone to sleep right away, and the thoughts of what had gone on in my bedroom was enough that I had to pretend to clean the counter for a minute or two.

I believe she noticed though, considering her ever flushed face deepened a couple shades and her smile widened before she returned to her book. I gave up the act and went downstairs to open the window, then straightened up my room. There wasn’t anything that really needed straightening though, so it was mostly just fidgeting with stuff in my hands and putting items back where I’d picked them up.

When I walked back into the room Twilight was sitting with Pinkie. They stopped talking when I walked in, so I assumed they were speaking of what had happened last night. Pinkie had apparently gone into great detail, because Twi was extremely red and wouldn’t meet my eyes.

Pinkie was grinning conspiratorially and winked at me. “Did you finish your… business?”

Twi and I gaped at her, than she started sputtering syllables while I denied Pinkie’s accusations. She burst out laughing and flapped her hands at us, managing to tell us to calm ourselves between gales of laughter.

“So,” I said, between her bursts of giggles, “Do you think the Cakes have… finished yet?”

Pinkie stopped laughing and gazed, thoughtfully, at the ceiling. “Well, Mr. Cake always has had a lot of stamina… And Mrs. Cake sure can take quite a bit of a beating…”

Pinkie looked into the scandalized face of Twilight Sparkle and shrugged, a neutral mask covering her usually giggling face. It cracked quickly though, starting with red cheeks and ending with her usual broad grin.

“I’m sure they’re on their last legs, if nothing else. I’ll go check up on them, see if they need to rehydrate or something. I know I was pretty thirsty after last night.” With that final quip and a wink she skipped out of the door and started back down the road towards Sugarcube corner, leaving everyone in the library with a blushing face and dirty thoughts on their mind.

Twilight and I sat in awkward silence after I finished my chores and she hers. She was pretending to read a book she’d already read four times, and I was simply staring up at the clock and watching the seconds fall away. Finally the time to open the library to the public came around, and I the door for the first time that day.

I had an idea, and while Twilight got the desk up and running I searched through the section we had on protective spells. Neither book had what I was looking for, so I wrote myself a note and left it downstairs where I could see it. When I went upstairs, Ditzy was waiting at the desk with Dinky, talking quietly with Twilight.

When she saw me she smiled, and I smiled back tentatively. She spoke a good-bye to Twi and pushed her sister over to a section of books for young girls. When she reached me she stood on tiptoe and kissed me lightly, then smiled secretively up at me.

“So, Luna and Celestia, huh? That’s a pretty big dream.”

I stared at her, silently, waiting for jealousy or anger.

Instead, she messed with the collar of my shirt and fidgeted a little, biting her lip in an adorably thoughtful way. She grinned up at me with red brightening her cheeks, and took my hand and led me over to the staircase leading upstairs.

“He moved downstairs last night,” Twilight called across the room, and we halted and Ditzy pulled me to the other staircase, leading down this time, and told me to close the door. I did so, confused but following her down the stairs she bounced down. When I reached the second door she was looking at the frame that would support my bed.

Pointing to the empty spot, she looked at me and arched an eyebrow. “Uhm, Pinkie was enchanted like me, and she spent the night… on my bed…” I raised my own eyebrow at her, and her face reddened further.

“Well, go get it. We’ll flip it if it’s still… not dry.”

“Why exactly do we need the bed? I could go get some chairs…”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down into her face, silken lips parting slightly to welcome my own. After a minute she let me pull away, breathless from our kiss.

“I’m a jealous person Spike,” she said, looking at me. “Celestia and Luna are very beautiful, and Luna appeared in my dreams last night. She told me what had happened, and begged your forgiveness.” She ran her hands over my shoulders and down to my chest, resting them in between us. “I told her you’ll have to work for your forgiveness,” she continued after a bit, pulling my hands up to where she had been holding hers and clasping our palms together.

She grabbed my wrists and pushed my hands to her heartbeat. She grinned up at me and finished her sentence. “And I do plan on making you work for it. Go get that mattress.”

I tried to lean forward for another kiss, squeezing gently, but she just giggled and turned me around, pushing me at the door. “Mattress,” she said laughing, and pushed me out the door and up the stairs a bit.

I ran up the stairs, stopping and composing myself at the top. I opened the door to find a very startled Twilight Sparkle standing nearby, browsing the shelves and trying to drink out of an empty glass. I ignored her and went to the back door, through the kitchen. I snagged my mattress and rushed back through the room, panting, “watch Dinky for a minute,” and shut the door on Twilight’s puzzled stare, closing and locking the door this time.

I rushed back down the stairs and opened the door, making Ditzy jump a little. I tossed the mattress on the frame and closed the inside door, casting a silencing spell on the door after I’d walked through. I tossed my wand and bracelet on the dresser near me and turned to another puzzled stare.

“Twilight’s upstairs with an empty glass, trying to spy on us.”

She grinned and asked me to take the spell away for a second, then leaned out the door and moaned, as loud as she could. We heard the glass break on the floor and rapid footsteps. Ditzy started giggling, but I was too busy thinking about what was about to happen.

She had bent at her middle when she leaned out of the door, and her butt was sticking out slightly. She’d been planning something apparently. Her jeans fit very snuggly and I could see black lace peeking over her waistband.

Smiling devilishly, I moved over and pounced, slamming a hand over the light panel and shrouding the basement room in near darkness.

Pink Temptation 1

Author's Notes:

Same as the first two, small changes that I hope will make a large difference.

After a small nap I woke Ditzy up with a few small kisses along her neck and shoulder. She just rolled over after the first few, so I moved around to her front and continued there, moving my lips down until I was kissing her chest instead of her neck. With a small sigh she opened her eyes and pushed my head away, smiling.

“I’m awake, I’m awake. Where’d you throw my clothes?”

“Around,” I said, shrugging and gesturing to her pants on the floor and shirt hanging from the doorknob.

She frowned at the dusty clothes. “I can’t go around wearing those all day, let me borrow some of yours.”

“Okay, but you’ll have to fight me for them,” I told her, gently pinching her. She gasped and punched me in my chest, holding the offended area. I smiled and kissed her, lips pressing to hers. She frowned and pushed me gently, adopting a stern expression and pointing me to my dresser.

“Shoo, no more today. That one time was enough to have me walking funny. Go, clothe me.”

Shoving me out of the bed, she bent over and snagged her shirt. I grabbed some of my own clothes on the way to the dresser, pulling up my own pants as I walked. Taking advantage of my position when I bent to grab my pants, Ditzy smacked me soundly on the left side of my butt, surprising me with her force. When I looked reproachfully, she frowned and rubbed pointedly where I had pinched her, making us both smile.

I grabbed her a pair of my undershorts and the rest of her clothes as moved back to the bed. I handed her the shirt she’d been wearing and bent down, sliding the underwear over her feet and up her calves, rubbing the skin as I passed over. She hummed gently and ran her fingers through my hair, allowing me to push her down and push the clothes the rest of the way over her hips.

I grinned and kissed her one last time, then got to my feet and moved to where I had tossed my shirt on the other side of the bed. By the time I had grabbed and put on my shirt she had all but buttoned her jeans. And by the time I had moved back around the bed, she had completed even that task and was looking around my room.

She turned to me and opened her lips, asking something that I interrupted with a kiss. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, cradling the back of her head in a hand while the other grabbed her lower back. She tried saying something, but gave up halfway through and just hummed happily against me.

I pulled away and we smiled at each other, me telling her how I loved her and she repeating me. I looked at her slightly dopey smile and felt my own blossoming.

“So, what was it you were asking about?”

Her grin disappeared as she frowned, apparently in thought. It reappeared as she lifted a hand to her head.

“I was going to ask if you had a brush,” she said, patting at the tufts of hair that had been ruffled while she had napped and when we had made love.

I nodded towards the same dresser I kept much of my clothes in. “There should be one in the top drawer.”

She walked over to the dresser and I sat on the bed, watching her as she pulled my brush through her near waist-length hair. The golden strands were straight and thin, falling into place quickly. She passed the bristles through the rest of her hair, making sure it was as well-placed as the rest. She smiled and held out her hand, walking slowly to the door.

I stood and took her hand as she passed near the bed, and we walked out of my room and up the stairs side by side.

………………………………

Twilight eyed us as we walked up the stairs, blushing slightly and quickly returning to… whatever it was she was doing with the cards from the card catalogue. Her daily sorting, maybe. I walked Ditzy over to the table where her sister was sitting, and I left them to their own devices while I went into the kitchen.

I made a few sandwiches for lunch for everyone, making a few different ones for Dinky. I hadn’t quite gotten her tastes down yet, but I knew mostly what she wouldn’t eat at least.

Pouring juice for all of us I toted the food and drinks on a tray to the table with the sisters, taking Twilight’s food to where she worked at the desk. I set her food in an unoccupied section of desk and started to walk away before she caught my sleeve, tugging me back to her work area.

“Spike, are you sure you’ve been with her long enough to start up this kind of relationship?” she asked, as bluntly as she could manage while fidgeting and blushing. Her uncomfortable actions only worsened when I raised an eyebrow.

“Twilight,” I said, in a voice I reserved for commanding. She flinched at my tone, much deeper than usual. “I am well over a thousand years old, even if I’ve only been active for the last few years. For much of that time I was alone except for the servants who cleaned my shell every ten years. And while your company and the Princess’s are fine for normal friendship, I need someone… more.

“And besides, we’ve been dating for a few months while you dawdled about with your friends, trying to decide whether you wanted to return to the castle or not. That may not seem like a long time for you, who’ve been much too caught up in her studies for a partner, but it’s four times the length some couples last.”

She had stopped fidgeting, and was now merely hanging her head.

“I’m sorry Spike,” she said faintly, “I was out of line.”

I reached out and put my hand on one of her shoulders, squeezing gently. She looked up, into my slight smile.

In a much more normal tone, I sincerely told her, “I’m not mad at you, Twi. I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not about to get myself into trouble, especially not with Ditzy.”

Twi smiled back feebly and nodded. I lifted a hand and wiped a tear away, and she gripped it tightly.

“I just don’t want to lose my best friend,” she said, melancholy ringing heavy in her voice. I used the hand she was gripping to tilt her face up, so that she was looking me in the eye.

“Twilight, you’ll never have to worry about me leaving you. Even if I stop living with you, we both know I’ll still be here every day, even just to help with the books and cleaning.”

She smiled, eyes still swimming but no longer leaking. I patted her on her cheek, encouraging her smile with a grin of my own. She wiped at her eyes and smiled wider, then pushed me towards the table while she waved her hands, muttering about having a whole catalogue to reorder. I walked backwards, reminding her of her food and receiving another flapping of her hands for my troubles.

I reached the table to find all but my sandwiches gone, and half of all of our glasses quite empty.

“I was thirsty, and I didn’t think you’d mind, so I refilled some of my glass with yours,” Ditzy said. I nodded and picked up one of my sandwiches, taking a bite of pure cheese and bread. I raised an eyebrow and received a giggle in return. “Dinky wanted your turkey, also.”

“I don’t why we’re even waiting to get married, if you’re taking my food,” I pretended to grouse as I finished the grilled cheese and took a sip of my half glass. Ditzy had started to drink as well, but had stopped abruptly when I finished my sentence. She stared at me, mouth hanging wide.

“I, uhm, I don’t think I’m, well, ready…” she stuttered at me. I laughed out loud and leaned over the table to kiss her forehead.

“It wasn’t a proposal dear heart, only a joking complaint.” She nodded and hastily sipped at her juice while I ate my other sandwich. Dinky had just been looking through her book, done with her own food, when she spoke up on the matter and made her sister spit most of her drink back into her cup.

“I wouldn’t mind at all if Spike became my actual big brother.” She made a face at her sister’s outburst, then finished, “Besides, Miss Sparkle says you two might as well be married anyhow, with as much time as you spend together.”

“Well, a few short months is much too short for a proper courting,” I told her as Ditzy wiped her mouth and chin with a napkin. “People would talk. One year is the minimum, but I think your sister will hold out on me for two.”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Ditzy moaned, looking uncomfortably at Twilight who had been staring at Dinky and I.

I chuckled and complied. We talked about the book Dinky was reading, how her summer break was going so far, and if there were any boys who had caught her eye. Her book was a boring one about a subject she thought would be interesting but wasn’t, her summer had been dull so far but that was fine with her, and all the boys in her class were still gross but some of the older ones were starting to catch her eye.

“There’s this Pegasus named Lightning Flash who looks pretty cute,” she confided in us, “But I get the feeling he’s all looks. Scrawled Pages is much smarter, and he’s still pretty cute…”

Ditzy and I advised her sister as well as we could, holding hands underneath the table. The whole thing was just adorable to me, but it seemed to worry Ditzy a bit. I chalked it up to sisterly concern, same as Twilight. However, twelve was a little late to have just started discovering the opposite sex, and Twilight was quite older than twelve.

Eventually Twilight called me over to help her with some returned books, and then she had me cleaning some of the taller bookshelves. By the time we had finished shelving and cleaning Ditzy had decided that it was time to go home.

“It feels like we always come over to the library,” Dinky complained. “Can Spike start coming over more? It’s not like you don’t want him to.”

Ditzy muttered something about their house being dirty and waved her sister out the door, pushing gently but insistently. She turned and stood on tiptoe, but I shook my head.

“She has a good point. I could take tomorrow off and come visit you, if you don’t mind?”

Ditzy smiled and nodded, reaching up and bringing my face to hers for the kiss she was waiting for. “I suppose that’ll be okay,” she said before kissing me once more. “Just don’t complain if it’s still a bit messy.”

“Promise,” I said. “Should I bring something for dinner? I was planning on heading over when I finished my morning chores, but I don’t know how long I’ll stay…”

She smiled and shook her head. “We already have tomorrow’s dinner planned. And both of us know you’ll probably… spend the night,” she told me, reddening at the thought. My face joined hers and I felt the same silly smile spread across my mouth.

We bid each other goodnight, thoughts more on tomorrow than on any of the rest of the night. I walked back into the main room to find Twilight sitting at one of the normal tables, munching on a bread roll as she skimmed rapidly through her current studies. A thought popped into my head.

“Twi, I’m heading over to Sugarcube Corner. I’ve got to make sure the Cakes are all right.”

She mumbled around her bread and waved at me. I stepped out of the library, locking the door to keep patrons out and away from the studies of Twilight. Interrupting her in the middle of her thoughts could be dangerous, if not bodily than mentally. She’d gotten good at tearing down a person’s ego when she wanted to…

I had an uneventful trip to the bakery, waving at a few of the people I recognized from the library and a few recognized from the food stalls I bought fruits and vegetables from. I even got to wave at a passing Fluttershy, who smiled and waved back. She had a large basket of greens that she almost dropped, but she returned her hand to it in time to restore its balance.

I walked cautiously into the bakery and instantly recognized the smell in the air, the Ambrosia bread still lingering. I stepped out of the doorway and closed my eyes, stilling my mind before I opened my eyes and continued to the end of the counter, where Mrs. Cake was looking everywhere but at me, redder than a ladybug’s shell.

I waited where I stood, out of the way of any incoming or outgoing customers. It didn’t take long for the few customers in line to finish their orders, and no-one was hanging around the tables set around the shop. I closed and locked the door behind the last customer, flipping the open sign over to read, “Closed, come back tomorrow!” It was fifteen minutes early, but I didn’t think anyone would mind too much.

I took a seat at a table near the counter, while Mrs. Cake rushed into the back room with a few unsold pastries on a large tray. I heard some quiet words in the kitchen, then waved at the youth who walked out.

“Hiya Spike! Mrs. Cake is a little embarrassed right now, I hope you don’t mind if she hides in the kitchen and pretends to clean for a bit.” Pinkie plopped down in front of me, a large tightly wrapped bag in her hands, and I was suddenly very glad I was sitting down.

She noticed me fidgeting and smiled, widely. “Yeah, Mr. Cake says he doesn’t want that in the bakery anymore. Something about some of the younger men giving Mrs. Cake some looks?” She folded back the paper to reveal the rest of the loaf of Ambrosia bread, wrapped in plastic. The wrapping seemed to be very layered, as if whoever had wrapped it had done so many times.

“Mr. Cake says he can’t get the smell to go away, no matter how many times he wrapped it. He was trying for an awful long time, you know. There must be at least half a roll of plastic on that poor bread.” She giggled, taking the loaf in a hand and squeezing it, crinkling noisily.

“Most of our customers have been pretty quick to leave the store as well,” she told me, rewrapping the bread. “And we had a complaint from our neighbors to keep the windows shut, as well. They all said they needed a break from their spouses,” she said, keeping her eyes committed to whatever spot she had picked out.

I waved my hand over the table, breaking her line of sight and startling her out of her daydream. “Pinkie, do you need to stay in another bed tonight? You could use mine tonight.” Her face reddened, and I shook my head. “No, no. I am not using my bed tonight, at all. Do you need a place to sleep?”

She started to shake her head no, but a small crash sounded from behind the counter, in the kitchen. We both jumped to our feet, but a small moan halted our trip. Pinkie put her face in her hands and silenced a giggle with her fingers.

“You know, it may be safer. Let me go get a few things, and I’ll follow you home. But,” she ended suddenly, whirling to face me. “You will not only let me lock the door, but you’ll also lock the outside as well.” She was frowning, a nearly new expression from her. “I don’t want another embarrassing episode. I believe you’ve seen me naked quite enough, young dragon.”

Her skirt lifted as she spun towards the stairs, showing more of her thighs than I needed showing. I had the feeling that she had spun harder than necessary and flashed her skin on purpose, but she had bounced up the stairs before I could say anything. My mind started wandering, and I fought with it until she fell back down the stairs. She jumped up, having landed on a large bundle of what I hoped were very soft things.

“C’mon, and remember to pull all the curtains. I don’t want anyone walking by and discovering that they’ve… fell out of the kitchen. And onto the counter.” Pinkie walked over to the windows nearest her and started tugging on the cord to lower the blinds. There were only two large sets, one apiece to cover both sides of the store. Their size hindered the lowering though, and it took several seconds to get them down straight.

Looking towards the door, I frowned. “Uhm, what about…” I pointed at the pane glass door. While the blinds covered both halves of the store, the door itself was unhindered by any sort of blockage besides the “Closed” sign. Looking around, Pinkie snagged a tablecloth and held it up to the door.

“As long as no one’s trying to look, this should do.” She had to stand on her tiptoes to hold the sheet against the top of the doorframe, and her shirt tugged her skirt up another inch or so. It took me a second to gather my thoughts, long enough for her to look back and find me staring. She dropped her hands and blushed, shuffling uncomfortably.

I picked up another cloth and held it out. “Maybe we should tie this to the bottom, just in case somebody does get… curious.” Pinkie smiled, a small grin.

“To the bottom of what, the other tablecloth, or my skirt?” she joked, making three knots as she tied the two cloths together. I blushed and turned from her, gathering the bundle. The smell of the bread wafted out and into my face, and the table shifted away as its spell took effect.

“What was that scraping…?” Pinkie had turned to me, and I quickly dropped my jacket to waist height. She gave me a confused look, and then lost all expression as it dawned on her. Looking down at her shoes, she suddenly lifted her face and walked to me, a determined look on her face.

“Spike,” she started, looking slightly up into my eyes. “You know I’m a virgin, right?” Swallowing nervously, I nodded. I wasn’t sure where the conversation was heading, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. She slowly lifted one of her hands and placed it on my hip, not shifting her gaze.

I twisted away, grabbing her sack of supplies and making sure to keep the bread exactly where it was. “Well, we really should be going now. You have a key, right?”

She remained where she was for a minute, blinking up at the ceiling that used to be my face. Shaking her head slightly, she took a key out of her pocket and held it up. I opened the door and threw the tablecloths over the glass and adjusted it slightly, covering as much of the door as I could.

She walked through the door and took a deep breath of air, smiling at the sun and closing her eyes to the light. I closed and locked the door with her key. I made sure that all the glass was covered and turned to the young woman, being unusually still for her normal self.

Tapping her shoulder, I smiled down at her. She grinned back, and we started on our way back to the library.

Finding the Unfound

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late upload, I work 12-hour nights Friday and Saturday :P

“So, what are we supposed to do with this?”

Twilight waved irritably at the wrapped parcel, surrounded by a faintly glowing field. I had managed to keep the bread downwind of both Pinkie and I, but the smell had taken over the library moments after the door had closed. Two prolonged breaths had sent her scrambling for some dusty tome, and after some hurried ruffling the bread had been put into some sort of pocket that I didn’t have the brain power to understand at the moment.

“Well, we can’t really risk destroying it. Burning or obliterating it with magic would just send particles into the air, and we can’t risk hiding or burying it. It could seep into the ground, or attract something to it with the aroma.”

Pinkie was looking back and forth between Twilight and I, a wide smile pairing with a vacant look.

“We could simply let it rot away, let it take care of itself?”

I shook my head. “It was made with Dragonfire and magic. If it even rots, it would probably take years. And besides, aging may make the smell even more… potent.”

Twilight pulled her wand and pointed it to the pocket, muttering some modifying spell. The pocket shrunk to the same size as the bundle, but couldn’t seem to compress it any more than that.

“Well…” I started as Twilight put away her wand. A thought was forming, something monstrous and terrifying.

“We could… lock one of us away, and finish it. Eat the rest of the bread.”

Twilight gaped at me, and Pinkie locked her eyes onto the field of magic.

“That would be torture for whoever volunteered. Why would anyone take that suggestion?” Twilight shook her head. “And besides that, what about the ones to lock her up?”

“Why her?” I interjected. “Why can’t I be the volunteer?”

Twilight glanced down at my wand. “Spike, not only are you a sorcerer, you’re also a Dragon.

Any spell that could hold you would probably harm you. And if you do get out…” She glanced at Pinkie. “We’re the closest ones to you, right now.”

I frowned, trying to think my way around her logic and failing. “So, I guess that means no one’s eating it. I wouldn’t put Pinkie through that again, and you’re as powerful as I am with your magic.”

“Or you could take away my wand,” Twilight said, holding the wood out to me. I shook my head, pushing her hand back.

“You can still summon power, and a spell with power and no way to focus it would be even more dangerous. No, we need either another volunteer or another idea…”

Pinkie suddenly piped up. “Give it to Fluttershy.”

Both Twilight and I looked at her, skeptically. “What would she do with it that we cannot?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie laughed and rocked forward in her chair, leaning towards us over the table. Twilight and I leaned forward as well, and Pinkie whispered, “Mating season.”

I got it a few seconds before Twilight did, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Twilight looked at the two of us, confusion scrawled across her face.

“Twi, Fluttershy takes care of the animals!” I was recovering from my fit, but Pinkie seemed to be just hitting her giggle stride. “The animals have a specific mating season, so…”

“So she could feed the bread to them without any adverse consequences to the local biome!” she nearly yelled, excitement hitting as comprehension dawned.

“Well, I’ll just make sure that this spell will stick for a while, and I’ll find somewhere safe to keep it.” She picked up the packet gingerly, adverse to touching it more than she needed to. “Will you get a letter to her, Spike?”

“Sure,” I volunteered.

Twilight nodded. “Very well then. I’ll sleep in a bit, and Pinkie can too since neither the library or the bakery are open tomorrow.” She lifted an eyebrow at my expression. “Sunday, Spike. Do you want to know what the cancelation is for this?” she asked, hefting the lightly violet package.

I shook my head, pulling the book she’d found the spell in towards me. “I’m interested in the rest of the book may as well read it all.” I patted the blank spot beside me on the table. “You may as well leave that here, I’ll take care of it for a few.”

Twilight looked down at the bread and put it back on the table, wiping her palms on her shirt as if they could be dirty from the ambrosia. She saw my smirk and reddened, looking away and walking to the stairs leading to her room.

“Twilight,” I called, softly and deeply. She jumped slightly and turned her head to look behind her. “Goodnight, Twilight,” I said, keeping my previous tone. She muttered her reply and hurried up her stairs.

Pinkie smiled a bit and let her eyelids droop, leaning over to me.

It was apparently my turn to turn red, and Pinkie laughed quietly. “See you in the morning, Spike.” She stood up and hugged me loosely, then walked down the stairs to my own bedroom. I heard the door lock, and I pulled my wand to add my own lock to the outside as I had promised her.

That done, I put my hands over my face, and spent the next few minutes getting my thoughts straight.

………………………………

The sun was already up when I knocked on the cottage’s door, softly enough to hopefully keep from startling the owner inside. For a moment I was afraid that I had knocked too softly, until I heard a soft voice call through the door. It was too quiet for me to understand, but it at least meant that she was on the other side.

“Flutters, it’s me, Spike,” I called back, trying to keep my tone reassuring. I heard a couple of locks scrape open, and the door cracked enough to allow a lock of hair and an eye to peek through. I smiled and waved. The door closed, and I heard a last lock scrape through its housing before she

appeared in the doorway, pink hair hiding half of her eyes but less of her shy smile.

She looked at the bag slung over my chest, resting on my hip. I drew the still bewitched parcel out and held it up for her inspection, saying, “I come bearing gifts to the household, should they approve.”

Confused, she invited me in, fussing over some tea and cookies before she settled across her coffee table from me, her in a cushy chair and I on her equally plush couch.

“Now, just so you can know what we’re dealing with, I’m gonna open a small hole in this field,” I told her, placing the loaf on her table. “Is Dash gonna be around soon?”

“Uhm, yes, but… Can I ask why that’s important?” she asked, eyeing the package.

“You’ll see in a moment. Nothing really dangerous, I assure you. Nothing important to do today, either of you?”

“Uhm, I don’t think so, the animals are all foraging today and Dash already has her work for the weekend done. But how will this affect her if she isn’t here…?”

I laughed lightly. “The… effects will linger long enough. But again, the only danger may be dehydration,” I told her, a wry smile playing its way across my lips. She only shook her head, and I pulled my wand.

“Brace yourself,” I warned, then cancelled the pocket when she nodded to me. Instantly the smell of the ambrosia enveloped the room, washing away the smell of the forest that usually permeated the house. I recast the spell, stuttering once but managing to lock the bread away again.

I peered over at Fluttershy, trying to gauge her reaction. She was entirely still, and more than a little pale. In a moment her face flooded with blood, a trickle of it running from her left nostril slowly. I moved towards her, but her hand shot up in front of me, one finger extended skyward, telling me to have patience.

After half a minute, she reached slowly to a side table with tissue resting on top of it. She calmly wiped at her nose, clearing the thin red line and licking a tip to finish the stain. She put it into a basket underneath the same table, then resumed her earlier position, looking straight into the floor between her knees.

“Fluttershy?”

She twitched at my voice, then lifted her eyes to mine. The blush that had been receding came back in full force, but she kept her gaze locked with mine.

“Flutters, are you okay?”

She shivered a little, eyes closing for a second. When they reopened, she smiled slightly.

“No, not really,” she said huskily. “I need you to get Rainbow. As soon as you can. Or at least… not be here. Because…”

I nodded, standing. Her eyes stayed where mine had been though, and she ended up eye level to my waist. Her blush darkened, and she slowly licked her lips.

Blushing as hard as she was now, I hastily retreated three steps. “I’m, uh, going to leave that here, along with a note explaining everything,” I said, pulling a roll of parchment from my bag and tossing it to the table. “Let me know if you’re okay with the, uh, plan. I’ll go get Dash now, uhm…”

She stood slowly, looking at me as though she was a bear just out of hibernation. I turned and ran, rushing through the door and summoning my wings to my back as I fled the cottage. I jumped into the air and looked behind me, watching Fluttershy slowly close the door I’d left open.

Flapping my leathery wings, I sighed deeply and berated myself for not giving her a little more warning. I hadn’t wanted to go into details with her, and that almost cost me a tail… I shuddered at the thought of an angry Rainbow Dash.

Finding Rainbow’s house was a simple matter, considering how many Pegasi made their homes on the ground in town instead of in the sky like she did. While it wasn’t the only one, hers was more obvious with her Cloudsdale design. While the other few Pegasi who made their homes of the clouds had created them with a style more designed for regular Earth-bound homes, she had made hers grand and swooping, with quite a few ‘cloudfalls’ as some called them. Particles of water leapt as fog that ran in loops, the falls sparkling prettily in the sunlight, even turning into rainbows in the right angle of light.

Landing on what could be considered to a front porch, I stretched my wings as far as they would go before folding them into my back. They weren’t used to the exertion and ached dully, but the ache felt good. Shuffling them into a more comfortable position, I placed two fingers between my lips and whistled, a version of knocking on Rainbow’s door.

Looking up, I found her window and waited. A multicolored mess poked out eventually, frizz and tangles losing to each other over an irritated, confused face.

“Spike? What in the name of Celly are you doing up here, at this time, on my day off!?”

Laughing, I told her to get dressed and get down to where I was. She huffed until I told her Fluttershy wanted her, then grumbled at me to wait and be patient. After a ten minute wait, a brushed and rough dressed Rainbow Dash walked out of her front door, yawning and stretching her wings out to her side.

“What’s the deal with Flutterbutt?” she asked sleepily, using a pet name I hadn’t heard before.

“Oh, you’ll find out. Nothing bad, just something to be ready for.”

She lifted one of her eyebrows, looking curiously at me. I regretted not telling Fluttershy about the bread, but I wanted to keep it a surprise for Dash. It wouldn’t hurt Rainbow’s feelings, the way I feared I might have hurt Fluttershy’s.

“You’re not getting anything out of me, Rainbutt,” I told her, making a face at her. This only seemed to confused her, and I laughed again. “Not really awake yet?”

She shook her head, and I reached into my pocket and withdrew some coins. “Here, buy a coffee or something on the way, you’ll need to be awake when you get there.”

She took a moment to stare at me, incredulous. She snatched the money from my palm, muttering angrily about ‘mystery dragons’, and dove from the cloud before I could bid her farewell. Laughing to myself, I fell off the other side of her porch, heading home.

The library was still asleep when I arrived, the outer spell on my room still intact and undisturbed. I went ahead and removed it, confident that Pinkie wasn’t going to awake and molest me or anyone else. A yawn surprised me though, coming from across the room.

Walking around the chair, I found Twilight reading a book, very heavy lids staying barely open. She smiled vaguely up at me, then went back to her book.

“Trouble sleeping?” I asked her. Insomnia plagued the poor Unicorn, for reasons no one seemed to be able to figure out, and she remained sketchy about it when asked. I always just chalked it up to her not being able to tire her mind sufficiently; when we talked late at night, it always seemed like her mind was always computing at something.

“Only a little. Mostly trouble staying asleep.” She looked up at me, blushing slightly. “The, ah, effects of the ambrosia… linger.”

I nodded, chuckling. “I remember. Anything you want to talk about?”

She started to shake her head, but stopped herself with a sigh.

“I still sometimes forget how old you are,” she groused, tone gentle. “May I speak with you about something I can only otherwise speak to Celestia about?”

I nodded, sitting in a chair across from hers. She tried starting several times, stopping each time. I reached across the table and took her hand, smiling warmly at her. She smiled back and took a breath to start.

“I’m… lonely. And a little afraid.” I tried to ask her a question, but she anticipated it and held up her hand. “I know you’re always here, always by my side. But…” She gazed up into the shelves she was facing. “Your heart belongs to Ditzy. It does now, anyhow.”

She wiped at her face, and I realized she was crying. I stood from my chair and walked around the table, sitting once again on the arm of Twilight’s chair. I pulled her close to my side, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and pushed her face into my side, holding me tight.

This wasn’t the first time she’d cried on me. Night terrors occasionally plagued her dreams, and she’d been known to crawl into my bed and hold on to me much like she was now. I’d stroke her hair and whisper her fears away. Now though, I could say nothing. I didn’t know what to tell her.

“Twilight,” I said gently when her sobs had abated. She lifted her face to me, her eyes puffy and red from crying and pressing against me. “Twilight, you know I love you, so very much. While what I have with Ditzy is strong, it’s not stronger than our bond. I, I don’t know what to say, much less how to say it, but… I will be here whenever you need me, always.”

She nodded, laying her head on my thigh. “I just… I just have this hole in me, and I don’t know how to make it feel better. I can only think that what you have with Ditzy would help…”

Extremely uneasy, I leaned away to look down at her head. “Twi, there has to be someone you like around town. Surely some young man has caught your eye?”

“Not any young man, no,” she said bitterly, smiling through her tears.

“Oh, Twi,” I breathed, whispering into the air. “I… I didn’t know.”

She smiled up at me, nervous. “It doesn’t… make you think any less of me, does it?”

I snorted. “Twilight, why would I judge you for sharing my tastes? That’s like judging someone else for having as many fingers as I do.”

She nodded, sitting awkwardly on the edge of the chair and laughing through water.

“Is there any way I can help?” I asked, after some silence had lasted a little too long.

She shrugged, barely moving her shoulders. “I don’t even know why I’m this distraught,” she complained, when I had almost sat back in my chair across from her.

She seemed less miserable now, but still a bit too weepy for me. I left my chair and wondered up front, where we kept some tissue for those who needed them.

“I mean,” she continued from across the room, “I don’t know how to even ascertain whether anyone else is…”

“Gay?” I asked lightly, offering her the box of tissue.

She took the proffered box, wiping at her eyes and nose and giggling. “Yeah. I guess I’m just, super-oblivious. Or I didn’t really think about it, until a few years ago...” She sighed again, and smiled at me. This one wasn’t watery, and her sniffles had even stopped for the moment. “Thank you so much, Spike. This feels so much better, having this off of my chest.” She sniffled one last time, blew her nose into a tissue, then stood.

“I never really got to sleep, though. I’m off to bed, to whatever end. We can talk about this some more, later, if you want.”

I nodded with a light smile. She smiled back, and left the room still holding the tissues. As soon as she was gone I sighed heavily, cupping my face and leaning my elbows on the table. This was strange to me, and I’d had to deal with anything like this.

I mean, the easiest way of combating this seemed to be getting Twilight a girlfriend, but I’d never had anything like a first date with Ditzy…

I straightened, remembering something. I knew someone who could help us, a sort of couple’s counselor.

Rarity.

Pink Temptation 2

I’d left the library shortly after Twilight had gone to sleep for the second time. It hadn’t taken me long at all to reach the little boutique. Rarity opened the door shortly after I’d knocked, and confessed to being up since near dawn to work on dress orders. Inviting me in, I was offered my second cup of tea. Declining, I took a seat and blurted, “I need someone to talk to. I need a counselor. For counseling.”

After frowning, she asked what I had meant. Breathing as deeply as I could, I slowed my racing mind.

“I need you to promise me this won’t leave the room. And Twilight especially needs not hear of this, not yet.” Rarity leaned her head to the side and gave me a strange look. I shook my head and launched into my explanation, covering the conversation I’d had with my best friend minutes ago.

She’d started the conversation fussing with the arrangement of the teapot and cups on the table, but as I got deeper into the conversation she stopped what she was doing and dedicated her whole attention to me, concern slowly covering her features.

“And, what is it you want me to do, dear? I’m not sure how I could help her… Maybe set her up with someone?” Rarity was staring into her cup of tea, mumbling to herself what sounded to be names.

“Honestly,” I said, interrupting her, “I was hoping you, or someone you know of, had gone through something similar. I figured I could count on you, for, uhm, love advice. I’m very out of my elements here. Anything you think will help…”

Rarity nodded. “You need to get her head off of, well, the problem. Get her public, find out who she could be interested…” A faint blush stole over her features.

Looking back into her cup, she asked, “Speaking of, uhm, suitors, do you know… who she would prefer?”

I understood what she was asking, but when my mouth opened to answer I realized I didn’t know.

“Uhm… I mean, we’ve never talked about, and she’s always been too busy studying to really… figure it out. I mean, she’s never been asked out by a lady before, or asked anyone herself… I have no idea.”

Red, Rarity stirred a spoon absentmindedly through her tea, though the cream she’d added was long dispersed. A thought occurred to me, and I leaned forward.

“Rarity?” I asked, gently. She looked up, into my eyes. “Would you like me to ask Twi if she likes would like… a Lady?”

Her blush deepened and she lifted her cup, pushing it into her nose as she missed her mouth. She set her cup on the saucer on the table in front of her and took a small bit of air.

“Rarity,” I said gently, reaching out and laying my hand on hers. “Please, don’t be nervous. The worst that could happen is that she says no, and she won’t even be saying no to you.”

“No, but you will be,” she pointed out, a sad smile on her face. I inclined my head, my own small smile sitting on my face.

“Which would be worse, no or no answer? Better than to love and lose, et cetera.”

Her smile warmed a bit, touching her eyes. “I suppose so. Then, yes dear, please ask her… for me.”

I nodded, smiling. Curiosity struck, and I asked her what exactly interested her in Twilight, eliciting a shy smile I’d never seen her wear before.

“Spike, you’ve been with her for so long that I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but she is an extremely good looking young woman. Maybe a bit too bookish for some, but I love how well-read she is. And she’s so cute when she’s wrapped up in some book, and when she tries reading while she’s walking somewhere…”

Her blush disappeared slowly as she talked about her crush, and I realized that she had to have been harboring her feelings for quite some time for them to develop this far. I felt myself grinning.

Rarity noticed my smile and her blush returned, her lips slamming shut and her eyes wandering to the floor, conjuring an image of purple haired Fluttershy. I laughed softly and stood.

“Thank you Rarity, you’ve helped me a great deal.” I offered her my hand, and she took it as she lifted from her chair. I squeezed gently, covering her hand with my other. “I hope I can return the favor, truly.”

She lifted her eyes to return my gaze, and I smiled at her own small grin. “I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up, should I?”

I shook my head. “No, maybe not. But I can’t tell you not to, either. Hope is all anyone could, erhm… hope for?” I scratched my head, trying to think of another way to phrase that.

Rarity laughed and hugged me, squeezing her arms around my chest. “I think I understand what you mean, Spike. Now go away, I’ve some dresses that need to be tended to.” She pushed me gently to the door. “Really though… thank you.”

I smiled and nodded, then turned to head home. I heard her door close, and a small shout as soon as the latch was slid into place. Hoping that her excitement was not wasted, I set out with a smile.

……………………………………..

Pinkie was awake when I entered the library. The clinking of pots and pans let slip that someone was awake, and I knew Twilight wouldn’t have been messing with the cookery. Enough failed experiments had taught us both better.

Following the smell of warm grains and hot raisins, I ventured cautiously into the kitchen. She didn’t seem to hear me, humming to herself as she mixed a batch of whatever she was making in a large bowl. I pulled a chair out from beneath the table as quietly as I could manage, watching pink hair sway as she mixed the dough.

I’m ashamed to admit I also watched her bend over to grab a pan from the counter. I’d seen her shirt sleeves when I’d came in, but I neglected to see whether she’d worn her pants as well. Light green panties greeted me as locks of her hair cascaded over her back, supported by pale thighs. Deciding to let myself be known, I whistled lowly.

Pinkie spun around, wide-eyed and open mouthed. She quickly regained her composure, standing straight-backed and smiling at me. “Well, thanks for the confidence booster,” she said. “I wish you hadn’t had to scare me for it, though.”

“Well, if you’d known I was here, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the… vista.” I glanced pointedly at her bare legs, and she blushed and pulled some of her hair in front of her face. It wasn’t quite long enough to hide anything, but it was definitely one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

Laughing, I asked, “Pinkie Pie, do you want me to find you some clothes? Are your pants dirty?”

“Uhm, no, I’m just used to not putting on all my clothes on Sunday mornings, since Mr. and Mrs. Cake usually don’t wake up until after noon. I always have a shirt in case,” she said, tugging on her sleeves, “but I usually just wear some undershorts. But all of my actual shorts were dirty, so…

Holding up my hand, I waved away the barrage. “It’s okay Pinkie, I understand. I usually stick to shorts myself, when it’s warm enough. Go get dressed, so I can stop making fun of you.”

She nodded and scampered out of the kitchen, trying to hold her hair down and failing. I stood from my chair, walking around the table and over to the counter the bowl of dough sat, unguarded. I grabbed a spoon nearby, ready to dunk it until I saw a note attached.

“No Touching!” it proclaimed, with several exclamation points. Raising an eyebrow, I pulled the note off and examined it. On the reverse side was another message, “I Mean It!”

Laughing, I replaced the spoon and sat back down to await a fully clothed Pinkie.

Pants back on, she was much chattier. Watching her bounce around, placing her dough on a baking sheet and placing it in the oven, I noticed that she seemed a lot more energetic than before.

“Pinkie?”

She stopped in the middle of some story about Applejack messing up a muffin recipe.

“Pinkie, do you act like this on purpose?”

She smiled secretively, and made a locking motion in front of her lips. Smiling, I nodded. I may not understand her motives, but Pinkie could most certainly act any way she wanted.

“Can I ask why? It surely must be tiring.”

She shrugged. “It’s more fun this way. People around me have more fun, and I certainly do.”

Laughing, I nodded and motioned to the seat across from me. “Well, you don’t have to act for me.”

Giggling herself, she sat and launched back into her story, just a full of energy as before.

…………………………………………….

Mumbling sleepily, Twilight walked into the kitchen around an hour later. Pinkie’s cookies had turned out well, popping out of the oven about forty-five minutes ago. Cool enough to eat a few minutes after, Pinkie and I had had a very sweet lunch of oatmeal cookies and milk.

Twilight walked over to the counter, where the remainder of our lunch sat. Staring at the pile, Twilight seemed to zone out for a minute. Breaking the spell, I asked her, “Twi, would you like some breakfast?”

Slowly nodding, she picked up the tray and brought it to the table. Sitting heavily, she reached over and took my glass of milk, half full and still cool. Slurping noisily, she stuffed half a cookie in her mouth as a chaser. She ignored our stares, but huffed when we smothered giggles… after her fourth cookie.

Finishing my milk, she seemed a bit more aware than before at least. Well, her eyes were a bit more open. She stared at the plate, obviously contemplating more cookies, but pushed it towards me. A blush started when she caught my eye, and she looked away slowly.

Rubbing my chin, I stared at her, trying to think of the best way to ask about her… dating preferences. Glancing at Pinkie, I wondered if I could plan it with her… But then she might start thinking of Pinkie instead of Rarity, and that wasn’t even close to what I wanted. Just getting Twilight a companion was no longer the objective, now it was specifically Rarity I was thinking of for her partner.

“Twilight, do you look at guys?”

Both the librarian and I looked over at Pinkie, standing by the window. We both got up and made our way to the window, to see what she was staring at. It turned out to be the clouds. Pinkie looked at the both of us with surprise, and asked, “What?”

“Uhm, I guess we thought you were looking at a guy.” I looked all along the street, while Twilight looked at the floor, concentration playing across her face. “What brought this up?”

“Oh, nothing in particular,” she said, staring dreamily back up to the clouds.

“I look at both, I guess.” This seemed to surprise both of us, and it was Pinkie’s turn to stare with me. “Uhm, w-well, the only people I see are my five friends and Spike,” Twilight stuttered. “A-a-and, well…”

“We’re all dead sexy, so you like looking,” Pinkie finished, nodding sagely. Twilight blushed, looking at a wall instead of meeting our gaze, and I laughed.

Elbowing Pinkie gently, I said, “Well, it’s not like she has any lack of eye candy with you five around.” Pinkie joined Twilight in the blushing club, and Twilight hid her face with a hand, muttering about how that wasn’t what she meant.

“So, you mean you look at more ladies than guys,” I quipped.

“Statistically!” she protested loudly.

Laughing, Pinkie hugged Twilight and I patted her on a shoulder. “We’re only joking, silly!” Pinkie giggled, letting go of Twilight. “And besides, I’m really flattered, as I’m sure the rest of the girls would be. It’s no reason at all to be embarrassed.”

Still blushing, Twilight nodded, embarrassed all the same.

“Besides, it’s not like none of us have never thought…” Pinkie let the thought trail off, to finish in my head. Blush rising, I noticed that I was the odd man out this time. Twilight and Pinkie were staring at me, one frowning and the other grinning mischievously.

“I get the feeling that some of us never really stopped,” Twilight said, disapprovingly. “And never really should have started.”

Raising an eyebrow, I met Twilight’s gaze. “Which of your friends have you imagined, Twi? How many at the same time?”

Her face blazed, and she attempted to hide most of it under her hands, leaving only purple eyes to gaze back.

“Ooh, more than one, definitely. Naughty Mrs. Sparkle, how many?”

Blushing wildly, she muttered something under her breath that made Pinkie's eyes widen in shock, and cheeks blaze nearly as red as hers. I moved a little closer, moving my hand up to my ear.

“Five, okay!” Twilight yelled, anger and shame covering her face. I felt my face copy Pinkie’s, and Twilight fidgeted nervously.

“Wow,” Pinkie said after a minute. “I've only ever gotten up to four, I've never needed that one extra.”

Thinking fast, I cleared my throat and said, “Well, I guess that means I've beaten both of you.” They both looked at me, aghast.

“Yup,” I forced myself to say, leaning forward with a grin. “Seven,” I whispered.

Their eyes widened, and for a few uncomfortable moment they stared at me. Then Pinkie burst into laughter, falling over and holding her sides as she gasped for breath between gales. After a minute, my composure broke and I joined her, sliding out of my chair to lie on my face.

Twilight stared at us like we were idiots for a bit, then joined our giggling. Eventually all of our laughter faded away, and we two were left on the ground, grinning like idiots.

Finally, Twilight spoke up. “Well, I wasn’t lying about my number. Pinkie?”

“Nah,” she said. “It’s usually just one or two at a time with me, but the most at one time is usually everyone but Rainbow or Fluttershy. Nobody needs two Pegasi.”

Looking over at me, they both raised an eyebrow and waited. Sighing, I thought about it for a minute. Twilight tapped her finger impatiently, and Pinkie was leaning closer every second.

“Two,” I admitted. “Three, maybe once.”

Twilight stared at me, disbelieving. Pinkie laughed though. “You’re so boring, Spike. Can I ask who?”

“Feel free to ask,” I told her, making a face, “but don’t expect me to tell you. Not the truth anyhow.”

The princesses had been a onetime fantasy; thinking back on that dream made me feel too guilty to enjoy the thought, even after adding Ditzy. Not to say that the thought hadn’t gone anywhere…

“Wait, that’s hardly fair,” Twilight protested. “You know both of ours, why can’t we know yours?”

“Because mine is extremely personal. Know that Ditzy was one of my three, and leave it at that. Please,” I pleaded.

“So, was she not one of your…?” Pinkie trailed off, me having fixed her with a blank stare when she’d started speaking.

“So, uhm, Twi. You said you’d imagined all of us? Do we get equal, uhm, ‘screen time’?” Pinkie asked hastily.

“I, I don’t know,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “I’ve never really thought about it. Uhm, I think it may be a tie between…”

She stopped, blushing hard.

“So, between Pinkie and?” I asked, tired of playing around the topic. I wanted information half an hour ago, I was tired of messing around.

Pinkie blushed and squealed quietly behind her hands as Twilight looked pointedly away.

“Uhm, I suppose it’s a tie between Pinkie, and… Maybe Fluttershy? Rarity? They’re both just so beautiful, and Rarity is so refined while Fluttershy is so kind… Not that Rarity isn’t, it’s just…”

She sighed and stopped speaking. “Spike, can we drop this? I’m feeling very… drained right now.”

“One last thing, and I’ll be quiet,” I promised. She sighed and nodded, closing her eyes and resting her head in her hands.

“Pinkie, can we have privacy,” I asked, making a face. “Your presence could color the answer.”

“Yeah, okay. I have to use the bathroom anyhow.” She jumped to her feet, making her the first one off the floor. Striding purposefully, she left the two of us alone.

“Twi,” I started, waiting for her to ready herself. “Would you…” I chewed on my lip, trying to make sure I phrased this correctly. “If one of your friends were interested, would you date any of them?”

Surprised, she stared, wide eyed, into her lap. After a minute, she smiled lightly and blushed. “Yes, absolutely. Are you asking for a particular person? Do I get to know who it is?”

Laughing, I shook my head. “No no, I believe I’ll let her introduce herself. Although,” I paused, a thought flashing into my head. “I may keep it a secret until…” I leaned forward, keeping her eyes on mine. “You would agree to a date with any of your friends, to potentially date one of them?”

She tugged nervously on a strand of hair for a brief second, then smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. No matter who, I will take them seriously on a date.” Leaning forward, she peered towards the door. “But, you’ve got to warn me if it’s Pinkie, okay? I’ll need to prepare all of my energy for her,” she chuckled.

“Not me,” chimed the woman as she whipped back into the kitchen. “Sorry Twi, I’m not interested like that.” She cracked a cookie into halves, one going into her mouth, the other half offered to both of us. We waved it away.

“In ladies, or just in me?” Twilight asked, a little disappointed but still chipper.

“In anyone, really.” She took the neglected cookie piece and finished it. “Life’s full of too many other things right now, I’m too busy for a soul mate. But attractive-wise?” She grinned at us both, leaning forward and pushing her shoulders together, adding a seductive suggestion to her expression. “I’m interested in making sandwiches,” she said huskily, looking pointedly from me to Twilight.

Giggling, she picked up the rest of the cookies and put them into a bag she produced from her pockets.

“But not right now,” she chimed. Walking over to me, still sitting on the floor, she tilted my red face up and kissed me, chastely, on the lips. She turned and bent over again, giving me leave to a very unchaste view as she kissed Twilight the same way. “I need to get home, check on the Cakes and make sure they’re still alive and hydrated.”

Winking, she left the kitchen. After we both heard the front door close, Twilight and I shared our gaze, taking in the other’s red face.

“Did she give you…” I started.

“A fantastic view of a very juicy bottom?” the scholar finished, burning bright as she completed my sentence. I nodded, and she mimicked the gesture. “Yeah, she did.”

We kept each other’s gaze for another few seconds, before I broke into uncomfortable chuckling. Twilight started giggling as well, and we shared another moment before I stood, reaching a hand out to help her off the floor. She took my hand and I pulled her up, the both of us nearly touching we ended up so close.

“So,” I started lamely, stepping away. “Pinkie is tied for first? May I ask why?”

Twilight reddened further, lowering her face. It took a minute, but she finally said, “She’s so… voluptuous. Just seeing her move sometimes…” She lifted her hands and pressed them over her chest. “Just feeling her lips on mine…”

I coughed, extremely uncomfortable. Twilight seemed to realize what she was doing, and snapped her hands away from her chest. “I’m gonna go clean some… books!”

She dashed from the room. I stood looking through the doorway, then looked at the dishes sitting in the sink from Pinkie’s visit.

“Well, they’re not going to do themselves… Yet.” I walked over to the sink, and started scrubbing away the cookie crumbs and old milk.

Author's Notes:

Like, two chapters to new pony words. Three, max.

Silliness and Dinner

“I’m nervous,” said Twilight, messing with the hair she had let Rarity doctor into waves. Out of her usual ponytail, her hair seemed to become alive; it shone in the light, and floated gently with the breeze before falling back into the place it had rested before.

“Of course you are,” Ditzy chirped happily. “It’s your first date, and you look wonderful, and I do too, and Spike will when he changes, and we’re going to have a wonderful time!”

Rarity had insisted on doing the ladies’ hair long before the date, to Twilight’s unrelenting displeasure. I talked her out of complaining too much though; I knew that Rarity had her own preparations to see to.

It had taken a week or so to get everyone’s schedule set straight; making sure that the four of us all had nothing going on. Ditzy and I were there to make sure nothing went wrong, and to have our own little date. Twilight had wrinkled her nose at the idea of a double-date, but had spoken no objections.

Ditzy had received a small makeover, a simple hair treatment and a bun. Rarity had almost started on me, but once I knew she was trying it was easy to keep away from her. I kept my usual spikes, for now.

Rarity had also left us with clothes; elegant evening gowns for the ladies and a suit for me. The dresses teased and hinted at hidden curves, and I had lost myself whenever I put my hand on Ditzy’s waist or back. I’d even found myself trailing my hand from her hip around her side, and almost started up over her stomach before she tapped my hand sharply.

Blushing, I walked over to my own finery. Holding it up, I stared critically over the jacket and pants that made up the suit, along with a… bow tie? I looked over at Ditzy, and it was her turn to grin. Handing me a white shirt, she pushed me towards the bathroom and flapped her hands. Dejected, I walked in and start changing.

The suit was more comfortable than I expected, but I still felt stifled in the jacket. Twilight smiled and walked over, reaching up and undoing the tie with a quick tug and remaking it.

Pressing gently on it to flatten it to my shirt, she stepped back and both girls eyed me, making me squirm a little. Apparently they liked what they saw; Ditzy smiled widely, and Twilight blushed and smiled as well, though much more shyly than Ditzy.

“Ready for your date, Twilight? She’s very lovely. If I were single I might be jealous,” I told her, winking at Ditzy. She didn’t know yet who were meeting, so she’d likely be just as surprised as Twilight to see Rarity again.

Twilight kept her blush, but now it was directed at the floor. She started tugging gently on a wisp from one of her bangs. Ditzy squished her own face, pushing her cheeks together and moving her hands up and down slightly.

“Twi-i-i-lie,” she almost moaned, pulling the I’s until the name lasted for moments instead of the single second it normally took. “You’re much too cute like that!” Her hands lifted from her own cheeks and gravitated towards Twilight’s, pinching threateningly. “Stop it now, or I’ll mush your cheeks up good!”

Twilight eyed Ditzy’s fingers and stepped back, forcing her hand to drop away from her hair. It bobbed, curled into shape from Twilight’s worrying. It seemed strangely content to be there, for a lock of stray hair. Instead of the promised pinching, Ditzy soothed back the hair, placing it back behind Twilight’s ear the way Rarity had it.

Twilight blushed and glanced over at me. I grinned and held up six fingers, causing her to frown and shake her head in confusion.

“I’ll explain it to you later,” I told her, keeping my quiet laughter to myself. Frowning, she glanced up at the clock.

“What time are we supposed to be there?” she asked again.

“You know it’s six. If you’re ready we can head out, and just be there ahead of her.” I shrugged at her, trying to convey my apathy. While I was as excited as she was about this date, I wasn’t nearly as anxious as she was.

“… Yeah, I think I’ll go crazy if I sit here too much longer. It’s fifteen minutes away, right?” She looked nervously down at her shoes; small thick platforms that made her look like she was going to a meeting.

“Yes, but I’m not going to make you wear your shoes until we get there,” I assured her. The ones Rarity had picked out worked great with Twilight’s turquoise gown, but they weren’t made for walking, even over the most level of paths. I’d had her snag a purse that matched reasonably well, and told her she could hide her current shoes when we got near to the train.

We had agreed that Ponyville, while very picturesque and warm, was simply not a great place for eating out. While it could boast fresh foods, no one had taken advantage of that fact quite yet. A small diner and the Cake’s bakery were the most one could hope for, and with Pinkie squealing pretty much incessantly whenever she saw Twilight and the diner closed on weekends, Canterlot was our backup.

I’d sent a message ahead, a reservation request, and been nervous until I got the confirmation the day before. About thirty minutes after the train ride, to get to the eatery. Plenty of time to find the place, which I remembered being close to the station.

And hopefully, the train ride would be enough to let Twilight and Rarity get over their inevitable awkwardness. Rarity would probably be okay, but Twilight was definitely going to be… intense.

I sighed, walking to the door. “Come on then, she might be there already anyway. I think she’s looking forward to this as much as you are…”

Twilight looked at me skeptically as she walked past me. “I don’t know who could be that anxious to date me, I think I’m pretty approachable.”

“I just bet,” I muttered, locking the door before closing it.

………………………………………………..

We were first to the station, which surprised me. Twilight had changed into her other heels early in case her date was actually there, and had teetered and tottered the rest of the way to the station. Ditzy was unusually light on her feet in her heels, only ever tripping once. Twilight had never hit the ground, with the both of us supporting her, but had gotten very close to tipping the lot of us on our bottoms.

We reached the platform with five minutes to spare; five minutes to wait on Rarity and let the awkwardness begin. We sat on a bench to wait for the fourth in our group. Looking over at Twilight, I discovered her to be as fidgety as I’d expected, looking from her shoes to the clock on the wall to the bracelet Rarity had placed on a slender wrist.

Ditzy was fidgety herself, although her wide smile betrayed feelings as excitement rather than anxiety.

“Ever been to Canterlot, outside of Post Office business?” I asked, slipping my fingers between hers.

“Only once, to buy Dinky a wand. I wanted to find one that wouldn’t break easily, but Elm Branch doesn’t have a lot to work with here.” She tensed her hand, gently locking our fingers together. “I went to see a man named Carbon, whose father was a blacksmith that forged indescribable wands, in many different forms. He was also known for his blades, until he disappeared from his store. No one’s really sure where he went, and his son won’t say anything except that he’s alive, and doing fine.”

Twilight shared a look with me, and I put a hand to the pendant I wore on my wrist. Nodding, we didn’t say anything. I hadn’t known Graphite was in hiding…

“Anyway, it had been said that he’d taught his son some of his trade, and that he had a shop of his own in Canterlot, hidden away in some corner.” Ditzy giggled and shook her head. “He was ‘hidden’ near the train station, in a lovely square surrounded by bookshops and scribe suppliers. I wouldn’t have even known he was a smith, if not for the heat from his forge coming through his open door.

“Some people just love the drama of a story. He was very nice too, made a good wand from some Ironwood he had around. A little pricey, but I think it was very worth it.”

“That was a very lovely story dear, but I think we may be late for our train.”

Twilight and Ditzy jumped and turned, Rarity finally speaking up. She’d gotten here a few minutes ago, about halfway through Ditzy describing our favorite blacksmith. She’d sat down, and I winked at her to let her know I’d seen her. Twilight had been so wrapped up in Ditzy’s story that she hadn’t noticed the elegant woman sat behind her, and Ditzy had been staring into space as she told her story, a habit left over from recalling addresses she’d forgotten.

Rarity had gone a little more daring with her dress than the others, letting it dip into her cleavage as much as she could while remaining tasteful. Her hair was down around her shoulders, loose curls bouncing and bobbing with her movements. She had some sort of jeweled chain in her hair, holding her hair away from her face and eyes.

On her ears small silver pendants sparkled in the light, and she had a matching necklace of what looked to be silver lace. She was wearing gloves that shined with a dull light, and matching heels that looked vaguely like Twilight’s.

Confused and sputtering, Twilight stared at Rarity. “H-hi Rar-Rarity, what are you…?” Taking in her dress, Twilight blushed and hid her mouth with a hand. “Oh, are y-y-you…?”

Blushing, Rarity smiled shyly and nodded.

I sighed and put a hand on hyperventilating Twilight’s head. “Twi, calm down. Breathe in… and out.”

Twilight swatted at my hand, frowning furiously and mumbling something at me. Frowning myself, I stepped between Twilight and Rarity.

“Twilight, what on earth is going on? What is wrong?” I whispered under my breath.

“Oh Spike, it’s Rarity,” she moaned miserably, “and I can’t go with her, not her…”

Frowning deeply, I glanced over my shoulder at a bewildered Rarity and Ditzy. “Go snag a seat, we’ll be right there,” I assured them, snagging Twilight by her elbow and pulling her away.

I stopped suddenly, whirling towards Twilight. “Twilight,” I almost hissed, lowly enough to not be heard by the others, “what do you mean you can’t go on a date with her? What’s wrong with Rarity?”

“Nothing!” she almost shouted, freezing me in place with my confusion. “Nothing is wrong with her Spike,” she almost sobbed. “She’s the most beautiful person I know, and I’m…” She sobbed, pressing into me. “I’m… a librarian. A shut-in, a bookworm…”

I sighed and wrapped my arms around her thin shoulders. Pulling some cloth from my pocket, I gently pulled away from Twilight and lifted her tear-stained face. When she looked at me, confused, I plopped the tissue on her face. She stopped sobbing almost immediately. Wiping at her eyes, I pulled the cloth from her face.

“Spike,” she said, once more in command of her breathing and tears. I’d never seen a less telling face than hers in that moment. “Why did you cover my head like that?”

“I thought it would help you feel better,” I said, shrugging. “I didn’t really think it through. Did it work?”

She slowly nodded, as though anything from the past few minutes had made sense. Sniffling one last time, she took the cloth back from my hands and blew her nose, quietly.

Looking back towards Rarity, her mouth quivered again. I touched her chin and pulled her back into my eyes.

“Hey,” I said softly. “Wanna know something?”

“What’s that?” she asked, whispering along with me.

“Rarity was terrified that you wouldn’t be attracted to her,” I told her, smiling. “She swore to me that you’d turn her away.”

Confused, she peeked over my shoulder at her date. “But Spike… how could anyone turn her away? She’s… gorgeous, in every way…”

“And she said much the same about you,” I told her, straightening from the posture I’d affected to whisper to Twilight. “Now, stop being so defeatist and talk to the woman, she’s as nervous as you are and probably thinks you’ve rejected her.”

Twilight whirled around me and strode back to the bench, where Rarity was sitting quietly, tears in her eyes. Gently tugging on Rarity’s shoulder, Twilight looked down into Rarity’s eyes and whispered something.

I’m told by Twilight she only said sorry, but it made Rarity sob even more. I did hear the next part for myself.

“I was so scared of the thought of you… I had no idea that you could be nervous too. Rarity, I’m sorry I didn’t ask you myself… Would you… go to dinner with us tonight?”

Rarity’s sobs ceased for a moment, then two. Her face loosened, and anyone other than Rarity would have looked slack-jawed.

I gently pulled Rarity to her feet. Walking the women a few feet down the bench, I sat the both of them there. Twilight met Rarity’s gaze, blushing. Rarity simply stared blankly at the librarian.

Slapping my forehead, I let my hand drag down over my face, intentionally distorting my features for a few seconds.

“Rarity.” She broke her gaze with Twilight, blankly looking into my eyes. Leaning over, I whispered into her ear, “If you don’t snap out of it, I’ll make up the dirtiest fantasy I can think of and tell Twilight it’s yours.”

It didn’t work. Rarity just pulled her face away and frowned at me, confused. Still more than I had before…

“Rarity, Twilight likes you,” I said, slowly. That seemed to get through; her face could have lit a thousand caves. “She knows you like her. We’re late for our train, and maybe our dinner reservation. Twilight would like you to come with us on a date.”

Rubbing her eyes, she sighed and glanced over at Twilight before grabbing the collar of my shirt and pulling me down.

“Spike, I’ve made a terrible fool of myself.” Her voice quivered, watery from her sobs. She sounded almost in tears again. I grabbed her shoulders in both of my hands, pushing her away far enough to look into her face.

“Rarity,” I said, “what do you think love is?”

Blushing, she looked over at Twilight… and giggled.

“Twilight, I’m afraid I haven’t been very... ladylike for the past two minutes,” she apologized. “I would love to go to dinner with you.”

……………………………………………..

After an apology sent to the restaurant we were never to arrive at, a ticket purchase, and a two letters, one to Dinky letting her know we were going to make a weekend out of our date instead of only a night, we were finally on a train.

“I hope Applejack doesn’t have too much trouble with the Crusaders,” Ditzy had said when I’d sent the letter through to Dinky’s wand. She was at a sleepover, joining Applebloom’s friends at Applejack’s house.

“I still don’t know what possessed you to tell my little sister and her friends that story,” Rarity groused at me from across the space that separated our seats. The plush benches faced each other, much like restaurant booths without a table, so Ditzy and I sat across from Twilight and Rarity.

Twilight’s hand twitched, almost manically. It had been ever since she noticed that I’d taken Ditzy’s in my own. I had to assume that she couldn’t find a comfortable way to reach over and take one of Rarity’s, who had both hands folded in her lap.

“Twilight, can you see if the food cart is coming?” I asked her, glancing down the hallway over her shoulder. She turned in her seat and I lifted Ditzy’s hand in mine, staring at Rarity. She looked surprised and looked at her own, then back to me. I rolled my eyes and glanced pointedly at Twilight’s.

Her blush told me I’d gotten through to her, and I dropped my hand just as Twilight returned to her original position. “No one’s coming, Spike. Would you like me to call her?”

“Oh, no no. I just thought I heard her wheels, is all.” The trolley had already passed once, and had a broken wheel that squeaked with every motion.

Twilight nodded, then frowned. “Don’t change the topic, Spike. Why did you tell those three about the tattoos?”

“Well, mostly because it’s fascinating,” I told her, frowning back. “I had no idea they’d become so captivated by the idea of ornaments. And besides, they asked me.”

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Scootaloo had found an ancient picture of the princesses, hands crossed with the backs showing. There had been a sun emblazoned on the back of Celestia’s hand, and a moon on the back of Luna’s. Bringing it to me, she had asked, “Celestia doesn’t really have a hand tattoo, does she?”

“She covers it with makeup,” I’d told her, not thinking. “Luna still displays her Cuathie Mark, though.”

“Her what?” she had asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Oh, uhm, that’s an ancient marking used by the Cuathiens. It was kind of distinguishing mark, a defense against Changelings, who couldn’t match the mark for some reason.”

She stared at me blankly for a minute before asking, “Used by who?”

Laughing, I had fetched an old book from the library’s shelves. Flipping to the chapter I’d been looking for, I showed her a picture of what appeared to be half man, half horse. “Cuathiens were an ancient equine race. Some called them centaurs, but the Cuath were what they called themselves.”

I put a finger to a point in the book. “This describes the ritual they used to find their marks, the Cuathien Mark.”

Looking closely at the word, she seemed to mouth it silently.

“Cutie mark?” she asked finally.

I burst out laughing, shaking my head. “No honey, Qu-Auth-Ee-En. Cuathien.”

“But… Cutie Mark is much better,” Scootaloo said, grinning. “Thanks Mr. Spike!” She ran out the door, still holding the book. I’d shaken my head at the time, but I’d known something was going to go wrong as soon as the group had announced themselves as the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’.

They had come to me once before, demanding that I use my “Super Powered Dragon Magic” to give them these marks. I’d explained to them how the symbol was permanent, and that if the symbol did not describe them completely that it could eat the skin off of the hand. That had put them off for a few days, until they came back and demanded a spell that would show them their perfect mark.

Sighing, I’d taken out the book and my wand. Finding the spell I was looking for, I picked up my wand and lifted the rug that covered the library floor. They all had gasped at the intricate runes doodled on the hardwood, leftovers from an experiment I’d forgotten about. I pointed my wand at the far end and flicked my arm to the side, waving my wand over the floor.

All the chalk had lifted into a small ball, levitating in place as I examined the floor for any leftover marks. Satisfied, I’d started on another circle, using the same chalk.

It had taken me a while, but I finally produced the spell described in the book. Pointing to the middle, I showed the girls a linked trio of circles. “Stand in these, with your backs to each other.”

They had hurried to comply, except for Scootaloo. “I dunno, Mr. Spike… Is it dangerous?”

Creasing my forehead, I frowned at her. “Do you care? You’ve already come to me twice, demanding magics you know little of. What more risk could there be?”

Shivering, she’d walked slowly to her two friends, joining them in the middle. Looking over the runes and circles, I nodded approvingly and stepped between the three, standing in the gap made by their circles.

“Never turn your head,” I had told them. “Look straight at me, and ignore everything you see, but never close your eyes. I want you to know what it is you ask for.”

Pointing my wand, I started the rune’s magics. The three had gasped and trembled as all light left our circles.

“Manse me teryn ahl, Draconia.”

The voice came from all sides, and I grinned as the three girls shivered.

“Hello to you as well, Deep One,” I greeted, in its own language. “I apologize for the intrusion, but this bunch was looking too deeply into your arts.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gaped at the voice. Applebloom burst into tears, sobbing as she stared at part of the scaly, twisted creature.

“That’s enough,” I said quickly. I hadn’t thought that they’d been near so susceptible, and I certainly didn’t want to break one of them. “A flash and a sound, if you please, and we’ll leave you be.”

With a flash of lightning and a roar that turned my bones to jelly, the library reappeared. I allowed myself to sink to my knees, dropping my wand, and looked around myself at the three laying around me. Applebloom’s body still shook with sobs, curled into a ball. The other two seemed to just stare into space, looking at where the apparition had been.

Walking in a small circle, I picked up the two catatonic girls and set them by Applebloom. I let them gaze into space, remembering the sight of the other, before softly tapping their cheeks. The two shrank from me, pulled out of whatever living nightmare they were stuck in. Pulling Applebloom upright, I wiped away her tears and some chalk from her cheek.

“Now, I want you all to remember the cost of deep magic. Swear to me you will never use it,” I asked of them, gently. Instead of answering, Applebloom had started sobbing harder, and Sweetie Belle had turned her head to throw up.

“Good enough,” I had said. “Now, give me the backs of your hands.”

They stretched out their arms, and I picked up my wand from where I’d dropped it earlier. Placing their left hands together, I tapped each hand and placed the true spell. There was a bright glow, then nothing but smooth skin.

“I thought…” Scootaloo had to take another shaky breath. “I thought the mark was supposed to stay? We didn’t even get to see what it was…”

“And nor will you,” I said, standing up. “We had to leave too quickly, we didn’t have enough time. To have the marks now, we’d have to go back…”

“No!” the three of them almost screamed.

“Well, we were there long enough that it imprinted on your skin. When you discover what your mark should be, it’ll appear there. Long enough for me to imprint there permanently, should you wish.”

I held my hands out, helping pull the three girls to their feet. Motioning towards the kitchen, I helped them to the table and three chairs. Walking over to the icebox, I pulled out some baked treats Pinkie had made and left for Twilight. Filling three glasses with chocolate and milk, I put the treats in front of the Crusaders.

“Eat, the sugar will help.” Moving through dimensions always left me famished, and I figured sugar would help them forget about the turmoil I’d put them through. Hopefully they wouldn’t come back to magic for their marks…

With some gentle urging I had them eating and talking excitedly about their marks, babbling about what they wanted their marks to be. Satisfied that I’d left them with no lingering damage, I pulled some meat from the icebox, and started on replenishing my own energy.

“Uhm, Spike?”

I turned to Sweetie Belle, making sure to wipe my face first.

“Thank you,” she said, blushing at the table. “I’m sure that spell wasn’t easy, and you didn’t really have to help any of us… And I know you’d never let us get hurt…”

I held up a hand, stopping her. “Where are you going with this, Sweetie?”

“Uhm… Mostly just thank you, and…” She shivered. “What was that place?”

I sighed, lies running through my mind. “Somewhere I never should have let you even glimpse,” was what I said, as truthfully as I could. “It was no place for thirteen year olds.”

“I’m fourteen,” Scootaloo quipped, biting into her third cookie. She looked away when I met her gaze.

“Regardless of your age, I shouldn’t have taken you there.” I bowed my head to the table. “I apologize, and I swear to you I’ll never take you back there. As to where…” I shrugged. “I don’t think anyone really knows.”

Nodding, they finished their drink and food in silence.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Twilight had heard the story before, but Rarity and Ditzy followed along well enough as I explained myself. Skimming the potentially scarring details, of course.

“I should charge you for all of the materials that they use, then,” Rarity complained, grinning at me. “They seem to make a different set of clothes for every ‘test’ they go through. A surprising amount of harnesses get made…”

“I would pay for it, if I thought you’d let me,” I bounced back. She laughed lightly and, playing it off as smoothly as possible, slipped her hand along the seat and snagged Twilight’s hand lightly.

Twilight stiffened, blush creeping along steadily. I pretended not to notice any of it, and Twilight started breathing regularly again when she realized it wasn’t a big deal to us. Smiling, she gripped Rarity’s hand a little tighter.

“I dunno,” Ditzy said, frowning. “I mean, I understand you didn’t want them messing around with…” She paused, tilting her head a bit. “What do you call the runes you use?”

“I just say runic magic, it seems easiest to remember,” Twilight told her.

Ditzy nodded. “I understand you didn’t want them messing around with runic magic, but why scare them like that? Are the runes so terrible?”

“Well, it’s more like the lack of runes is dangerous. Without them they couldn’t call to the Deep Ones,” I explained, trying to deconstruct the process in my head, “but without them they would also be defenseless against the Deep Ones…”

Ditzy frowned at me, so I laughed and kissed her forehead. “It’s complicated. Which is another reason I didn’t want them messing with runes.”

She nodded, sighing lightly as she laid her head on my shoulder. “Okay. As long as you don’t think they’ll try and get their marks in arcane magic or sacrificing animals or anything.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “They’ll be fine. As long as they don’t attempt going back to the Deep realm, they’ll be fine.”

“Speaking of going places,” Rarity chimed, seeming relieved for the change of topic, “you never really told us where we’re going. You’ve only said that we’ll see when we get there.”

“And so you will,” I said, chuckling. “I want it to be a surprise. I’ve already sent off a letter for our lodging, and the… caretakers have more than agreed to house us for a weekend. They’re thrilled to know we’re coming, promise.”

“Do they know all of us?” Rarity asked, surprised.

“In a way,” I dodged, truthfully lying. Twilight gave me a look, and I admitted, “Yes, they know all of us. But no more, I really want this to be a surprise. It’s still an hour from Ponyville, so we’ll be the same distance as before. Just, for a longer time.”

The two legal guardians nodded. “And Applejack was okay with housing the three for the extra day or so?” Ditzy asked, looking up at me.

“I asked Dinky to send us back a letter if there was a problem, and she hasn’t yet. Either there’s no problem, or they’re already asleep and it’ll wait until tomorrow morning.”

Nodding, she laid back against my chest. Twilight eyed us, than looked over at Rarity. I caught her eye and shook my head. I knew that I had been quick with Ditzy, but I doubted Rarity would appreciate Twilight trying to nuzzle up on her chest.

Disappointed, she huffed quietly and stared out the window. “Are we going to get to the restaurant before it closes, or are we eating with our hosts?”

“We’ll be eating at a place near where we’re staying, with at least one of our hosts.” The other one may well be asleep, I thought. Smiling, I leaned back against the bench and let the conversation get away from me as my mind wandered.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

We arrived without further incident, and Twilight had a confused expression as she glanced around. “I don’t understand, Spike?”

“I thought we were going somewhere else?” Ditzy finished for her, looking around at the familiar views of Canterlot. Even at night the streets were busy, people walking and talking among themselves as they hurried from place to place.

“I said we were going to eat somewhere else, not that we weren’t going to Canterlot,” I said, a little smugly. I earned three whacks, one quite vicious. “Oow, Twilight… that one kind of tickled…” I danced away from her second one, laughing as I led the group towards an eatery I’d heard of, one that supposedly stayed open all night.

“Any idea where you’re going, scale-face?” Twilight called down the road she was following me down.

“Only the vaguest of ideas, Twilie!” I called back, laughing. It felt good to have everyone getting along this well, and I was looking forward to the dinner we were late for.

The place was called The Cellar Door, and lived up to its name. I’d heard tell of it for years through the rest of the Darklighters, but this was only the second time I’d seen it. Five stone steps led down into the bottom of a stone building, a very abrupt door blocking the way into the place.

“Spike, are you sure this is the place?” Ditzy asked, holding onto my arm. We weren’t in the friendliest of places, this particular establishment down a few alleys and well from the main road.

Pointing to the door, I pulled her attention to a small golden dot in the wood, with a sun emblazoned in the middle. “Yeah, I’m sure. Dawnbreak was the one who pointed me this way. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t tell me that I had to bring you here and have it be some kind of prank.”

She nodded, and I raised my fist to knock gently in the very center of the door. The dot pulled away to reveal a golden iris, staring at me. I held my wand up, and the eye disappeared from the door. The golden circle reclaimed the peephole and the door opened, revealing a thin man, wearing red and white finery.

He stood aside and motioned us inside, closing the door behind us. Out of the alleyway, we now stood in a hallway of white tile and red curtains. Between the decorative hangings were paintings, all landscapes.

“Sir?” I said quietly to the doorman, scratching at my shoulder. “This is our first time here. We are sent by…”

He held up a hand, smiling. Turning to his side, he made a ‘follow me’ gesture with his hands, then strode down the hallway. Still scratching at my shoulder, I nodded to the girls. We hurried to follow him, though he didn’t walk too fast for Twilight, still new in her heels. Passing over several closed doors, we walked until we came across one marked VIP.

Knocking gently, he opened the door and made room for us to filter in. This room was decorated in much the same way as the rest of the hallway, although gold filaments played through the tiles and in the curtains. Two paintings mastered this room, both of the same landscape. A woman with long hair smiled out from them, near what appeared to be on the edge of a cliff. A tree grew near the edge, seeming to lean out over the abyss.

In one picture the woman was golden-haired, standing under the spring tree in the noon sun. In the opposite she had deep blue hair, standing under an autumn tree in the light of a full moon. Both pictures captured her beautiful smile perfectly, though the rest of her features seemed blurry.

“Hello again, friends,” called a quiet, resonant voice from a deeply brown, oaken table with six sides.

“You cannot know how good it is to see my friends again,” called another voice, lighter pitched and slightly louder.

The three ladies gasped and two bowed, while I dipped my head quickly, grin wide on my face.

“My ladies, you have no idea how much we’ve missed you,” I told Celestia and Luna, the two elegantly dressed princesses smiling widely at us from their seats.

They quickly left their seats and rushed over to us, Celestia nearly picking up Twilight in her hug while Luna enclosed me in a warmer, more reserved hug. The princesses switched, and it was my turn for Celestia to test my ribs.

Ditzy and Rarity looked nervously at one another, unsure of how to greet the princesses. When Luna and Celestia turned to them, Rarity offered a hand, mimed by Ditzy. “My ladies, it really is…”

Celestia interrupted Rarity with her own hug, bypassing her hand completely. Luna mimicked her sister, wrapping her arms around Ditzy’s head and pushing the poor woman’s head between her… err, into her chest.

Rarity emerged from her marshmallow hell looking frazzled, Ditzy with a blush and a grin. Switching, the sister princesses attacked the women again. Rarity seemed ready this time, trying to push her arms above Luna’s and gain the upper ground. Luna outmaneuvered her easily, and

Rarity was buried once again. Ditzy may as well dived in, for all the fight she put up.

Done with their little dance the sisters pulled back to examine their handiwork; Rarity was red and flustered, trying to stammer out a greeting. Ditzy was redder, but she was smiling widely, and only said, “Hello Luna, Celestia.”

Celestia and Luna burst out laughing, once again hugging the woman, chastely this time. “Well, Ditzy won this one,” Celestia told her sister, smiling.

“Three times I’d wager,” Luna said, feigning dryness but grinning as widely as her sister.

Twilight looked flabbergasted, but I was losing a battle with my laughter.

“When on earth did the Divine Sisters turn into…” I couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore, and sat heavily in the nearest chair as I filled the room with sound. The laughter proved to be infectious, and eventually everyone joined in but Rarity, who was too busy looking vaguely scandalized.

“Probably when Luna came back down,” Luna said. “It was ever so boring up on the moon…”

She affected a melancholy look and gazed at us, until Celestia affectionately shoved her into the wall, both of them giggling madly.

“What exactly were you going to name us, before you interrupted yourself?” Celestia giggled, breathing quick, light breathes.

Motioning her over, I whispered into her ear. She pulled back, looking shocked; then burst into laughter as I had. She wobbled over to her sister and whispered into her ear, and then shared Luna’s renewed laughter.

The doorman entered, holding to his own, slightly secretive smile. Walking to his six guests, he handed out six pieces of thick paper, the color of heavily creamed coffee. The princesses returned to their seats, still chuckling, and we four sat with them. Twilight and Rarity sat opposite us with Celestia on Twilight’s other side, facing the twilit picture. Ditzy and I sat with Luna, staring at the dawn picture.

“I feel as though we need to apologize for our behavior,” Luna addressed the table. “We’ve been here awhile, and may have started without you,” she told us, moving her finger around the rim of her glass, making it sing quietly. “I’m afraid that we’re both what many call ‘Lightweights’, and I find myself giggly.”

“Speak for yourself, sister,” Celestia rebuffed. “I am not even half through a glass, I’m merely happy to be with you and my best of friends. And,” she said, arching an eyebrow and leaning on the table, “their dates.”

I saw Rarity’s blush, and assumed Ditzy’s. Twilight buried her head behind the menu, which turned out to be a drinks list. The doorman either had a twin brother, or ran the entire restaurant by himself, because he was back before I had decided on my drink. The princesses ordered more of what they had, Twilight and Ditzy ordered Celestia’s fruity cocktail, Rarity ordered her own glass of wine, and I ended up ordering something the menu only called Honeyfire.

Switching our current menus with larger, folded ones, the waiter bowed and left, without scribbling a note on the pad he now had in his belt. Looking to Celestia, I asked, “Does he ever speak? Or even have a name?”

She smiled and made a locking motion over her lips, serving only to intrigue me more.

“So, have you been dating long?” Luna asked, across the table.

“Only in their heads,” I remarked before they could answer, earning my Twilight’s wrathful glare.

“Only for… oh, I suppose it’s been three hours now,” Rarity said, looking at her watch and blushing.

Luna and Celestia both looked at each other, startled. “Oh, uhm…” Luna started.

“We had, err, assumed that it had been quite a bit longer than that,” Celestia finished. “You’ll be wanting more than two rooms, then?”

Had either of them had a drink, I believe it would have been spit across the table or fallen to the floor. In lieu of such theatrics, Rarity blushed and stammered while Twilight’s eyes lost their focus and turned to the painting that couldn’t have been any less interesting to anyone at that moment.

“They can share a room,” I said, earning five surprised looks. “Never said a bed, just a room,” I said, soothingly. “I know for a fact Twilight’s room has an extremely comfy sofa in it.”

Rarity and Twilight both lost some of their blush, and shared a look that rekindled it. “Uh, I’m certainly not opposed to the idea…” Twilight managed to stammer out, and Rarity agreed with a nod of her head, grinning slightly.

“Well then, no need to change plans,” Celestia said softly, making Twilight jump a bit as she reminded Twilight that she was still beside her. “I trust you two have no problems sharing a room?” she asked us, glancing across the table.

“Uh, not anymore,” I admitted, blush spreading across my face and Ditzy’s as our gaze crossed.

Arching her eyebrow, Celestia had the tact not to say any more.

“You two have lots of fun your first time?” Luna asked, gazing curiously at Ditzy.

Red, she slowly slipped from her chair to hide under the table. I was half tempted to join her, until Celestia gently hit her sister on the arm, giving her a surprised look.

“What, is the Princess of the Night not allowed to be curious about what may or may not go on beneath her moon?” Luna asked, rubbing her forearm absentmindedly as I gently pulled Ditzy back from her hiding place.

“No princess should ask,” Celestia said flatly, then grinned and said softly, “Not in polite company, anyhow.”

All five of us heard her, and three stared redly at her, while Luna huffed and I kept my gaze away. I had a very sinking feeling that Ditzy and I should get ready for either some awkward questions, or some awkward dreams. Depending on how drunk the princesses got, of course.

“Luna, may I ask which glass you’re on?” I asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“Why? Are you trying to liquor me up? Your lady already as well as molested me, are you looking to as well?” she asked, rapid firing her questions at me.

“Just curious, no, and I could do that with you sober,” I said, just as quickly.

She gasped lightly, blushing, than laughed once more. “I’m on my third, nosey.”

Nodding, I leaned over to Ditzy. “I’m so sorry, I would’ve warned you if I knew they we like this. It must be because of Luna, Celestia hasn’t’ ever acted like this…”

She wrapped her hand around mine, kissing my cheek. “It’s okay,” she whispered back. “I’m having fun, and I’m glad they are too.”

Smiling, I turned my head and kissed her back, our lips meeting and parting quickly, but not quickly enough to get past the Night Princess.

“Hey, that’s hardly fair,” she said, affecting a pout. “Why is it no one tries to smooch on us, Celestia?”

“Because the last one who tried ended up in a drunk tank for a couple of days,” I said, chuckling. “And in her personal guard, as well.”

Celestia had the presence of mind to blush at that. “He deserved it. Not only drinking on duty, but trying something on me while smelling so much of beer? It was good fortune he did not receive further punishment.”

Luna looked startled, and then turned to stare at her sister. “So you’re the reason I have had no offers? I demand you apologize at once. I’m tired of being lonely… and beer doesn’t smell so bad…”

Celestia and I started laughing, and soon enough Luna and Ditzy joined in. Twilight was looking at Celestia and Luna with wonder in her eyes, and Rarity, smiling, looked confused.

“Enough of making fun of Luna and me,” I declared, as the drinks arrived on a platter. The itch returned to my shoulder, spreading along my arm. “Rarity, what exactly are your plans for Twilight tonight?”

The confusion left her face, swapping for a blush and stammered phrase.

“Yes, Rarity. What are you plans for my student, tonight?” Celestia asked, leaning over Twilight. Rarity actually gaped at Celestia, her face panicked.

Blushing, Twilight put an arm protectively around Rarity. “No m-more than what I w-w-want for,” she told her teacher, meeting the princess’s eyes fiercely.

Celestia actually drew back a little, in shock, before she lost herself in giggles. “I’m sorry, dear Sparkles,” she said between them. “I only meant for laughter, not defense.”

Nodding, Twilight kept her arm around a blushing Rarity. When Twilight turned to look into Rarity’s face, she leaned forward and kissed Twilight gently. “Thank you, Twi,” she said, sounding breathless. This only served to fluster Twilight further, causing her to stammer slowly into silence.

“Really though,” Luna said unhappily. “When does Luna get some kisses?”

Even Rarity laughed this time, soothed by Twilight into at least a bit of comfort. She seemed to be admiring the princesses’ dresses, Celestia wearing a dark blue that accented her skin and hair, while Luna was robbed in a deep, almost reddish gold. Both were sleeveless, like the other three’s, but only Rarity’s deep neck came close to the princesses’ own, both of which came nearer to the bottoms of their busts than the top.

“You know Celestia, I think I remember you being modest,” I joked with her, eyeing her dress pointedly. She blushed a tiny bit and tipped her glass towards Luna.

“I can’t very well let my sister beat me, can I?” she teased. Sighing, she looked back down into her cleavage. “Really though, it’s a bit disconcerting, all this… flesh. I miss my neckline, but not the infernal sleeves that went along with it.” She stretched her arms to her sides, as fully as she could. “Bare arms feel… magical, almost.”

“You’ve very pretty arms, princess,” Ditzy said, startling Celestia out of her train of thought. “The both of you are very lovely.”

“Thank you, Ditzy,” Luna said warmly, for the first time completely serious. “All of you are looking lovely as well; I would compliment the dressmaker were they here.”

Grinning, I pointed to the young woman sitting across from my own date. “She’s here, and not only the dressmaker but the make-up artist and accessory guide. Our Twilight’s dating a fashion expert.”

Rarity blushed and smiled demurely.

Luna leaned across the table and, smiling, said, “Then, will you do one favor for me?”

Nodding, Rarity leaned to the table and tilted her head, looking excited and inquisitive.

“Next time you do Twilight’s dress, can we have more cleavage?” she whispered, pretending we couldn’t hear her. “About the same as yours would be nice, but if you think she would go for

more…?”

Twilight’s face was glowing, but Rarity said, in the same stage whisper, “I think I could talk her down to her bellybutton, but it’ll take me a few dresses.”

Luna nodded solemnly. Leaning back into her chair, she seemed to drift off into space, her eyes losing focus rapidly.

“Excuse our Luna,” Celestia said dryly, smiling. “Not only the Queen of dreams, she is also Lady of Daydreams.”

“Don’t call me that,” Luna muttered, well under her breath.

Celestia and I laughed lightly, then turned to the door as it opened and food came streaming in.

“I hope no one minds, but I took the liberty of ordering for us all,” Celestia explained, as the plates found places in front of us. “I know Twilight and Spike well enough, but I had to guess for Rarity and Ditzy.”

Looking down at the food, I heard my stomach, not growl, but roar. I realized that I’d been hungry since well before noon, but had been too nervous to know until now. Looking around the table, I saw that everyone besides Luna apparently had shared my anxiety. Luna was still off on whatever tangent her mind had come up with.

Without many more words, we prepared our cutlery and set our napkins up so that food would not stain our good clothes. Reaching over, I gently tapped Luna on a forearm. She frowned at me for a moment, before her nose and eyes caught up and she spied her food.

“Ah, thank you Spike.” She hastily set up her own napkin, then joined her hands as we all thanked those who had toiled to bring the food to our table.

There was little talk while we ate, mostly thanking the short man as he came and left our table. Honeyfire, as it turned out, was pretty much as it sounded; someone had fermented honey, then bottled it. Very sweet and slightly sharp, I enjoyed the flavor and had another glass with the meal.

When everyone was finished, the waiter/doorman/server came and took everyone’s plates. Twilight yawned loudly, staring sleepily at where her plate had been. Rarity smiled and placed a hand on top of her date’s. “This was very nice Twilight, thank you,” I heard her whisper.

Twilight smiled happily, then, shyly, placed a hand on Rarity’s cheek to pull her head to Twilight’s. After their short kiss, Twilight sighed happily and leaned back into her chair, blushing and holding loosely onto Rarity’s hand. “Do they have beds here as well, or am I expected to walk to the castle like this?” she asked Celestia.

The doorman walked in, smiling wryly. “We’ll be sleeping at the castle dear,” Celestia said, laughing lightly. The mood was lower, but still happy after dinner. The food had seemed to calm both the princesses’ heads, and everyone was much more comfortable around the quieter rulers.

Allowing the doorman to help them from their chairs, the princesses stretched, Celestia straight to the ceiling, and Luna out to her sides. I followed suit, and Ditzy and the rest of our party followed.

“Don’t look so put out Twilight,” Luna said. “We’ve a carriage, so you’ll only need to walk to the door. And then to your room, unless you’d sleep on our steps.” She laughed lightly, echoed by her sister and I.

Leaving the dining room, I was shocked to see several copies of the doorman, lined up on the wall. I noticed the one who had a notebook in his belt, and the one without a jacket who had served us our food off of a cart. Every other one looked exactly the same, and as though on a cue they all bowed to us, smiling their little secretive smile. The itching feeling returned to my shoulders, spreading across my back.

Celestia and Luna giggled, bowing back. Twilight, Rarity and I followed suit. Ditzy took a few seconds longer, gazing at the rows of well-dressed servers before copying us. We all rose at the same time, and walked down the slightly full hall. Twilight and I walked to the front almost unconsciously, walking shoulder to shoulder in front of the princesses. We looked at each other, surprised.

“Why did we…?” Twilight started to ask.

“Instinct,” I said, shrugging. “Princesses and loved ones in the back.”

Looking over our hosts, I spotted one whose eyes wouldn’t meet mine. Walking over, I stared at him until his eyes turned up into mine. They were a blue-green, with black flecks sprinkled throughout. Surprised, I pulled back and dropped my hand to the wand dangling from my belt.

A soft hand grabbed my forearm, and the smell of lilacs drifted over me.

“Hold, Spike,” Luna said, softly. “We know, Celestia has known since the establishment was opened.”

“They’re Changelings,” I whispered, hoping I was quiet enough to not let Rarity and Ditzy hear.

“And they’re only here to make people happy. You know Changelings feed on emotion, and happiness feeds very well. They do no harm to anyone, and they’re not going to. Now, are you going to put your scales away or not?”

Looking down at my arms, I realized what the itch had been. My wrists, peeking out of my sleeves, were covered in my scales, green veined with purple lines. Sighing, I concentrated on pulling up my human flesh.

After I was finished I looked back at the green-eyed man, who was looking very nervous at our proximity. “Sorry,” I muttered, walking back over to the group.

“What’s going on?” Ditzy asked, worriedly. She took my hand, squeezing gently. Smiling, I kissed her on the cheek and shook my head. There was no reason to have her worry about the Changelings, not right now anyhow.

We traversed the hallway without any problems, the front door opened by another of the Changelings. A carriage awaited us, no noticeable driver attached. The door opened itself, revealing a round area with no seats. We piled in, confused. Celestia was the last one in, and reopened the door as soon as she closed it.

We walked into the courtyard of the castle, off to the side of a very surprised group of couriers. Several of them walked up to the princesses, handing each of them most of the letters they had.

Tipping and bowing courteously, the princesses waited until everyone else dispersed, then shoved the pieces of paper roughly into the small clutches they had.

Ditzy took my arm as we walked up the steps, holding herself close to my side as we navigated the hallways. I’d assumed that we were heading off to our bedrooms, but we found ourselves in a small kitchen.

“Luna needs to sober up,” Celestia told us as she grabbed a few cups from the cupboard. “And it wouldn’t hurt for me to have some coffee either. Anyone else?” I took a cup, and Twilight almost reached for one. Rarity tugged on her sleeve and whispered into her ear, causing a blush and a small stutter.

“Uh-uh-uhm-uhm, I think we-we’re going up to my room actually. Goodnight Celestia, Luna…” Rarity tugged gently on her hand, and the two disappeared from the room.

Luna was laughing into her coffee cup, while Celestia only smiled and readied her drink.

“I wonder if she’ll relax now,” Ditzy said brightly, making Celestia spit air. While I was still laughing, Luna hadn’t quite started; she kept her mirth contained behind a hand as her shoulders shook.

“I doubt it, but we can all hope,” I told her, after my giggles subsided. “We can hope.”

“Yeah, hope that they have as good a first time as you did,” Ditzy said, elbowing me gently. Both of the princesses glanced at each other, Celestia raising her eyebrow at Luna.

“Luna still hasn’t told me of what transpired that night,” Celestia said. “I assume Spike has told you what he dreamt of. Does it bother you so much?”

“Not so very much, since I know it was a dream.” Ditzy sipped at my coffee, making a face at it and pushing the cup back to me. “It bothers me a bit to have been completely uninvolved, but I also think it would have bothered me to have been there without my permission?”

Luna took a seat across from us, handing Celestia a cup full of caramel colored coffee. She sipped at her own drink, as unaltered as mine.

“I can understand,” Luna said, “having been involved in… certain dreams without my explicit consent. Not me,” she said quickly, looking at our faces, “just a part of subconscious in my image.”

“Would you have felt better if we had asked you and gotten you involved in the dream?” Celestia asked, stirring her drink slowly with a thin spoon.

“I would’ve felt fine about just going over there in person,” Ditzy giggled. I’d had both hands on my coffee mug, but I let go with one and reached over to hers, taking her fingers between mine.

“None of us wanted to push you, and we,” Celestia gestured to Luna and herself, “were just really unsure of how fast your and Spike’s relationship was progressing. Or of how far it had already progressed.”

“Just some light petting until the next morning,” I said, blushing. “She came over as soon as she woke up she says, and… well, we recreated some of my dreams.”

Celestia reddened, but Luna outshone her, actually being there in most of my dream.

I felt a tugging on my sleeve, and looked over at Ditzy, who matched Luna in her blush. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, a short phrase. I looked at her, smooth faced. Not meeting my eye but staring in the region of my chin, she nodded forcefully.

“Uhm, Luna?” I started, fixing my gaze upon her cup. When I glanced up she met my eyes, curious and a bit confused. “May we have a private word with you?”

Author's Notes:

Next chapter has the start of the new stuff, and I'll be going back to weekly updates instead of daily. I hope you've enjoyed up to this, and will continue to enjoy.

A Night in, and a Day Out

The three of us left Celestia with her coffee, the princess flush and pouring over the letters she’d received earlier.

I’d never thought about how warm another’s hand could be, and now that I was holding on to two of the loveliest women I knew. I wasn’t really thinking of what was likely coming, mostly because I wasn’t able to think.

All I was able to concentrate on was the feeling of Ditzy leaning against my arm, and Luna leading us through the castle. Every now and then I’d look down at Ditzy’s blushing face, or forward at Luna’s red ears; the rest of her face was blocked by her long, dark hair.

A large wooden door opened and closed, and we were suddenly in what was obviously Luna’s bedchambers. The walls were lined in what seemed to be dark blue velvet, and the ceiling was painted black with sparkling stars dotted throughout. A moon was setting on one border, where the ceiling met the wall. I walked over to a set of thick curtains and pulled one aside, confirming my suspicions; the moon on the ceiling was in the same area, and in the same phase as the real moon.

“It gets a little bright when the moon is full,” Luna said as she walked over to a wardrobe, placing a hand on the dark, old wood as she took her shoes off. “I wouldn’t be comfortable staying in here without it though; I’d have to go sleep on the roof.”

“Got used to sleeping under the stars?” I asked, releasing the curtains.

“I got used to sleeping with the stars,” she muttered as she struggled with her stockings. “They were my companions, and I couldn’t abandon them. Whether they would notice it or not, I couldn’t,” she paused for a second, pulling adamantly on her stocking.

I walked over and picked her up, setting her on the nearby bed. She gasped when my hands touched her, and she giggled madly as I moved her through the air, a small “oomph” accompanying her landing. The blush had never left her cheeks, and now returned to its brilliance.

I looked at Ditzy and patted the bed beside Luna, and she smiled and nodded. Kicking off her own shoes, she joined us over at the bed, then nervously took Luna’s hand. Smiling, I ran my hand up Luna’s leg, to the top of her stocking.

“You couldn’t what, Luna?” I asked, smiling gently as I hooked my finger under the offending article of clothing. She gasped and shivered as I slowly pulled the sock over the knee, down her calf.

“I-I couldn’t stand to sleep without th-them. I tri-tried when I first got back, but I coul-couldn’t get any good sleep.”

I noticed that she only seemed to stutter when someone was touching her. Still smiling slightly, I ran my hand from the top of her foot, over her calf, to just over her knee. Beneath her dress I saw my

hand traveling, just barely moving the loose fabric.

Instead of stuttering with her words, her breath itself seemed to flicker. Noting the tension in her shoulders and neck, I removed my hand and took hers. “Luna if you’re not ready for this…?”

“I’m ready,” she said quickly, then smiled shyly. “I’m just nervous. In dreams I can be whoever I wish, act however I want. But I’ve never… had a flesh partner…” She gazed up into her ceiling, shining with artificial starlight. “I’ve don’t even remember giving any thought to my… sexuality before I got back…”

I lifted a hand to her cheek, stroking it softly. “We’re here for you too, Luna.” I looked over to Ditzy, who was nodding slowly. “While this will hopefully be just as fun for us, this is also for you. We will do as you wish, as quickly as you wish.” I smiled, although it felt more like a smirk. “Or, I will, at least,” I said teasingly, running my free hand over Ditzy’s thigh.

This earned me a giggle and a smile, as well as a finally relaxed princess. She looked between us, than pulled Ditzy and me a little closer for a hug.

Or half a hug, since I was still on the floor. Instead of the cheek touch Ditzy received, I got a faceful of cleavage. Giggling, Ditzy pushed her face away from Luna’s and pushed my head away.

“We were having a meaningful moment, pervert,” she joked, laughing.

“Luna’s fault,” I pointed out. “Besides, where were you a few hours ago?” I tapped my chin, pretending to think. “Oh, right, same spot. Followed by Celestia, if I remember right?”

“Almost needed a snorkel in there,” she chimed brightly. Luna snorted, and we all leapt off the cliff into a sea of laughter.

After we stopped and the tears had been wiped away, we sat where we were and just smiled at each other. Then Luna lifted a foot in my direction, twirling her ankle in the air. “You know, I’ve still one sock on…”

Smiling, I lifted my hand to grasp her heel and ankle, cupping her foot and running my remaining hand over her calf. She still shivered slightly under my touch, but instead of hitching, her breathing slowed. Crossing her legs, Ditzy sat behind Luna and slowly stroked her bare arms and shoulders.

Sighing a little, Luna sagged back slowly, until Ditzy was half supporting her weight. Her arms rested on either side of Ditzy’s lap, and her head rested in the hollow that lay between Ditzy’s shoulder and her neck. She was staring dreamily up into the painted sky, smiling.

“It’s like,” she started suddenly, speaking softly while I removed her sock, “…Like a warm river massage, if that makes sense. Like a warm river, pushing over your sorest muscles.”

Running my hands over her bare legs, watching Ditzy run her own hands from Luna’s wrists to her collarbone, I thought I understood what she was talking about.

“Well,” Ditzy said softly, into Luna’s hair, “I think a river would cover a little more ground…”

When she touched Luna’s collar again, instead of running her hands back down Luna’s arms, she slowly traveled straight down, hands skirting over the front of Luna’s dress.

………………………………………………….

A teapot steamed in the morning air, as did our cups. Warm bread and pastry sat in baskets lined with white cloth, and the entire thing sat on a wire and glass table littered with condiments and additives.

Luna sipped at her cup, filled with amber tea and a drip of honey. A soft, and very short, terry cloth robe covered her smooth skin, bare flesh prickled with goose bumps from the cold air. She didn’t seem to mind at all though; we just enjoyed the sunrise together.

“You’re sure no one can see this terrace?” I asked again, the first since we’d exited the doors from Luna’s room. I fidgeted in my seat, nudity covered only by a pair of shorts.

“No one but the woman sleeping in the bed behind us,” She said, smiling. “And I get the feeling she’d only enjoy the view.”

“It’s very nice of you to show off so much for her,” I remarked, motioning to the mostly backless chair she’d faced away from the doors. “Moons do seem to suit you well.”

She laughed lightly, setting her cup down. “Oh yes, queen of the moons I am. That’s the only thing the people below my patio see, surely.”

“Who is under us, to deserve our princess’s blessings so freely?” I asked. I didn’t think she was being serious until she smirked and answered.

“Celestia, of course.”

Struggling to keep my face straight, I set down my own cup and joined her gaze to the horizon, where the sun was starting to break over the horizon.

“Do you still get jealous of Celestia’s sun?” I asked her, surprising both of us. She took the last of her tea slowly, then refilled from our pot before answering.

“Of course I am. But, I’m not angry about it anymore. I think.” She gazed upwards, at the last of the stars still speckling what was left of the now orange night. “I feel much lighter now, than I ever did before.”

Chuckling, she used an unoccupied hand to push at her chest. “Even with these infernal things getting in my way.”

“Were you so much younger when you were sent away?” I asked. I’d thought she was fully grown when she ruled with Celestia one thousand years ago, and that surely would’ve meant she was fully… developed at the time.

“Something about being used to the moon’s atmosphere, and coming back to this one,” she told me, stirring in her honey. “The doctors who examined me after I got back, and Twi’s group helped me get rid of Nightmare Moon, told me that I was quite lucky that none of the rest of my body was reacting the same way.

“You remember when I came back, I was prepubescent again?” I nodded. “They say that also had something to do with it. Hormones in overdrive to return my body to its previous state and all that, but they didn’t quite stop when they should have, or they were more potent than usual, or something.”

“Were you not like this when you were up there?”

“No, I was mostly in an artificial stasis. I could only wait for so long without driving myself insane, so I put myself to sleep after I’d done as much exploring as I could. The moon’s really not very interesting, so I was really only awake for a few years before I went into stasis, and a few months after was when the spell broke.”

I picked up one of the sandwiches that had come with the tea, inspecting it closely before popping it into my mouth.

“Why did you wake up?” I asked, wiping the crumbs on the side of my thigh.

“You know I can travel through dreams. Celly knows how to travel into mine. And before you ask, I was indeed traveling through dreams while I was up there. Mostly trying to help free my name from Nightmare Moon, trying to help people forget her and her deeds.”

I nodded, smiling at her knowledge of my mind. I drained my cup, setting it down unfilled. “Have you spoke about all of this with Celestia too?”

“And a few others,” she said absently, looking down into the castle grounds. Glancing over, I saw what looked to be a small flock of dots, all gathered around a slightly bigger one.

“A field trip,” Luna told me. “Scheduled for Monday, but moved up to Sunday to make it a day trip. I dare say you may know some of the children, as they’re all from Ponyville. Scheduled to run through our Labyrinth, then walk around the Marble Fields later. Our statuary collection,” she told me, my face betraying my confusion.

I stood, stretching myself upwards and enjoying the sun on my mostly bare skin. “Speaking of schedules…”

Luna smiled faintly, forlornly. “Stuff to do over the weekend, I suppose?”

“Shopping trips and the like, I assume,” I said, standing behind her and resting a hand on her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed it, still watching the sun rise. “It’s not really anything we’ve planned, honestly. I’m not sure what everyone’s plans are, only that we’re supposed to make a weekend of it.”

“Hmm…” Luna hummed to herself, scratching her chin and staring at the horizon, where the sun had just cleared the ground. She smiled to herself, then stood.

“You know, Spike, I haven’t really gotten around to touring the town again,” Luna said, gazing at the roofs rising outside the castle’s walls. “I don’t have a large amount of things that need to be done today…”

Ditzy stumbled onto the balcony, much less dressed than Luna and I. She moved over to the table we sat at, rubbing her eyes and muttering about how chilly it was. Sitting heavily at the table, she pulled my cup over to her, sipping before frowning and pouring a dollop of honey and milk into the cup.

“Sweetie…” I started, chucking a bit. “Are you feeling a bit… well, cold?”

She nodded sleepily, dipping a lock of hair into the cup. Leaning forward, I squeezed at the hair with a napkin, then gently took the cup away.

“C’mon then, let’s go get you some clothes,” Luna said, standing from the table. “A few of my shirts may well do for you.” She ushered Ditzy from the table, and I let my hand run over Ditzy’s ribs and side as she passed.

I sipped at Luna’s tea, mine ruined, and enjoyed the sun as I waited for the two women to return. After a few minutes, Ditzy stepped back onto the balcony, hair brushed and pulled back into a ponytail now. She wore a largish, baggy purple shirt over a pair of tight jeans. Luna followed her, her hair pulled back in the same fashion. She had her own blue top, halfway between too long to be a shirt, but too short to be a dress. Under this she’d pulled on a pair of soft, white cotton pants. Both remained barefoot.

Ditzy retook her chair, looking slightly more awake with a damp face and actual clothes. Sipping at my tea, she looked off into the distance as Luna took her own chair. Reaching over I took first one of Ditzy’s, then one of Luna’s hands. They smiled warmly, and reached across the table and grasped each other’s hands for a minute.

Letting go, we all reached for a pastry and ate slowly, returning to the discussion Luna and I had been in the middle of.

“So Luna, I believe you were trying to hint something before Nudie showed up?” I asked, teasing ignored for another piece of breakfast.

She sighed, smiling. “Spike, would it be trouble for me to tag along? It’s been awhile since the last time I walked the city, and honestly, it sounds much more fun than sitting in the castle pretending to work all day.”

“I dunno Luna,” I said solemnly. “I mean, this was supposed to be a lover’s weekend, not just…” I was interrupted by a muffin flecked with blueberries, shoved rudely into my face.

“We’d be honored, Luna,” Ditzy said, over my theatrical choking. “Not only if you joined us for our visit to the city, but…” She blushed and trailed off.

Swallowing the food in my face, I nodded, reaching for Luna’s cup again. Inches from my fingertips, Luna picked it up and drained it, smiling as I whimpered pitifully.

Rolling her eyes, Ditzy pushed my own cup back my way, then the teapot when I made a face at the overly light tea.

Drinking deeply, I breathed in as loud as I could, then sighed heavily. “What she said,” I croaked through the wet crumbs in my throat.

Luna’s giggled subsided, and she once again lifted from her chair, giving both me and Ditzy a large hug.

“Well, if we’re all done with breakfast then, let’s see if Twilight and Rarity are awake yet,” Luna proclaimed as she waved a hand over the table, dismissing the food. “A nice and early start is essential for a full day, after all,” she giggled as she took Ditzy’s hand and flounced through the balcony doors.

“Ladies?” I called after them. “Maybe I could get some clothes first?”

……………………………………………

Twilight peeked through the door when the three of us knocked, me the only one dressed in the clothes we’d worn last night, now wrinkly from a night on the floor. She opened the door the rest of the way when she saw who it was, dressed in wet hair and another robe, this one well past the knees of the wearer.

Seated at our old meal table, Rarity wore exactly the same outfit, pulling her robe neck more closed as Twilight closed the door. Breakfast was still set out, and Rarity was in the middle of a plate of eggs.

“I suppose that means you two aren’t ready to get out yet,” Luna asked through an affected pout.

“Of course not Luna,” I said, passing into a nearby room. “Look at their hair; they’ve been a bit busy this morning.” I looked back into Twilight’s red face. “Showering and whatnot.”

Shutting the door, I grinned as I looked around what used to be my room. Slightly smaller than the room Twilight occupied at the library, it held little in the way of furnishings. A bed with a table next to it. Small bookshelf next to the closet, now empty. Lacy, gently wafting curtains over the window.

Sliding open the closet door, I took out some of my older clothes, looking them over and trying to decide if I’d rather wear what I had on now, or some of these older items.

Picking out a shirt that seemed okay and a pair of jeans, I swapped them and the clothes I had been wearing. Snagging a pair of shoes, I rejoined the rest of our company in the living room, where everyone had taken a seat, and the new couple had regained normal clothes.

Twilight had apparently dressed Rarity; the seamstress wore a plain white shirt with brown pants, and was looking mortified at being caught in the wooly, argyle brown and green vest over the shirt.

“But Rarity, it’s much too cold to just go around in that thin shirt,” Twilight groused, large purple and green baggy sweater on over blue jeans. “If you don’t wear that, you’ll have to look through my sweaters again.”

Luna and Ditzy looked on from the couch, apparently thoroughly entertained.

“C’mon Spike,” Luna called, gesturing me over. “I think it’s about to get good.”

Rarity shuddered slightly and stopped pulling at the vest. “No, no,” she muttered. “I’ll… stick with this, thank you dear.” She smiled at Twilight, awkwardly.

Twilight looked into Rarity’s eyes, sadly. “I’m sure Luna could find something better you could wear, if you want to go up to her room…”

Rarity was already shaking her head. “Maybe, but it…” She blushed, looking around the room before returning to Twilight. “It wouldn’t smell like you…”

Twilight joined her blush, then walked over to hug Rarity. Pulling away slightly, Twilight looked abashedly at the vest. “This old thing is kind of ugly, huh?” she asked, smiling.

“No, I’m just picky,” Rarity grinned.

“I don’t have anything much better than Twilight’s wardrobe,” Luna said, startling the two. “But you’re welcome to look, if you wish.”

Rarity looked over the extremely comfortably dressed women on the couch, then giggled and shook her head.

“No, thank you Luna, but I think I’ll just get over it,” she told the Princess. “Besides, this really is quite warm, and very cozy…”

Twilight giggled and kissed her lightly, then tugged her back into the hug.

“So, are we finishing breakfast, or leaving?” I asked from the table, croissant halfway in my face.

I had to run from the room, a hail of assorted items escorting me out.

………………………………………………

The garden on the side of the castle we left from was full of minor nobles, walking through the greenery and apparently in meetings of varying importance; we even came across a man wailing and gesticulating heavily at a darkly tanned man dressed in scaly leathers, the man returning many of the gestures and grunting a thick stream of base words.

Some stopped to greet Luna, a few openly gawking at her clothes and company. Giving only ‘hello’s and waves, she ignored everything else as she walked us through the garden and out into Canterlot proper.

Out in the square full of stalls, directly outside the wall, Luna giggled and turned towards one of the stalls, looking at the foreign wares. “I’ve never gotten out of the castle that easily. Maybe I need to wear these clothes more often…”

“Maybe you should always bring a guard with you,” I deadpanned, looking over several pretty, but worthless crystals.

“Oh, I forgot you were trained,” Luna said, turning away from the market and starting down the street it was situated on. Tugging on Twilight’s sleeve, we followed the Princess away, into the city proper.

“Any ideas for where to go?” Ditzy asked, looking at the shops running the sides of the street.

“Depends,” I said, eyeing a wand covered in intricate silver wire displayed in a window. “Shopping, tourist things, foods… what are we looking for?”

“I could do with some exotic materials, if we could swing by a clothing store?” Rarity said, looking over a tiara in the same window. “Maybe something shimmery?”

Twilight glanced over the window, eyes sliding over the precious metals and to the other side of the street, where Luna and Ditzy were looking into a children’s clothing store. “I would like to find a store to buy stock for the library. The selection is fair, but the more diverse the selection, the more readers... We have a depressing number of books on farming and knitting…”

Watching the other two women go into the store alone, I shifted nervously. “You two okay on your own? I’m sure you already have a store in mind, and you can show Rarity where the clothes stores are…”

Twilight had already taken hold of Rarity’s hand, and was waving at me over her shoulder. Feeling distinctly ditched, I laughed to myself and ducked into the store across the way.

Ditzy had somehow acquired a hand basket full of clothes already, looking over little girl’s dresses. Pulling out the item on top, I gazed at the bright yellow dress covered in red flower print.

“Ditzy?” I said, grabbing her attention. “I really hope these aren’t for Dinky. I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t know that she would like this one.” Reaching in, I pulled out several other offending items. “Or this one, this one, oh lord where’d you even get this…”

Taking them back, Ditzy looked them over before sighing, stuffing them back onto the rack.

Reaching in, I found a stormy gray piece with cornflower accents. Ditzy reached for it, but I shook my head.

“This one’s good. I think. I like it,” I offered, shrugging. “Luna, what do you…?”

Looking around, I saw her over at the section apparently for depressed teenage girls, looking meditatively at a black shirt with silver chains hanging all over it, red gashes striking seemingly randomly across the fabric. It was very small, and exceedingly low cut.

Walking over, I gently took the item from her and guided her back over to Ditzy, who had tripled the amount of clothes in her basket. Looking at the six items, we all agreed that, though cute, they were not too cute. Pushing the both of them, I paid the clerk and gladly exited the store, Luna still looking forlornly at the small forest of black clothes.

Walking further down the street, it took two hours and seven stores to see Twilight again, holding a small book and pointing a store out to Rarity, who was already bogged down with flat, thick boxes.

Waving them down, we convened in front of a small café. Sitting at one of the outside tables, we set all of our packages down in a sixth seat, while we filled the rest of the table.

“Everyone doing alright?” I asked the table. “No bankruptcy, back strain, or pickpockets?”

Twilight happily showed me the ordering catalogue she was holding, pointing out the bulk and rare item sales. Rarity had her own, much smaller catalogue, along with her special purchases.

“Some rare cloths, some… specialty materials,” was all she would say, a small wink accompanying her words. “Nothing to talk about, in polite company.”

Waving away our looks, she sipped at the coffee she’d ordered. Luna leaned over, and stage whispered, “Sex stuff, right?”

Rarity sputtered into her cup, glancing around to make sure no one else had heard Luna. Satisfied, her eyes darted around as she nodded. “Certain customers have offered me much more than reasonable commissions, and I wouldn’t pass up on designing something fashionable just because it was… for private purpose.”

Twilight blushed lightly, then whispered into Rarity’s ear. Rarity flushed red and slapped her arm lightly, frowning severely at Twilight while the librarian giggled.

Ditzy endeavored to pull out the clothes bought for Dinky, and hastily asked Rarity and Twilight’s opinions.

While they dissolved into their own conversation, I looked over at Luna, sitting and smiling around the table. She was absentmindedly playing with a silver bracelet Ditzy had picked out, three charms dangling off of it. One was a round goldstone, one an emerald the rough shape of a kite, and the last a blue and purple fire opal, shaped into an oval. I reached down and touched my own bracelet, the shrunken sword swinging heavily on my wrist.

Looking around the table, I sighed and leaned back in my chair, sipping a cooled soda drink. Someone touched my hand, and I absentmindedly wrapped my fingers around hers, feeling Ditzy’s thin fingers and smooth nails.

Looking over, I saw her smiling into her teacup… that both hands were on. Looking over further, I followed an arm back up into a familiar face, one grinning widely at me.

“Hullo, Spike,” Spitfire said, shaking my hand awkwardly. Blushing, I shook back and quickly let go, swatting at Twilight under the table. She immediately stopped laughing and glared at me. A second later a small foot impacted the bottom of my chair, and she winced heavily.

“Hello Spitfire,” I’d said while this was going on. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, is there something wrong with the Wonderbolts?”

“Day off,” she said, pulling a chair over from another table. “How about you bunch? Taking a weekend?” She looked over the table again, taking in Twilight and Rarity, staring at Luna almost suspiciously. “Seems a little lady-heavy there Spike. Too much testosterone, or estrogen?”

I snorted and looked pointedly at her chest. “Speaking of testosterone, how’s your dating scene these days?”

She scowled for a second, before her face broke into a wide grin with a chuckle. “I guess that shows me. My dating life is fine, though as always it would be better if the dogs would leave me be.” Twilight’s jaw had tightened while Rarity and Ditzy’s dropped. Luna merely chuckled, gaining another suspicious look from Spitfire.

“Okay, I know two people here, and you two,” an accusatory finger to Ditzy, then Rarity, “I assume to be a date and a friend. But you,” she pointed to Luna, “Are tickling my familiar nerves. Who’re you, Ms. Fifth wheel?”

I scowled and was about to say something, until Luna smiled. Taking a small breath through her nose, she opened her mouth to speak as she took the hairband from her ponytail.

“AND WHO ARE THOU MORTAL, TO QUESTION ME!?” The Royal Voice spilled forth, a solid torrent of pure noise. Twilight and I had clapped our hands over our date’s ears, Twilight wincing at the aural onslaught. “WE KNOW NOT YOUR FACE, PITIFUL FOOL. THE NEXT TIME OUR PRESENCE IS QUESTIONED, YOU WILL KNOW OUR DUNGEONS FIRSTHAND. NOW, TELL US thy name, if you would please,” Luna finished sweetly.

Spitfire’s hair stood on end, as if that were any different than a minute ago, and her eyes were as wide as her back was straight. “Spitfire, ma’am.”

Luna held her hand out, smiling. “Hello Spitfire. I am Luna, Princess of the Night.”

Slowly, Spitfire took Luna’s hand, shaking it slowly up and down. Slumping hard into her chair, Spitfire regained her grin. “Sorry we’ve never met, Princess,” shook out of her throat. “I guess I’ve been busy with the group. Should’ve made time though, won’t…”

“Shush Spitfire,” Luna said, tone playful. “It’s okay. I’ve heard of the Wonderbolts, I’m sure that a team of that quality needs much practice.”

“No, I mean…” Spitfire looked around the table, and I nodded at her. Reaching up to her neckline, she rubbed between her collarbones, revealing the same sun that shown on the door of the restaurant we’d eaten at last night.

“Darklighter,” Luna said, surprised. “I’d thought I’d met most of them. You must be part of the flight team, then?”

Spitfire smirked. “Leading member, ma’am. Second best flier on the team, best leader they could have.”

Luna nodded, smiling. “I’m glad to have met you. If you like, we were taking a small coffee break from shopping, I can buy you a…”

A piercing whistle sounded from up the street, and a grey haired girl waved at Spitfire.

Grinning, she stood and bowed quickly to Luna. “Thank you ma’am, but I have…” Another loud whistle, and a grinning Spitfire quickly took off towards the young woman.

We watched her go, bemused. I burst into laughter, and Twilight joined me shortly. Twilight took out a large golden coin, tossing it to me. Catching it, I saw Ditzy’s confused look.

“I told her Spitfire was a sub,” I said, and Twilight nodded. Rarity blushed as Luna nodded sagely. Ditzy kept her confused gaze, and I pulled her over to place my lips on her forehead. “Nothing dear. Is everyone rested enough to continue?”

We sat another seven minutes, fiddling with our bags before we paid our tab and set off again. We stuck together this time, hitting the major shopping centers as we traveled through town.

Luna likely bought the least, keeping to only a few things for the rest of us. Twilight easily spent the most, most of it having to be sent back to the library. Rarity might have rivaled her, although it’s hard to be sure, since she kept most of her prices under wraps, and a lot of her purchases went straight to her store.

At the end of the day, we’d bought too much to carry, and hired a carriage to port our stuff and us back to the castle. We all jumbled in, Ditzy on my lap in the four-person carriage. After an embarrassing and bumpy ride back to the castle, we all piled out of the carriage, everyone red-faced and Ditzy fidgeting awkwardly.

After toting all of our stuff off the carriage and into the entryway of the castle, and paying the cabby, we all returned to our rooms for a minute before once again converging in an almost abandoned kitchen, having a small dinner filled with talk of the day’s conquests. Halfway through Celestia showed up, a weary smile on her face as we cooked her a fresh plate and regaled her with our day’s events, including Spitfire and Twilight’s books.

“I know she can be a bit crude, but it’s still rude to Royal Voice at people, Luna,” Celestia chuckled between bites.

“But, she was extremely rude first!” Luna protested, sticking her lip forward and widening her eyes in a magnificent pout.

“Called Luna a fifth wheel,” I confirmed, sipping from my cup. I reached over for a refill as Celestia frowned. “She shaped up once she figured out who Luna was, though.”

Celestia muttered something to herself, then started back on her food. She spoke between bites, filling Luna in on what had transpired during the day courts, and warned her of a certain Unicorn that had been turned away multiple times.

“He’ll probably show up again for you, he’s being a stubborn fool,” Celestia said. “Wants… something about how his neighbor’s farm in encroaching on his own farm, some boundary debate I’ve had with him a hundred times.”

“I’m surprised the guards still allow him through…” Luna growled.

“You know that I’ve made it so that everyone gets a say in anything they need a say in. His neighbor’s never shown up, and the only other person who might have a problem with him is me.” Celestia shrugged.

“Nonetheless…” Luna muttered, cracking her knuckles ominously. After a moment she winced, rubbing her hands gingerly. Celestia laughed and leaned over to hug her sister, then leaned back in her chair.

“I think today’s going to have an early night for me. I’ll see you all in the morning. Goodnight, my dear ones,” she sighed as she stood. Standing, we each gave her a brief hug, Ditzy once again lingering slightly too long, and then she was gone, away to her room.

Peeking into the sky, Luna checked a clock, then shrugged to herself. Pulling a long, slender wand from the air, she pointed it straight up, holding it in front of her chest as she closed her eyes. Glowing for a minute, the wand seemed to hum as Luna’s eyes tightened, screwed up in concentration.

With a sharp breath, Luna’s wand flashed and her eyes opened, a small smile flashing across her face as well.

“With that friends, I’m afraid I must depart,” Luna said, smiling sadly. “With the moon on its way, Night Courts will be starting soon, and I’ll have actual responsibilities again. I’d like a shower first, and I need a change.”

Looking around the table, I took Ditzy’s hand and stood as well. “I think we’d join you Luna. For the walk back to the room!” I said, realizing how that might have sounded. “With Twilight and Rarity in our old quarters, I figured we’d best stay out of the way…”

Luna laughed and nodded, hugging Twilight and Rarity goodnight through their blushes.

“I guess we’ll see you in the morning then, girls,” I said, pecking Twilight’s forehead as I passed her. “See you later.”

Waving, we let the door close as we left the two alone.

“We’re molesting Luna in the shower, right?” Ditzy asked, earning a glance from the ruler in question.

“Of course,” I retorted, receiving my own wide eyes. “I don’t know what else you would have expected,” I said apologetically to her.

“The citizenry conspire against me,” She muttered, wrapping an arm apiece around the both of us.

“Very well then. We’ll let this one injustice stand.”

Ditzy’s arm met mine as we both wrapped around the waist of the Princess, and we smiled each other as we marched towards Luna’s room.

Author's Notes:

After this chapter, I'm hoping for weekly updates. See you guys later, and let me know what you think of the new stuff.

A Show Worth Missing

Ditzy sighed as I placed her on Luna’s luscious bed, wrapping her in the comforter and placing a pillow better under her head. Kissing her, she smiled up at me, eyes only half open, before turning into the blankets and burrowing deeper into them.

“She’s very beautiful, Spike,” Luna said to me from across the room, in the middle of placing her silver regalia. Her long, dark blue dress complemented her features without sexualizing them, and her necklaces and bangles further served this purpose.

The only thing really out of place was a small circlet made of silver thread; not cotton strands, but truly thin silver wires. It was almost lovely, if not for the tarnish covering the entire thing.

Walking over, I turned her and smiled, looking her over. “I don’t know what these are for,” I said, jangling her necklace in my hand. “You’re so lovely anyhow, it’s not like these add anything.”

She smiled sadly, touching her wrists, neck, and then head. “They’re reminders, Spike,” she said. “They tell me that no matter what, I belong to the people.”

I made a face, and she giggled. “That’s what they used to mean. Celestia had a golden set, but I believe she donated them to a museum long ago. I wear these because I like the weight… except…” She touched the tiny crown. “I’m sure you can see this is tarnished. This one I wear as a reminder still. It was on my head… when that creature attacked me… Attached to me…”

I pulled her into a hug, smoothing her hair down her back. She sniffled slightly, hugging me back, before pushing me away. “Thank you Spike, but I’m okay. Promise.” Wiping a hand over her eyes, she smiled, before changing the subject.

“So, the cute one’s asleep,” she said, pointing to the slumbering form on her bed. “You don’t seem to be sleeping tonight. What’re you going to do, go to the library?”

“No, I’m not quite that Twi,” I told her, smiling. “I hadn’t really thought about it… Maybe I’ll wander the castle, reacquaint myself…”

I slowed as Luna’s grin grew, and found myself quickly propelled from the room. A hand in my own tugged me along the hall behind its owner. “Keep me company then,” she said, weaving through the hallways to the courtrooms. “Wandering the castle, what kind of night is that… You’re not a vampire, Spike…”

I laughed as she drug me down the hallway, agreeing when there wasn’t a choice. When we go near the doors she stopped, letting go of my hand and smoothing her clothing. “No hints that there’s anything between us,” she said, grinning at me sternly. After I’d nodded, she opened the door… to half-full room. I watched her sigh, showing next to no outside signs.

After a short announcement of her presence, and a tacked-on introduction when the official saw me with her, we proceeded to a large chair, not quite a throne, where Luna sat. Pulling a spare, I sat off the edge of the platform, well out of the way. Looking regally around, Luna nodded to the guard who had announced her, who called a name off of a large list. The first person walked up to the stage, and bowed.

……………………………………………………..

I sighed, elbows on my knees and chin on my hands, bored out of my mind. So far it had been a lot of minor disputes, mostly settling small dues and claims. So far tonight the biggest problem had been a man who’d stolen a valuable necklace to feed his family. He’d left with a large debt… and a job in the castle.

Don’t get me wrong, Luna was good at what she was doing; it’s just that what she was doing was so impossibly boring. It may have been better if I could have had some sort of input, but it was clear that Luna didn’t need it anyhow. So, all I really got to do was sit and watch, listening in the beginning but quickly giving up.

Daydreaming, I was roused by a loud voice screaming about irrigation. Looking up, I saw a lithe and swarthy man, currently red-faced. Two guards stood in front of him, stiff backed with their hands on their swords.

Luna sat in her chair, reclined and closed-eyed. Walking over, I whispered in her ear, asking, “Think this is the guy Celestia warned you about?”

She nodded, opening her eyes and standing. “Sir, if you continue to yell, we will be forced to have you escorted out, and banned from our courts forever more.”

Sneering, the man took a deep breath. His shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes. The guards relaxed slightly, loosening their grip on their weapons.

Snapping his eyes open, he whipped a wand out of his pocket, blasting apart the ground between the guards and sending them flying apart.

Luna’s hand leapt out, sinking wrist deep into pocket of air she kept her wand stashed in. The farmer was faster, pointing his wand directly at her, piece of wood whistling as it leveled.

Stepping in front of her, I pushed my wings out from their hiding place, unaltered shirt tearing as the leathery appendages burst forth. Cupping them around me, I advanced on the poor idiot as he stared at the clawed flesh stretching to his sides.

“Devil’s consort!” the man screamed, blasting some red spell directly into my chest. I flinched as the magic dissolved my shirt and splashed across the now bare skin, leaving a sticky residue and sizzling.

Now several steps closer, I spun my body and lowered myself as I cocked my arm back, the man getting one last word as I surged my fist forward.

“Interloper!”

Popping my fist open, I pushed my palm and body up, catching his jaw and pushing his entire head back. His feet lifted and he started an awkward ark to the floor, body tensing.

Hand coming down, I snagged the belt he was wearing and spun him, guiding his head into a nearby bench. With a hollow clunk, his body shuddered and he released his wand to clutch at his skull.

Dropping him, I had time to grin before my own shudder, the smoking smell of flesh hitting my nostrils a second before the pain hit my consciousness. Falling to my knees, I looked down at the red goo coving my torso, expanding to cover as much as it could.

I felt someone grab my hair roughly, and with a hard pull I was looking at the ceiling, with Luna standing in my periphery vision. She had managed to pull her wand out, and pointed it at the residue covering my chest.

The burning turned cold, and then some of the pressure disappeared. Forcing my head back down, I took in the angry red mess of my chest, covered now in angry purple boils.

“Don’t look,” Luna said with another tug. Staring up, I could only feel what was happening with my flesh as Luna poked at it with her wand. With another sizzling, I felt my skin start to crawl, and flinched as I felt what seemed to be miniature explosions all along my torso. Moaning and shivering, I closed my eyes and waited for the popping to stop.

When Luna released my hair, I breathed in, shuddering. Looking down, I saw shiny, pink skin tightly covering my ribs. I gently touched the area and flinched, feeling like I’d been sunburned badly.

Another moan sounded from a few feet in front of me. The farmer lay on the floor, curled into a ball with a puddle of cooling blood around him, bloody fingers holding against his head.

Luna walked around me, a terrifying scowl sprawling across her face, and for a minute I thought she was going to kick him. Instead she wrenched his hand away from his head, jabbing her wand angrily forward. A blue streak shot into his skin, and the bleeding stopped immediately. Pulling itself together, the skin became the same shiny color of my chest.

“Take him to a holding cell, and send a doctor. No wands near him.” She pulled him up by his shoulder, lifting him from the floor and thrusting him to the nearby guards, almost throwing him. They started dragging him away, but before they could leave completely he dug in a heel and screeched one last thing at me.

“Whore, Whore of the Moon, you’ll get the knife she deserves! The blade both temptresses deserve!”

Grunting, one of the heavier set guards dug thick fingers into the man’s neck and lifted him, carrying him from the room through a door set off to the side.

Luna returned to where I knelt, me still panting like an animal. Gingerly she wrapped her arms around me, then stood.

“These courts are ended.” She glanced around at the handful of people. “Get your name and address to one of these men, and they will ensure that either my sister or I hear you out the next time you show, with preference.”

There was a general murmuring around the room, before the rest of the citizens were led into the halls by guards with scrolls and pens. Luna tried to sit by my side as they filtered out, but I stopped her, and lifted myself onto the platform to sit.

She sat down on the stage beside me, and as soon as the doors were shut, her face crumpled as she stared at my skin.

“It’s not the first time this has happened,” I told her lightly, smiling a bit. “I don’t know if your sister ever told you…”

“She mentioned yo-your skin,” she sniffled. “She never mentioned ho-how much the sp-spell burned you…”

“Well, it didn’t hurt this much last time,” I told her, wincing as I ran a hand over my skin. “I don’t think it did this either, Celestia just sort of siphoned it away.”

Luna hung her head, sniffling harder. “I’m so-sorry Spike, i-if I had been quicker-er…” She was sobbing in earnest now, shoulders tensing inwards and hitching as her hair fell over her face like a curtain.

Reaching over and through the veil over her face, by her neck I pulled her to me and held her loosely, planting a gentle kiss on top of her head as I wrapped a wing around her. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I held her and let her tears fall into my lap.

When her breathing normalized a bit, I asked her, “Hey Luna? I’m not your whore, am I?”

She hiccupped and moaned quietly, punching my thigh.

“I mean,” I continued, “I’m not exactly getting paid well enough to be more that the Moon’s Slut, and Ditzy would just further complicate the matter…”

Luna hiccupped again, and hit my leg much harder this time, but I also got a quick giggle. “We’ll talk compensation later,” she spoke roughly, unwrapping my arms and placing her around me, much gentler than I had been. The wings I still had out made this a bit difficult, but she managed.

I settled into her a bit, but we separated when the doors to the hall blasted apart, bouncing off the wall and rebounding into the blazing hands that outstretched themselves to catch the wood.

Celestia stormed into the room, hair flaming larger than a bonfire as she stalked towards us, fiery footprints showing where she had walked. She had a silk nightgown on, and probably would have been dead sexy if she hadn’t been so… on fire.

“Where,” she commanded, voice flat and voluminous. Her eyes narrowed when I shook my head, and her skin released steam before she spoke this time, much lower in pitch and size.

“Spike, he hurt you. He will not escape unpunished,” she threatened.

“He’ll not escape at all,” I snorted, tenuously smiling at her. I watched as confusion swept her features, and she gradually returned to normal. Smiling with more strength, I told her exactly what had happened. After I nodded towards the door the guards had pressed the man through she started that way, stopping when Luna caught her sleeve.

“He’ll wait,” she said sternly, surprising all three of us, I believe. Taking a deep breath, she looked back down to me, then at her sister.

Slowly, Celestia nodded, then dropped to the stage beside me. Luna sat my other side, and we stayed still for a while, Luna breathing raggedly and Celestia in short, hopefully calming bursts. Reaching out with my still-extended wings, I laid the thin layer of skin over their backs, attempting to restore some of the warmth that had left the room.

For a while silence reined, and then there was a knock, followed by a golden-helmed guard peeking in.

“My liege? Lieges…? Ladies?”

Celestia sighed and looked up, Luna giggling a bit. “Yes?” they asked at the same time, voices overlapping perfectly except for their tones.

“Uhm, who should I notify?” the young woman asked, nodding at me.

“No one, yet,” I said, interrupting Luna. “Sorry. Right now it’s not a big deal. I’m alive and all, right? I’ll tell Twilight and Ditzy myself.”

Luna nodded, with Celestia hesitating before nodding herself.

Bow hidden by the door, all we saw was the guard’s head dip before she closed the door, a few strands from the top of her helmet stuck in the door.

Sighing, Luna stood up, holding a hand out to me. “Come on then. If the courts aren’t going to run, I may as well catch up on paperwork. I’ll see you back to Ditzy though; I imagine you’d want to sleep…?”

I’d started shaking my head, scratching at the burn on my chest. “I can help, and it’s not exactly like I need the sleep…”

Celestia had risen beside her sister, hands on her hips. I tried standing with them, but they laid their hands on my shoulders and forced me back down, ignoring the scowl on my face.

Flaring my wings, I used them to push myself up to my feet, forcing my way through both of them. “My legs are fine, as is everything else,” I almost snarled, gaining two sets of wide eyes.

“But, Spike…” Luna started, stopping as I snapped a stern look at her.

“I can… I can walk just…”

I stopped speaking, clutching at my head with a hand, rubbing at the central part of my forehead. My vision wavered, and I felt something strange going on with my chest.

I dropped my hand from my forehead and scratched at the skin, raking four furrows across my torso. Red fluid leaked out, thicker than jam and the color of bright rubies, too bright to be my blood.

I was immediately returned to a horizontal position, this time Celestia above me. Her wand plunged into my chest, and I felt a hollow forming as I choked to breathe.

Within seconds my head started to clear, and after a minute the only sensation was four burning marks in my chest. Sighing deeply, Celestia flopped down beside me, running her wand over my entire body.

“Oh, that’s going to be good,” I muttered when the wand buzzed and glowed red, just above my face.

“Damn. Hold still, okay?” Celestia said, pointing her wand at my nasal cavity. Groaning and shaking my head, I tilted my head back for her.

Something thick stirred inside my sinus, tickling the back of my throat and pressing all around my eyes, making me gag and turn my head while bile exited my body.

Ignoring my gasping, Luna grabbed my forehead and pressed down on it while Celestia reasserted her wand, now pressing it almost into my nostril. Another writhing mess, another gag, and then Celestia whipped her wand arm back, pulling a great load of red slime through the air.

Holding her wand out as far as she could, Celestia watched distastefully as the red goop writhed for a second, and then hardened into a loose bag holding onto the end of her wand. With a flick of her elbow, she dislodged the mass onto the floor, where it evaporated to leave a nasty stain on the violet carpet.

Coughing, I laid back, gesturing at Celestia to wand over me again. This time, nothing buzzed or flashed. After a minute of panting, I started giggling. Celestia looked down at me, cautiously. Luna inched away, readying her own wand.

“You cursed,” I laughed, between choking coughs.

A surprised look crossed both Princess’s faces, before Celestia covered a small smile beneath three of her fingers. Luna opted for loud laughter.

“I suppose we can’t be proper all the time,” Celestia smiled, before sighing.

“And you can’t be indestructible all of the time. Any of the time. You’re not indestructible, Spike,” Celestia said, leveling a finger at me.

“Obviously not,” I grinned at her, gesturing at my scored chest. Holding up a hand, I interrupted her angry rant before she could restart it. “No, really, I know. I just…” I shrugged. “I don’t think about it.”

“Well, start,” Celestia huffed. “I’m quite confident that Luna could have handled whatever spell that man may have thrown at her…”

A low tone chimed in the room, and Celestia looked to the door, irritated. The same guard as before slammed through the door, allowing it to rebound and close behind her as she strode up to the stage area.

Before either of the Princesses could say anything, the woman pulled a scroll out and unfurled it, baring a crest and the rest of the blank paper.

“This was on the man’s back,” was all she had to say.

Celestia looked at it for a moment, then snatched the scroll and rolled it back up, dismissing it into a pocket of air. “Tell no one yet. We can fix this before it gets out of hand.”

“Before what…?” I started, until Celestia Grabbed my arm and pulled me into a standing position.

Turning back to the woman, Celestia spoke two sentences.

“Summon Dawnbreak. Tell him we found a follower of Sombra.”

Author's Notes:

The image above is not mine, it belongs to ZantyARZ. The entire image can be found over here http://silverslinger.deviantart.com/art/Neon-King-Sombra-337128735

The Preparation

I winced as we walked through the door into the room Celestia used as an office. She usually kept the room hotter than the rest of the castle, and the warm air made the still bare skin of my chest prickle uncomfortably.

Extending her wand towards the ceiling, Celestia wound her hand in a counter-clockwise motion. A cool breeze seemed to drift through the room, and the heat lessened.

Luna pulled two seats from two of the seven desks littering the room and pulled them in front of the center desk.

Taking a seat, I looked around at the other desks. Besides Celestia’s, only two other places had nameplates, reading Silver Scribe and Golden Quill.

Glancing back at Celestia’s much larger desk, I strained to see any of the desk’s surface beneath what seemed to be a landslide of paper. I didn't have to try for long, as Celestia herself walked up to the desk with a large box and swept the entire mess into it, revealing a runed surface.

“Most of this is just trash,” Luna told me, gesturing at the box thrown beside the desk. “Hides the runes, and it helps Celestia look busy.”

Giving Luna a look, Celestia huffed to herself before picking up the desk by an edge, shifting the contents inside. Sighing, she dropped the desk and kicked at it furiously. Waving her hands at my bewildered face, Celestia once again picked up on the edge of her workspace.

This time, however, there was a click of a latch releasing, and she was able to pull up the entire top of the desk and flip it, setting the wood platform back on the rest of the desk. Instead of the runes, there was a multitude of papers pinned to the underside, all formed around a large symbol in the middle. The symbol matched the one on the scroll Celestia had dismissed earlier.

“Luna, I’m sure you remember Sombra.” Luna nodded, tilting her head to the side.

“Of course Celestia, but I thought we…?”

“We didn't,” Celestia interrupted. “I didn't discover it until well into…” She hesitated here, looking away. “About five hundred years ago.” She shook her head and pointed to a certain paper near the middle, yellowed and dusty.

“This was my first report of the Shade. It was a small thing, an outpost near our most northern border. Regular, ordinary correspondence for years. Peaceful talks with the Crystal Folken on the border, everyone’s happy. I’m sending them items to trade with, and they're sending us literature and the history of the folken. Then, one last piece of correspondence.”

She pointed to the paper and read from it, trailing the words with a finger.

“A man has wandered into the walls. He is bleeding and frostbitten. He cries of shadows, and a Shade of the night, bearing reddened teeth and eyes. He begs us to send for help, for a Sorcerer. The men scream in their sleep and awake as if dead. Please Celestia, send aid.”

She looked up, wiping a few tears from her eyes. “By the time my people reached the outpost, it was almost deserted. They found only one thing; a corpse, throat torn out and face twisted with a smile.”

Luna was sitting in her chair, pale and leaning back, as if away from her sister’s story. I leaned forward, planting my elbows on my knees.

“Vampire?” I asked.

Celestia shook her head. “A Hemovore would have sucked the corpse dry, not filled the corpse with black slime. When the doctor I sent cut into the corpse for an autopsy, his reports claim that most of the organ had liquefied, and had a stench so foul that the entire camp refused to work until the corpse was removed. They ended up burning it, making sure that is was well away from the camp on a still day.”

I raised a hand and an eyebrow. “Mostly liquefied? What wasn’t?”

Celestia frowned, but a masculine, musical voice from the doorway answered before she could.

“His heart.” Dawnbreak walked between us, smiling at Luna as he set a hand on her shoulder. Luna smiled up at him, leaving her seat to hug him tenderly, before pushing away to look worriedly at his singed white shirt and dirty gray pants. I looked beyond the two and waved at Shadowfall, the female assassin standing in the doorway. Her black clothes were also covered in dust and tears, some of her many pockets completely torn away from her clothes.

“Hullo all,” she called in cheerily. “I didn't know those two were privy.”

Celestia leaned across her desk to kiss Dawnbreak’s cheek, motioning Shadowfall to come in. “They weren’t. And still aren't quite caught up.”

“I heard,” Shadowfall giggled, pulling two more chairs over to Celestia’s desk. “When you start at the beginning, you go all the way. It takes a couple hundred more years to get really fun.”

Dawnbreak tugged on her pants, already sitting in one of the chairs. She sighed and sat in the one next to him, the only open one. She started rustling through her pockets, pulling out a short metal bar and starting to twirl it. Dawnbreak pulled out his crystal ball, setting it in his lap and holding his hands over it.

I shivered, looking into its depths. I started to look away, but paused. “Dawnbreak, has that thing gotten… bigger?”

He smiled and held a finger to his lips, before pointing the same finger to Celestia.

She smiled slightly, then shook her head. “Uhm… Right, his heart. The heart was the only organ still in his chest cavity, but it was far from undamaged. The doctor said that the heart seemed crystallized, and was brittle enough to turn into dust at the touch.”

“This being seconds before the tossing out, and the burning,” Shadowfall said, eyes wandering as her fingers spun the bit of metal. “Did you tell them about how the body killed the grass beneath it as it burned?”

Celestia shook her head. “More than killed the grass, it scorched the earth itself. Out of curiosity, and because of recent movements throughout the northern bits of Equestria, I sent a group back into the outpost.”

“It hasn’t grown back,” Shadowfall reported. “The fort is still abandoned, but for the carrion birds and wolves. The walls themselves have a sort of gray dust covering, and the animals are more hostile than usual, although they show no signs of starvation. We didn't spend the night, but we were close enough to note that the temperature dropped way below normal at nightfall.”

She tugged a small glass vial out of a pocket and set it on Celestia’s desk. “That’s a scraping from the wall. Also the third glass it’s been contained in.”

Celestia picked up the sample and shook it gently, the dust whispering over the glass.

Twitching, I winced and dug my nails into my chest, scratching madly. Looking away from the vial, I felt my hand being pulled away from my chest, now bloody. Panting, I looked up into Luna’s eyes and smiled.

“Hey, I think that dust may be connected to the spell used on me,” I said.

After glancing to my left side, Luna nodded to me, and I returned my eyes to Celestia, glass vial now hidden from sight. Still, the itch returned to my chest, and I sighed as I turned my chair to face Luna.

I heard Celestia sigh before she continued.

“I’ll have the dust analyzed later. Right now, I'll keep it short. We have every reason to believe that the Shade spoken of is the remnants of King Sombra, a ruler of the Crystal Folken in the north who went mad shortly after the assassination of his wife.

“He studied deep into necromancy, and even discovered that the crystal composition of his people’s bodies could be used to amplify spells. Unsatisfied, he had them digging deep into the earth for large deposits of crystal and gems, killing thousands and experiments on hundreds.”

Luna shuddered, and the two Darklighters adopted grim expressions; Shadowfall even stopped fidgeting.

“Maybe twenty years before the curse of Nightmare Moon, Luna and I decided to end the tyrant’s reign. For years we were ignorant of Sombra’s actions against his own people, and for years after that we attempted peaceful negotiations, then not so peaceful. We even went as far as inciting riots among the people. We didn't think…”

I heard Celestia’s breathe hitch.

“I had thought that Sombra was still above murdering his own people. He went in himself, and burned the rioters alive. The few that managed to escape the fire were executed, then reanimated.”

Luna trembled again. Dawnbreak stared into the crystal in his hands, black smoke swirling throughout the inside. Shadowfall merely looked away.

“We stepped in ourselves. With a small force of fifty Darklighters, Luna and I cut a swathe across the northern country, burning our way through undead and other monsters. Sombra was apparently unhappy with just reanimating corpses, and he sewed together creatures… unimaginable to any besides him.”

“The giants were the worst,” Luna spoke up. “Massive towers of flesh, sewn together from hundreds of people and given a heart made of fire, and death, and steel.”

I chanced a glance at Celestia, who nodded.

“We had to literally burn our way through the country,” Luna continued. “Fire seemed to be the only thing that touched them, they were encased in a sort of magical ice that rebuked all blades, and most spells.”

“When we reached the castle of Sombra, there were only eight of us,” Celestia continued. “Six of my bravest, and us two. Sombra had left almost all of the castle open. No traps, just…”

“People,” Dawnbreak spoke up. “There were people everywhere, frozen to the walls, the floor…”

Luna nodded, and I heard Celestia almost whimpering. Luna took over the story for her.

“We walked the castle, looking for the king,” Luna started, leaning forward onto her knees. “Everywhere we sensed him, in the very walls themselves. We avoided the doors to his throne room, for there was a deathly miasma seeping from the ice over it. We looked even in his bedchambers, and there discovered…”

Luna paused, and Celestia retook the story.

“We knew he was behind those doors, covered in black ice, but we had to be sure… We prayed we were wrong, that it would be just a little easier… When we walked into the king’s bedchambers, we found only one th-thing. Sombra’s skin, still clothed in his bed. There was a massive split down the front of his chest, and the bed was covered in blood… We thought it harmless…”

“It was not,” Luna picked up. “We rummaged through the room, looking for anything we could use. Our Darklighters did, anyhow. Celestia and I stayed outside, keeping an eye on the hallways. We sensed evil everywhere, and could not tell that in the room, it was much thicker.”

“The doors closed on us, and we heard his laughter everywhere,” Luna said, dry mouth swallowing nothing. “Five of our remaining team… Their voices…”

“They screamed,” Dawnbreak stated. “They screamed as he ripped them apart, and shoved their corpses into the cavity of his chest. That limp bag of skin and muscle pulled them apart, and ate them as I watched.”

Luna reached out to take his hand, Shadowfall putting her arm around his shoulder.

“When the Princesses finally burst through the door, I was sat in a corner, useless sword pointing at the skin of the monster. It kept laughing, even as its head was removed and the body set aflame…”

“He only stopped when I pushed my sword through the top of the scalp,” Celestia said. “It was bathed in the outer layers of the sun, and very effective against the armies of the dead.”

“Still keep that thing locked away?” Shadowfall asked.

Celestia chuckled, a little watery. “I would display it, but for that fact that it shines anywhere near anyone with sins on their mind…”

I chuckled a bit, earning a collectively raised eyebrow from the group. “Luna’s not allowed near the sword, is she?” I asked with a smirk.

The sisters chuckled, while the Darklighters shared a confused look.

“Anyhow, the room behind the ice,” I prompted, looking between the three survivors.

Celestia sighed, sitting back in her chair. “We broke through the ice with a bit of work, and a lot of fire. The entire room was thick with ice, and we basically had to burn our way through the doors because they refused to open.”

“The Lich was sitting on hat had been his throne,” Luna said. “Blue fire holding up a skull, thick black furs wrapping the rest of his bones, red eyes, the whole shtick. Even had a massive sword made of crystal and ice; it was a horrible, gaudy thing.”

“Also locked away?” I asked.

“Melted when we dispatched Sombra,” Luna said.

“I could make it sound like a great story,” Celestia said. “Really, the only thing that happened was Dawnbreak enchanted most of his clothes with fire, and all three of us ganged up on him. My sword and shield, Dawnbreak’s fists, and Luna’s ridiculous weapon,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, my hammer worked just fine for me, thanks,” Luna said snippily.

“Yeah, swing and pray works wonders,” Celestia snarked back.

“So, smash and slash worked on a Lich?” I asked quickly.

“Yeah,” Dawnbreak said. “Luna and I would pummel the ice it pulled up as a shield, and Celestia would duck in and slash at the magic holding everything together before it could recall the ice.”

“It seemed like hours, but I've been told we only fought for ten minutes. Finally Sombra ran out of magic power, so drained that his body was left behind,” Celestia gestured at the air, mimicking a floating skull as best she could.

“Still managed to swing that stupid sword of his,” Luna said, rubbing at her arm.

“Luckily, Dawnbreak managed to drop its shields just as Luna was queuing up a swing.” Celestia smiled at her sister.

“Smashed that skull so hard it rebounded off the ceiling,” Luna said, smug smile draped on her face.

“Shattered?” I asked, scratching again at my chest.

“Sort of,” Luna said, reaching over and pulling at my arm. “The magic encasing it did, and the thing just kind of bounced off the floor before the eyes went out.”

“Dawnbreak took care of the disposal after that,” Celestia sighed.

“You mean he stomped the thing to dust, then set the dust on fire,” Luna giggled.

Dawnbreak nodded, adopting his signature serene smile.

“We thought it was over then,” Celestia said, running her eyes over the desk, before waving her hand over the stacks of paper. “These say otherwise. We believe that the soul of the Lich escaped before Dawnbreak could destroy the skull, and it hid in some of the crystals gathered around the kingdom, gathering magic. The outpost was the next time we heard from this Shade, but we didn't make any connection to Sombra until later, when we met with one of the Crystal folk, alive and breathing.”

“See, we thought that the community in the far south of Sombra’s old empire were the only survivors,” Celestia said, now excited. “But then, a hundred or so years later, here was another survivor, speaking of a city full of sleeping Folken!”

“He was frostbitten, and deathly ill, but not delirious,” Dawnbreak spoke up. “He claimed that Sombra had gathered most of the living nation into his capital, and killed well over half of them to fuel his dead armies.”

“However, he also claimed that the other half were laid to rest beneath the city, in the sprawling mines they had themselves dug,” Celestia said, unfolding an old map across the top of her desk. Tracing several lines, she ran her finger over the map.

“Before the survivor died, he said that the only reason he had escaped was because there had been a cave-in in one of the shafts, blocking part of the sleeping spell that covers the mines. He and a few others we revived, and started digging out the rest of the city. However, before they could make any headway, he claimed that a dark shadow possessed one of the group, and obliterated all but two.”

She picked up a small drawing of a lovely woman. “He says that this one accompanied him for a while, but the snow and the shadow eventually killed her. When he finished his tale, he said… He said that he was happy to have been warm one last time, and then he…”

“Passed away,” I finished, leaning back in my chair. My hand twitched upwards, but I stopped it and returned it to my lap. “What happened to the city?”

“Still there,” Shadowfall reported. “And while it was covered in the same strange dust, it could still be livable, with a warmth spell or two in the winters. We also found the entrance to the mine, but…”

Celestia leaned forward in her chair, eyebrow raised.

Dawnbreak continued, “It’s been blocked off. That same black ice as before.”

Celestia visibly tensed, before slumping back into her chair. “That settles it,” she said, smiling a bit. “He’s alive, or at least around.”

Luna grinned, small and mischievous. “Ah, sister, am I thinking what you just thought?”

Dawnbreak looked between the sisters, and I felt a chill creeping up my back.

“No no no…” I started, before being forced to a halt.

“Yes,” Celestia said, smiling fiercely.

“I’ll go grab Eclipse,” Luna said, leaping from her chair.

Dawnbreak took his own feet, followed quickly by a grinning Shadowfall. He looked over his clothes, then hers, then stalked from the room, leaving me with Celestia.

“You’re not really…?”

Celestia nodded, digging through her desk before pulling out a blank piece of parchment. Placing her wand-tip on the paper, she released it as it began scribing letters as it danced across the sheet.

“But, who’s going to…?”

Celestia pointed to the two other desks in the room.

“It’ll be dangerous…”

Celestia raised her eyebrows at me, lowering her eyelids.

I sighed. “I’m coming along.”

Her eyebrows fell, but I held up my hand, palm outward.

“You can’t stop me, and we both know it. I’m going to help you this time.”

She huffed, then nodded. Looking down at the paper, she let the wand finish before snagging it out of the air, tripling it and send two pieces onto either desk, the third disappearing into the air.

“We may be gone for some time. You should let Ditzy know,” Celestia said, flipping the top of her desk back over and carefully replacing the debris she’d scooped into the box.

“I will,” I said, moving from the room. “Don’t leave without me. I’ll follow you, and get lost, and you will have to explain why I’m burning down the eastern woods.”

She sighed and waved her hand, still locking up her desk and messing with the paperwork on it.

………………………………………………………………….

I slipped into Luna’s chambers, hoping to find Ditzy still asleep. Instead, I was greeted by a nude Luna, followed quickly by a shirt to the face.

“You’re going with them, aren't you?”

I pulled the shirt over myself, covering my chest swiftly. Ditzy was looking at me, face frowning and sad.

“Luna’s given me a rundown,” she huffed. “You’re going off on this ‘Quest’ as well, aren't you?”

Smiling nervously, I nodded. She sighed, then patted the bed near her. Walking over, I’d barely sat down before she wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back, running my hands over her smooth back.

“You all better come back safe,” she huffed into my shoulder.

“You know we will,” I told her, smiling. Leaning back, I caught her gaze. Half her gaze. “It’s not like it’s just me and Luna. Celestia’s coming as well, and two senior Darklighters…”

She smiled and nodded, then pushed me off the bed. “Pack warmly,” she muttered, before tossing the blankets over her head and rolling back into the bed.

Chuckling, I kissed her forehead, receiving a ruffle of my hair in return. Turning, I saw Luna, significantly more dressed now, digging through her wardrobe.

I walked over, taking in her thick wool pants and dark sweater, before joining her in her closet. With a little help, we found her enough thick clothing for a few days, along with thick winter boots and scarf.

“I’ll be right…” I trailed off, sighing deeply. “Twilight and Rarity are still in our old room, aren’t they?”

Luna nodded, giggling. “You’ll have to take some things of mine, then.”

Digging a bit further, we packed away the least feminine attire I could find, giving up on shoes but finding a couple of thick knit caps.

Looking over, I could help myself, letting out a quiet chuckle. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Luna nodded, pulling her cap over her ears, just above her eyes. “It’s a lot more like old times. I get tired of paperwork,” she admitted.

I nodded. “Let’s get to the armory then. I need boots, and I’m sure we’ll need armor.”

“Oh, I think we’ll let my sister worry about our armor, especially if she’s going after her sword,” Luna grinned.

I glanced over at her, nervous for some reason.

………………………………………………………………….

“By your wings,” I breathed, taking in Celestia’s battle gear.

Laughing, she twirled, showing off the gleaming silver plates spaced over her body. Instead of a layering of plates, her armor had few large plates pieced together by thick leather, covered with mail. It was seemingly just steel reinforced leather.

“I’m quick, so a ton of metal would just end up hurting me,” Celestia said, picking at some of the mail. “This was made to cover my vital spots, but still be as flexible as possible. Luna’s, however…”

“Is more traditional,” the woman in question called, appearing in the door to the vault. While hers shined just as much as Celestia’s, the steel was much darker, almost smoky. She had been completely honest about her suit as well, the dark steel covering most of her body except her head, and the joints of her legs and arms.

And while this would have been impressive alone, I was ignoring it for Luna’s weapon, a hammer with a steel shaft as tall as she was, the head as large as her torso with a wicked, curving spike falling from the back.

“Good goddess, Luna,” I said, laughing as I ran my hand over the smooth surface of her hammer. “I’d love to see you swing this…”

Her face contorted into an angry frown, hand gripping the hammer tightly.

“Do you think that I cannot swing Eclipse? That I’ve gone soft over the years? That….”

She was forced to trail off as I held a finger to her lips, shaking my head.

“Luna, I know you can swing it. I want to see you do it…”

She blushed, fierce grin covering her face.

Celestia sighed and grumbled to herself, pushing past us and into the vault. Curious, I peeked past Luna and watched as Celestia pulled down a large shield and a sheathed, thin sword, longer than I expected. Holding it straight out at chest level, it came close to Celestia’s toes, and she was taller than Luna.

“And what are your weapons named?” I called, startling Celestia.

“Uhm… Sol and… Texentium…”

I paused, translating in my head. “You named your set Sunbeam?”

She blushed and looked away. “At least it’s not Eclipse…”

Luna and I laughed, Celestia eventually joining in.

“Does that thing still shine when you unsheathe it?” Luna asked eventually, nodding at Beam.

“I think so,” Celestia said, setting Sol on a hook hanging at her hip before slowly revealing her sword. It matched her armor in shine, and its surface seemed to have been polished to a mirror sheen.

“Hmm… It probably will again, after it’s been exposed to the sunlight again.” She clipped the scabbard to her other hip and set Beam back into it.

Slowly, I walked into the room, one of the few I’d not been allowed into when Twilight and I had lived here before. Celestia gave me a strange look, then gestured me further in, nodding.

Looking around, I noticed that the vaulted room was not only smaller, but also a bit barer than I thought it’d be. Looking around, I noted a few glass cases, a few chests… and many, many weapons.

“This is pretty much the armory we use, when we need to,” Celestia instructed. “The chests mostly contain dangerous books and scrolls, some enchanted armors we simply prefer not to display.”

I walked over to a small glass case containing a dagger made of some strange, green metal. There were intricate swirls all over the weapon, laced with gold-leaf.

“Some are gifts,” she said, waving towards some large sword made seemingly of rubies and sapphires, “While most are simply what they appear to be; tools of war.”

“I’ll assume you know how to use all of these?” I asked, running my hand over the hilt of a sword made of obsidian.

“Of course we do. Obviously there are favorites, but we both are trained in battle using every single item here.”

“This is why I wasn’t allowed in here before?”

Celestia looked down and away, out the door. “I… I don’t like anyone thinking about our past selves. We both started off as warriors, not Princesses, but we’re the only one who need to remember that…” She smiled, tight-lipped. “Us, and our enemies.”

“The Gryph people still have terrible paintings of us, and a few ambassadors have openly admitted to being told monster stories about us by their parents,” Luna said absently, looking at a long, thick sword seemingly made of bone.

“We work hard to present a better face to other nations, though,” Celestia sighed, frowning.

“Well, let’s go show those faces to the Crystal Folken, eh?” came a feminine voice, announcing at least Shadowfall.

She stood in the door, wearing a clean set of her original clothes. Dawnbreak stood behind her, and had added mail over his own set of clean clothes, as well as a small dagger and pair of gauntlets at his waist.

Looking around, I took in the armor again. “We’re not… travelling like this, are we?”

Celestia laughed and shook her head, as she and her sister snapped simultaneously. Both sets of armor disappeared, revealing Luna’s heavy clothes and Celestia’s mostly matching set.

“That shirt’s tailored for wings, right?” Shadowfall asked, pulling at the back of the heavy fabric covering me.

“Uhm…” I slowly stretched my wings out, pushing them through the hidden exits to the sweater. Shaking the leathery appendages, I let my shoulder blades pop slightly before pulling the wings back to my side.

“Celestia, Luna?”

They both nodded.

“What about you, Shadowfall?” Celestia asked. “I thought you were unaligned?”

Shadowfall grinned and elbowed Dawnbreak. “Dawn here’s pretty good at carrying me around. We usually cover a few hundred miles a day, think you lot can keep up?”

Grinning, the Princesses flexed their shoulders, unfurling their large wings, massive primaries almost trailing the ground as the tips stretched easily to either side of the room.

Shadowfall gulped noisily before grinning. “Well then, let’s set off.

Author's Notes:

Everybody liking the Wednesday updates? Everybody liking the updates themselves?

Cold Winds

We landed well south of the capital of the old empire that evening, just within sight of the snow. Celestia and Luna shook the lacy tendrils of ice from their feathered wings. Shadowfall was gently scraping one of Dawnbreak’s wings while he took care of the other.

I looked to my own wings, not iced over but covered with condensation still. I took an extra shirt from my bag and wiped away the water before it could freeze. Stuffing the cloth around some armor Shadowfall had insisted I pack, I looked behind us at the trees that had stopped as though they’d been drawn at a line, few scraggly bushes daring to break the mark.

Staring west to the setting sun, I gave myself a moment to admire the fiery sky and bruised clouds before turning to the grey skies directly north. The ground itself seemed to die as it trekked closer to the snow, grass turning from a sickly yellow to a poisoned brown. My fingers twitched as they brushed the wand strapped to my thigh, instead of sitting in a pocket it could fall out of.

“How far are we from the nearest town?” I asked, walking over to the Princesses.

Celestia shrugged, looking over to Dawnbreak. Looking back towards the shaggy forest we’d flown over, he stared deep into its depths before saying, “Two hundred miles or so.”

“Three hours,” Celestia told me. “The capitol is going to be quite a bit farther though, since I don’t want to be flying at night, or in the cold.”

I nodded, shouldering the pack that hung limply in my hand. “How much farther are we walking tonight?”

“As far as Shadowfall can,” Luna said, winking at the woman in question.

Shadowfall humph-ed at Luna and set off towards the snow, walking briskly. Dawnbreak cleared his throat lightly, pulling a long scarf out of his pack and wrapping it around his face and neck.

Celestia and Luna copied him, Shadowfall stopping her march long enough to pull her own face protection from her bag. Instead of a scarf like the others, she had a tube of material she slipped over her head, covering her face from her nose to her collar bones.

Looking around the group, I put on a loose smile. “Suppose I should have brought something for myself, huh?”

Celestia laid her hand gently over her eyes, rubbing them gently with her fingers. Luna giggled as Shadowfall reached into her bag and tossed me a garment like hers, the tossing me a set of clear goggles as well. I must have had a strange look on my face, because she laughed as she slipped her own heavy eye gear over her head, onto her neck

“You’ll see why when we get into the snow, Spike.”

I nodded and slipped the heavy leather strap over my head, letting the goggles rest on the top of my breast bone.

Everyone set their packs on their backs, folding their wings into their clothing, and we started into the chill air.

………………………………………

We were forced to stop three hours into the trek. The full moon hung over heavy clouds, the dim light that slipped between the vapors magnified by the white snow falling all around. I was grateful for the heavy jackets we’d packed, and the thickly padded goggles sparing my eyes from the icy bite of the wind. My mittened hands swiped at the building snow habitually, clearing the thick glass.

Celestia and Luna didn’t need the covering apparently, and strode purposefully atop the thick snow. Dawnbreak seemed to be struggling the slightest bit, breaking through the packed snow every tenth step or so. Shadowfall was miserable, trudging along in Dawnbreak’s trenches and grabbing onto his coat to keep herself from falling over at times.

I strode through the snow, leaving channels behind me. I’d gotten tired of going through the powder covering the actual hard packed snow, and just stayed on the lower layer after falling half an hour ago.

Celestia stopped, pointing through the snow and asking Luna something the wind whipped away. Luna nodded after a moment, and we changed our course slightly. After five minutes more, we stopped in front of a cave entrance, burrowing darkly into the ground. Celestia looked around the group and pointed down into it. Dawnbreak and I shrugged, but Shadowfall nodded emphatically. Luna lifted her shoulders before nodding twice, and we started our slow descent into the earth.

After forty or so feet, the tunnel sharply curved, and the wind died out. Pulling off her scarf, Celestia lifted a stone she drew from her bag. The surface of the orb writhed in her hand, then glowed as she ran her fingers over it.

The tunnel ran further back into the earth than the light could reach. The walls were smooth grey stone, sloping into the ceiling. The floor had a pockmarked, dented look. Celestia ran her hand over the wall as everyone else pulled clothes away from their faces.

“What do you think this place is?” Celestia asked out loud, the first thing I’d heard, besides the wind, in hours.

“It looks either like a miner’s tunnel, or a creature’s den,” Luna mused, looking up at the ceiling. “A Wurm of some size, maybe.”

I looked around nervously, pulling at the shrunken sword clipped to my bracelet. Celestia saw and nodded, loosening her own sword in the sheathe on her hip.

Pulling the wand from the holster on my thigh, I looked at the blade on my wrist, then at the tunnel’s walls.

They were just barely wide enough for me to swing the weapon freely, but I also had four other people in the tunnel with me. Putting the wand back in its holster, I called my talons forward instead, long dark claws spouting from my fingertips.

Looking up, I saw the rest of the group spread in a loose line across the tunnel, walking deeper into the earth. I caught up, standing between Celestia and Dawnbreak. Celestia gestured into the tunnel, pushing the stone out and seeming to concentrate the light ahead. A cavern seemed to open ahead, and she lengthened her paces.

We entered the cavern slowly, looking all around the circular cave. Instead of the unmarked grey stone, the hollow was littered with decrepit wooden scaffolds and long-rusted mining tools. It wasn’t hard to see what they were mining for, once we looked upwards.

Large crystal stalactites hung from the ceiling, almost every color of gem in bright display under Celestia’s light stone. She lifted the stone to show more of the ceiling, dispelling the last shadows in the room. The gem spires turned into stumps around the edges of the room, cut seemingly like trees from the roof.

“Look,” Dawnbreak said, pointing straight across the room. Another tunnel started there, but there seemed to be a straight line that cut through the room. Starting at the entrance of the original hall and ending at the other one, there was a large swathe of disturbed dirt and old tools. The path had the same strange dimpling across it, though the rest of the room seemed to have a mostly smooth floor.

Dawnbreak pulled his two gauntlets from his belt, slipping his almost fragile hands into the dark steel and flexing his hands. Shadowfall drew her wand and a dagger from her belt, while Luna pulled her hammer from the same not-place that she kept her wand.

“Should someone stay at the entrance?” Luna asked. “The rest of us could go in and draw whatever it is out, while we ambush it out here.”

Celestia looked around the group and nodded. “Spike, you and Luna stay here. Get your sword out and get ready to slice. Shadowfall and I will go in and engage, then draw the thing out here. Dawn… I’ll leave the decision up to you.”

“My fists will do better out here,” he said, looking up to a scaffolding that pressed into the wall over the door. “I’ll fall on it while these two take the sides.”

Celestia nodded, then pulled another light stone from her pack and tossed it to Luna. “I have a feeling you’ll hear us coming,” she said with a wry smile, pulling her sword. “No light unless you need it though. Whatever’s down this tunnel, it can probably already see what little I have.”

Luna nodded, leaning lazily against the wall. I took a place on the other side of her, fitting my wand into the hilt of the sword I’d resized. Celestia nodded to both of us, before entering the hole in the wall, taking the light with her. Shadowfall touched Dawnbreak’s hand and smiled up at him before following Celestia.

I watched Dawnbreak watch them walk down the tunnel until all light disappeared. I heard him move past me, climbing the wood until he was over the door. After that was only waiting, no one breaking the silence except to breathe.

Bored minutes passed, and I stared across the way just to have someplace to focus my eyes. With a start, I realized that I was able to see Luna. Her own expression changed as she realized the same, and we both looked around for the light source.

“Up,” Dawnbreak’s voice whispered from above, and both of our faces turned up to the crystal ceiling.

At first I thought the entire ceiling was aglow, until I noticed the stripe that was moving through the stalactites. It circled around the entire ceiling, a course grinding noise barely audible. The point of the thing reached the center of the ceiling, before drooping to touch the ground.

I thought for a moment it was living crystal, before it turned to the three of us.

Eyes dotted the front of its carapace, set in dead green flesh and on stalks. Small beetle eyes, large animal eyes, human eyes. A seam split the creature’s head in half, and it slowly tore itself in half to bare a razored mouth, teeth dotting even the top of its mouth as it hissed. A dull red tongue arched out of the opening, writhing in the air.

Luna raised a hand, the light stone balanced in her palm. The creature focused on her, small legs waving in her direction like antennae. A few of its eyestalks joined in this waving dance, and I felt bile rise into my throat.

“Flash,” Luna whispered, and I squeezed my eyelids together as she clamped her fist down on the stone.

All I could see was white, and I almost dropped my sword as the creature screamed in outrage, one of my hands clamping to an ear as the noise ripped through my very sanity. Opening my eyes, I had to swipe moisture away before I could see the beast, face down in the dirt and squirming as its mouth split wide. The teeth-lined flesh ran down at least a third of the thing’s body.

Pushing with its stumpy, sharp legs, the thing pulled its face from the ground as it lunged at Luna, still standing with the stone shining directly into its eyes.

Pushing forward, I swung my blade out in a wide arc. The steel met unyielding flesh, sliding harmlessly off instead of slicing as intended. I still managed to break its concentration, as well as a few eyestalks.

Rolling at me, I had to jump away to avoid the sharp spines of its back. Rolling out of the dodge, I was confronted by a large fleshy wall that slapped into me.

Flung away from the creature, I smashed into a wall. Gasping for air, I watched as Dawnbreak leapt down from his perch, a fist aimed at the thing’s bared side.

It snapped back, flailing its body and forcing him to guard instead of attacking. The worm rolled onto him, forcing him to his knees as it laid its weight directly onto him.

Luna appeared from around the beast, planting her feet and swinging her hammer into the beast’s displayed underside.

Lifted from Dawnbreak, most of the creature flew towards the far wall, slamming its head into the stone while its lower half curled up towards the upper parts. Dawnbreak followed after the head with his fists, keeping the thing off of its legs as he slammed into the meaty undersides of the creature.

Lifting my sword I strode forward, cocking the weapon over my shoulder as I picked up speed. Turning and planting my legs like I’d seen Luna, I swung my blade deep into the organs of the creature’s soft underside, slitting its belly open and causing it to scream weakly.

Dawnbreak and I backed away as Luna approached its head, hammer held to her left and down. Reaching its head Luna jerked her weapon straight up, gripping the handle with both hands.

The creature twitched heavily and screamed up at the night Princess once more, before she swung the steel down into the thing’s head, a large crunch filling the room. She swung the hammer up again, a grim look on her face as the thing’s legs weakly tried to pull it away from her until she swung back down.

For another minute she repeated this process, until the legs scrabbling weakly at the stone floor stopped completely.

Dawnbreak had long lowered his hands, and the tip of my sword rested on the ground, the both of us watching in suppressed horror as Luna worked.

Finally, instead of swinging her hammer straight up again, she let the handle go. She was panting, and she leaned against the weapon lodged within the thing’s skull. Looking down, her mouth twisted and she pushed away from the monstrosity, wobbling over to a wall and pushing her forehead to the cool surface.

“Luna?” I asked, before moving over to her. She held up a hand, pushing herself away from the wall and breathing heavily.

“It’s been awhile since I had to…” was all she was able to get out before the leaned against the wall again, vomit spewing from her mouth to splatter against the wall.

I flinched and walked over, rubbing gently between her shoulders until she finished, gasping for air. Pulling a canteen from my belt, I offered it as I pulled her gently away from the wall, towards the center of the room.

She rinsed her mouth with a few swishes of water before spitting it towards a table beside us before taking a deep drink.

Dawnbreak appeared after a moment with a mostly cleaned Eclipse, handing it lightly to Luna. She took it and dispersed it back into nothingness, just as Celestia and Shadowfall ran back into the room.

Looking at the beast in the corner, then at Luna, Celestia sheathed her sword and walked over, moving her hands over Luna’s arms and face. Luna swatted her hands away.

“We’re alright,” I said. “Besides a couple of bruises, I don’t think we were injured at all. Luna had some adrenaline sickness, but we’re alright.” Realizing I was babbling, I shut up and looked over at the creature.

“It was on the ceiling,” Luna said, voice steady again. “Wouldn’t have even known is was there, except it used the crystals on its back for light. I think it was a…” She shuddered, looking back at it. “I’m pretty sure it was one of Sombra’s Constructs. There’s stitching all over, and…”

“It’s legs…” I whispered, looking closer than anyone ever should have. “They’re all… children’s…”

Celestia grabbed me by an ear, painfully tugging my gaze away from the downed being.

“Let’s go,” she said, letting go of my head and walking back to the tunnel she and Shadowfall had explored. Dawnbreak spared a final, pitying look to the thing, before following. Luna kept staring until I took her hand, pulling her after me into the darkness.

…………………………………………………

An hour later, with no incidents besides a much smaller, already dispatched Construct, we reached what almost looked like a cave-in, except that there was no grey stones blocking the path, only crystals.

I reached out and grabbed a piece off the pile, tossing it towards a wall. With a small rattle, the stone rolled back up to where I’d plucked it and sunk a bit deeper into the wall blocking us.

“Enchanted rockslide,” I said, looking of the pile of gems. I grabbed the same stone, this time just holding it and feeling the pull of the spell. “Luna, you know rocks. Any ideas?”

Luna looked at me, bemused. “Why do you say I know…?” Realization hit her, and then hit me. Literally. I got a smirk after though, so I suppose the bruised shoulder would be worth it.

“It’s just a magnetization spell,” Dawnbreak said. Shadowfall nodded, pulling out her wand and tapping the stone in my hand. It stopped pulling, and I tossed it further down the tunnel. It didn’t return.

“I don’t suppose you can do that for the entire pile?” I asked hopefully.

She concentrated, waving her wand in a large circle over the pile. The topmost layer shifted and rolled down, revealing the next layer. She repeated the motion, crunching over the gems she’d already disenchanted, walking into the bejeweled hallway.

I scooped at some of the gems, trying to keep them out of the way, until Luna gently pulled me away and waved her wand over the discarded crystals, sending them shooting down the hallway in a stream.

The last layer crumbled outwards, revealing a large, much too warm cave. Steam seeped from several cracks in the floor, and the room was wet with water.

“There must be a hot spring around,” Celestia said, already pulling off some of her warmer clothes. “Or, we’ve stumbled into one of the city’s bathing areas. We’ve certainly been walking long enough…”

We spread out, following the walls around the natural room. Luna was the first to call out, and we all gathered around the rotted remains of a door laying on the ground. The walls all around the door were perfectly smooth, however.

“You don’t think someone just threw it in here, maybe to make room for the crystal enchantment?” Celestia asked Luna, who was tapping on the stone wall.

Instead of answering, Luna pulled Eclipse from her pocket-space, swinging it back before crushing a part of the wall, leaving a jagged hole leading to a flight of stairs. Instantly a cold wind howled into the room, chilling the steamy bath into freezing temperatures.

Shivering, Celestia sighed as she bundled back into her jacket as the rest of us pulled on our face protection. I was the first one completely ready, and I hurried up the stairs. Halfway up I met a snowbank covering most of the stairway, a small hole the size of my head the only opening to the rest of the world.

Reaching up, I started pulling away snow, dropping it to the stairs beside and behind me. With a little wriggling, I popped out of the stairwell and into a dilapidated shack, one wall snowed through and ceiling barely there. The doorway faced away from the rest of the city apparently, as I could only see fields beyond the portal to the outside.

I turned and worked on clearing the rest of the snow piled against the doorway, and I had opened it enough for Celestia when she finally reached the top of the stairs. I helped her through, then Shadowfall. Dawnbreak slipped through easily enough, but it took both his and my help to get Luna through the apparently small hole onto flat ground.

Celestia had stepped through the doorframe, and was sniffing curiously at the air. The four of us still in the shack quickly piled out of it, curious as to what was to be seen. I smelled what Celestia had instantly, my nostrils prickling as the burnt scent passed through them.

Turning, I saw a crystal tower rising in the distance, with a multitude of houses made of the same material surrounding it.

“That’s the castle,” Luna said, pointing unnecessarily as the tower. “If Sombra’s anywhere in the city, he’ll be there.”

We marched through the city, slowly picking our way around and above rubble and through alleyways. We reaching the castle without incident, walking cautiously between massive crystalline doors.

We didn’t need to bother being careful. The most dangerous thing in the entryway were the large icicles hanging from the chandelier. Splitting, Luna and Dawnbreak went one way, the other three of us wandering the other way. After an hour of searching, we met in the old throne room.

“Nothing?” Luna asked as we entered, rising from her sprawled pose on the throne, removing her legs from the left arm as she stood up.

“Nothing,” agreed Celestia as she threw her pack on the floor and flopped onto it, wincing and adjusting something inside before relaxing on it.

“Where could he be then, if not here?” I asked.

Dawnbreak had been busy with a piece of chalk, marking the floor with a myriad of runes and symbols I hardly recognized. With a flourish he tossed the chalk to Shadowfall, gesturing at the massive circle in the floor. She walked around it, grin slowly growing. Making a single change, she nodded and elbowed Luna gently.

“Eh?” She asked, gesturing to the floor.

Luna frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t really do runes, that’s always been Celly’s specialty.”

Celestia was walking around the circle already, grinning half as widely as Shadowfall, so twice as much as I’d ever seen her smile. “Do you think my guard captain could keep it running?” She asked.

Shadowfall pointed to the rune she’d changed, and Celestia nodded.

“What is…?” I started, but Dawnbreak had already strode to the center. I stood back as he took a pose in the center, hands held high and meeting above his head. Swiftly, he bought his hands out, holding them over two large runes.

An incandescent, transparent blue shield bubbled up from the floor, covering Dawnbreak and showering the room in light and warmth. I was about to say something, but he flipped his hands and pushed out, with his hands palm out to both of his sides.

The shield seemingly exploded, shooting over all of us and covering the room, then phasing through the walls. Running to a window, I watched as the enormous bubble covered the city, apex sitting at the top of the tower and covering a decent field around the town. I watched, flabbergasted, as the grass inside the blue grew long and green and the snow melted into nothingness.

I was about to ask a question, I forget what, when a roaring scream rent the very air. An immense shadow broke from the clouds directly over the city, falling to cover most of the shield. Slowly it condensed, transforming from a black mist into a dark, green eyed face hovering over the tower.

A deep frown contorted the face of what probably used to be an attractive man, white cumulus contrasting against his eyebrows, two dark storm clouds converging on emerald smog with black lightning irises. The same dark storms raged as a long goatee and shaggy, whirling hair.

“Who are you, to attempt to seal me from my own throne?” A voice rumbled, the lips hardly splitting to utter his question.

We all gathered at a balcony. “No attempt, Sombra,” Celestia called up as she threw open the doors, striding to the center of the terrace and causing the face to contort into a deep rage. “You know our power. This city is yours no more, Necromancer.”

Instead of words, Sombra dropped dark lighting from his mouth, the volume deafening and terrifying. Each spark struck the shield and was absorbed, turning the light sky blue into a deeper, darker hue.

Eventually the cloud ceased its barrage. “You will not keep me from what is mine,” it uttered sulkily, before dissipating.

Celestia walked back to the throne room, unsteadily made her way to the only chair in the room, and then collapsed. She was grinning though, and let out a small laugh.

“We’ve done it,” she said, staring around the throne room. “Without his crystal tower he cannot project his powers as he once could. We’ve cut him from his power, his true power, and he knows it.”

She laughed again, louder this time, before standing quickly.

“Let’s go find out where he’s stuffed his citizens,” She said, striding from the room.

……………………………………………………

We found the entrance south of the castle, a large hole that had been covered by snow and ice before Dawnbreak’s spell. Now it was surrounded by water, a large crater that was filling with the runoff from the snow.

“Look,” Luna said, pointing to the middle of the tiny pond that was formed inside the walls of the hole. A small whirlpool had formed, and the ice on top of the melted water spun merrily above and around it.

Walking around the sunken stone, Celestia raised an edge around it, so that the runoff from the snow was forced elsewhere. The water drained quickly enough, showing what seemed like a hastily covered hole with a large crack running the middle of it.

Flicking her wand, Celestia pulled the stone out of the hole and tossed it carelessly aside, blocking a part of the street but clearing a crystal-encased room with rotten wood bunks scattered throughout.

I jumped down, looking around at the walls. Celestia landed beside me, followed by everyone else. I pointed to the wall behind her, the only bit that was covered in grey cobblestone and dirt instead of crystal.

Lifting her wand again, she tugged the bit of fallen street out of the way, moving it up by the stone on the street. Dropping it, she let out a breath and slid her wand back into nothingness. “You can move the next giant roadblock Luna,” She breathed.

She nodded, and we set off down yet another dark hole in the ground. This one stayed pretty light, however, mostly because of the glowing crystal that lined the walls.

Shadowfall was the first to discover an actual person, in an offshoot of the main tunnel. A gentle prod was enough to wake the person, evidently, but no amount of cursing on Shadowfall’s part could help the bruise that quickly rose on her forehead. After an apology, we had another helper in waking the crystal folk.

After another roomful, and assurances that there was no monsters in the tunnel complex, we left the crystal folk to wake the rest of themselves and returned to the castle.

We all set out our sleeping bags in the throne room after locking the large doors. Scribing a quick letter and flaming it back to Equestria, Celestia flopped onto her thinly padded blankets and started snoring.

Luna and Shadowfall shared a giggle before setting up themselves, Shadowfall suspiciously close to Dawnbreak, Luna flopping her sleeping gear right next to mine. Before she laid down she walked over to a window, joining me as I watched lights flickering on inside houses, and all along the road.

“At least we know there are some Unicorns down there, with their wands.” Luna nodded, then tugged me away from the window and towards our apparently shared bedding. “They’ll be okay down there tonight, right?”

Luna laughed quietly and kissed my nose, pulling me down onto the thin blankets.

Author's Notes:

Blech

The Heart of the Matter

I had dark dreams that night, full of black smog and vaporous green eyes. The hour I spent resting ended with me waking on the cold stone floor, looking through the now open window into a vast green sea. I started to roll back onto the thin pallet on the floor, but stopped when I saw Celestia sitting near the window, back to the eye and staring at a letter she was in the process of writing.

She looked up as I approached, a thin smile flashing across her lips before they delved back into their frown. I sat beside her and she handed over her half-finished letter, her graceful script interrupted where she’d run out of ink.

I looked it over, frowning myself. After rereading it twice, I turned my questioning gaze to her eyes.

“Celestia, is this a plea for help?”

She sighed, leaning back against the stone wall under the window. “Why are you awake, Spike?” she asked in a whisper, rubbing her closed eyes. “I suspect it’s for much the same reason as mine, and eventually Luna’s. That,” she said, waving above her head, “Is invading our dreams. There’s a stronger sheildcaster than I, and I can have her hold against Sombra until I can get the Elements of Harmony roused and ready for battle.”

“You think the six can do something we five cannot?” I asked her.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, corners of her mouth lifting with it. “You seem to have more confidence than you should. I wonder who it’s placed in…”

“You,” I told her, resting my hand on her wrist. “And Luna. With Dawnbreak on the team as well, I feel like there shouldn’t be anything undoable for you.”

She turned her wrist, lacing my fingers between hers and leaning on me. It was odd, having someone still taller than me when I almost towered over everyone else. Odder still when that person laid her head on top of mine, a soft sigh escaping her mouth.

“Comfortable up there?” I asked, smiling in spite of myself. I felt her nod, and laughed quietly. After a few minutes I was started to ask her a question, but a gentle snoring stopped me. Suppressing the laugh, I slowly stroked her loosening fingers.

Sometime during that night I managed to fall back asleep, and this time dreamed only of a field of orchids and lilac bushes.

The exact time I woke up was hard to pinpoint, as Sombra’s dark clouds only allowed a thin grey light to pervade the city. This thin light worked all of its magic on this throne room, the reflective crystals only doing so much. The not-darkness of it was stifling, and I found myself struggling to breathe.

Looking down I discovered the true reason for my predicament; Luna had crawled over sometime last night, and the two Princess were snuggling across me. It would have been sweet, had Celestia’s upper half not been draped across my torso, shoulder deep in my diaphragm.

Trying not to wake either of them, I managed to shift down and slide about a foot before Celestia giggled and disentangled herself from Luna, stretching her back and shoulders with a wince or four.

Luna remained oblivious to the world, curling upon herself and pressing her back to my leg. Scooting away, I stood up just as Celestia laid a coat across her sister. Feeling as though I’d earned my own turn, I lifted my hands towards the ceiling and tensed my back, sagging slightly after the crackling of my spine ended.

“Careful dragon. I know at least sixteen people who would dislike anyone snuggling up to the Princesses, much less both at the same time.”

“Not my fault,” I told Shadowfall. “One falls asleep on me, the other joins when I’m already asleep and can say nothing. Talk to the snugglers.”

A soft laugh echoed through the room, before a warm crackle announced the beginnings of a fire. I looked around, curious because we hadn’t brought any sort of food that needed to be warmed and the room wasn’t cold enough for a superfluous flame.

It seemed that someone had been out, as a small clutch eggs had gathered into a basket by the fire now roaring in the fireplace. A few green herbs had been gathered into the same basket.

“Apparently Sombra was smart enough to put a bunch of livestock into stasis with the people,” Dawnbreak called from his place in front of the kindling-less fire, holding a pan with a long handle, and a similarly advantaged fork. The fire gleamed with a strange, pale yellow color. “A few of them left the basket by the door sometime in the night, or the early morning.”

A knocking came from the locked door, and a shy voice, unintelligible through the thick wood. Looking around and receiving four nods, I walked to the door and opened it to a crack, peering through the darkness of the hallway.

A small woman stood there, wearing a dark green dress and a strange necklace gemmed with a piece of dark hematite. She shivered continuously, even as she jumped to attention in front of the open doors.

“Hello, uhm, sir conqueror. We of the Crystal Empire welcome and thank you for your releasing us, and we offer you lordship and…”

I widened the gap of the door and held up a hand, palm extended to slow the flow of words. The woman’s eyes widened and a small scream escaped her lips as she dropped into a kneel, sitting on her legs and plowing her forehead into the floor.

I snapped my hand back to my side and knelt beside her, gently touching one of her shoulders. She twitched, but stayed where she was on the floor. She was whispering something rapidly; it sounded like some sort of religious chant, the way she was repeating, “Forgive me master,” under her breath.

“Hush now,” I whispered as soothingly as I could. “I am not Sombra, I will not hurt you.” Her chant stopped, replaced by a ragged breathing. I touched her other shoulder, and encouraged by her lack of flinching, I gently pulled her into a kneeling position.

Tears streamed down a face covered by dirt, her eyes screwed shut. Slowly I pulled her up to her feet, and led her into the room and next to the fire. Celestia and Luna gave ignored looks, but the egg sitting in a bowl by the fire was not disregarded.

I shoved the warm bowl into the young woman’s hands, and when she tried to protest, I picked up a spoonful of eggs and held it under her nose. Eyes tearing up again, she took the silverware and started shoveling the food as I walked across the room to the Princesses.

“You and women, Spike,” Luna said, shaking her head wearily to hide the coy smile.

“Ha ha, dear,” I deadpanned, staring down her blushing gaze. “I’m pretty sure she’s a representative, she called me a conqueror and tried to make me a Lord or something,” I said, watching Dawnbreak scoop more food into the woman’s bowl over her protests.

“How rude, you’re not even the royalty,” Celestia said with a smile, beckoning us while she walked over to the woman. We sat around her, the ladies on either of her sides and I in front of her on part of the stone hearth that wasn’t enveloped in fire.

She quickly laid the empty container aside and stared at a stone between my feet, at least not shivering anymore. Celestia cleared her throat, casting a smile directly into the side of the girl’s head.

I sighed before taking over the dead conversation, saying, “Okay then. We’re not conquerors or anything like that. We’re not interested in enslaving you like Sombra, so please don’t be afraid of us.”

The woman shrunk away from me, Luna glaring a hole into my left temple. I shrugged, and then motioned to Celestia.

Nodding, she asked faintly, “So, why are you here, besides to proclaim us rulers?”

She leaned away again, but spoke up at last. “I am… was, the head of the Emperor’s housekeeping staff. Because I had experience handling S-Som… the Emperor, I was chosen to welcome you and… And to see what it was you wanted from us.”

We shared a look, and Luna said, “We don’t want anything from you, dear. We came to free you, and rid the world of Sombra.”

The woman glanced quickly at Luna, then swung her eyes all around our group, presumably taking in the armor and weapons. She met one of our eyes finally, asking Celestia, “Truly? Freedom and death to the Emperor?”

We all nodded in tandem, and her expression seemed to shatter in upon itself, tears and wailing muffled as she latched onto Celestia and wept into her coat. Celestia wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and gently rocked the both of them back and forth.

Taking a small advantage of the situation, I pulled the basket over and peeked inside of it, only to toss the empty container to the floor with a small scowl.

The maid heard the noise, and turning to see the empty wicker bowl, she looked into my frown and at last smiled. Pulling herself away from Celestia and wiping her eyes on the collar of her dress, she bowed and made her excuses, through my assertions that I was fine. She closed the door firmly in the middle of my protesting.

We mulled around for a minute, wondering where she was going, before we decided to follow her. Pulling open the door, we were greeted by the darkness of the hallway again. Last night we hadn’t noticed it, but even in day no light permeated.

Walking along the wall, I tugged at what I’d assumed to be an old drapery, only to bare a window that had been bricked over from the outside. Strangely enough, the window still opened into the hall, and I ran a hand over the cold bricks.

Picking at the old mortar, I eventually wriggled a brick loose, pulling it into the hall with my fingernails. Reaching through the hole, I pulled more and more bricks into the hallway until the hole was large enough to see through. Poking my head out, I discovered I was looking down into the courtyard.

Vaguely padded footfalls announced the return of the housekeeper, carrying another basket of eggs and garnish. She looked surprised to meet us in the hallway, but I cut off any objection she might have had with a question.

“Is there anyone in the courtyard right now?”

For a moment her eyes glazed over and she wobbled on her feet, but the moment quickly passed and she shook her head.

“N-no, the Emperor forbade us entering the square directly below the castle and doing so gives us an awful headache. We dislike even approaching it.”

The five of us shared a look, but Celestia shook her head and I shrugged.

“So, you’re sure no one’s down below us?”

An impatient frown creased her face for a second before it smoothed away again. “Quite sure.”

With a shrug, I shoved the remaining blockage out the window, showering the snowy street below with stone. The window was much larger than the tiny hole I’d managed in the stonework, and I was now fully able to see the entire city on that side of the castle.

I heard two fleshy smacks, and turned to see the Princesses with their hands pressed to their eyes. I grinned and leapt backwards out the window, flaring my leathery wings and winding my way down to the street.

The lady had been correct in that everyone seemed to avoid the courtyard beneath the castle, and the snow wasn’t even disturbed besides the stones. I looked around the street, and seeing no one, flew back up to the window.

“How many are dead?” Celestia muttered through the flesh barrier of her hand.

I rolled my eyes at the back of her hand. “C’mon guys, open up those windows. I’ll push on the outsides this time, just try and get a brick out and then move. Let’s light up this dusty old tomb a bit.”

…………………………………………………………..

“Is it warming up, or am I working too hard?” I asked as I shed my last coat, tossing it through the window I’d just emptied of rock.

We were near the top now, Luna and I working the windows still while the others set off to set up the remainder of the castle. It was mostly busywork, but we were waiting on Sarheen, the housekeeper, to come back from the impromptu meet that had been called between all the survivors.

“The shield Dawnbreak set up either ups the temperature inside of it,” Luna mused, dropping her own heavy coat on top of mine, “Or the cold in entirely a fabrication of Sombra’s, and blocking him blocks the cold.”

I perched myself on the windowsill, looking through the shield and into the darkness of Sombra’s clouds, his green eyes dancing furiously around the shield as we worked, an occasional lightning bolt flashing across the shield.

“You think all of the cold we crossed is because of Sombra?”

Luna shook her head, leaning against the sill I stood on. “No, it’s more likely that he makes it much more extreme than it should be. We’re far to the north, but it is still summer.”

We stayed there for a while, staring out into the storm of Sombra. He seemed to feel us watching, and ceased his flitting to stare hatefully back.

“Come on then,” I said, falling a few feet as I pushed away from the window, until my wings lifted me back up. “We’re only a story or so away from the top of the tower, may as well see what’s on top of it.”

Luna shrugged, nodding. “Sure, but we’ll both have to fly it. The only stairs in here go down, not up.”

I nodded, starting to say something inviting before the sky was rent by noise and electricity. Looking through the shield, I saw Sombra’s eyes sitting directly across from us, large nebulous teeth gnashing as he peppered the barrier with blue bolts of plasma.

“He really doesn’t want us going up there, does he?” Luna said, stretching her wings and her grin.

The fogbank face stopped dropping the electricity as soon as we started flying up, opting instead to glare at us… pleadingly? The eyes were almost begging, as much as a swirling mess of green could beg.

We reached the outside of the top of the castle, but instead of a spire there was a room, bare to the wind and weather but for a small roof. Though Luna had said there was no stairs up from the room below, I could see steps descending into the tower below.

“What’s that?” Luna asked, pointing towards a pedestal in the middle of the wall-less room. I looked for her, and almost lost my altitude. “What, what is it?”

“Uh, it’s a giant diamond… heart. It’s just a massive crystal heart.” Swooping closer, I looked over the room in further detail.

Luna started to land, but I grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her away, keeping her hovering outside the room. She tried to swat at me, but I ducked around her and pointed to the floor.

It was crisscrossed with running, black ink, forming and dissolving runes and circles ceaselessly. It seemed to have a sort of mind of its own, following both Luna and I as we swooped around the tower. I was barely conscious of the necromancer outside the bubble covering the town as I looked all over the floor.

“Luna, is there any of this gunk on the ceiling in there?”

She did a strange half flip, looking up at the roof before she righted herself again. She shook her head, frowning at my sudden, delighted grin.

Flapping twice, I gained a couple more yards into the sky as I spun away from the tower. Stretching my wings, I circled quickly, straight towards the tower. Tucking in my wings, I bulleted towards the heart, weaving between the four arches. I easily snagged the heart, ink flying towards me from the floor. Balling up, I fell between two more arches before falling into empty sky.

Spreading my wings again, I glided away from the top of the tower, now incased by goopy black ink. The ball sent out short spines, but they quickly froze, then disintegrated. Catching up with me, Luna and I traced lazy wheels as we returned to the courtroom of the crystal castle.

Celestia looked up as we swooped into the hallway, wand held up as she tore away the rotting carpet on the floor, baring the stone underneath. Tearing off the chunk and rolling it tightly, she toted it over to the window, lowering it gently to the rubble of the courtyard.

She turned and stared at the crystal heart in my arm, looking at Luna, confused. “What’s that? Something you grabbed Ditzy?”

I held it up to the window, admiring the sunlight streaming through it and into the heart. “Maybe, but Sombra seems awfully interested in it.” I held the heart out the window, tossing it from hand to hand. The giant green eyes plastered themselves to the shield, somehow bloodshot and wide as I tumbled the crystal between hands.

“Cut it out,” Celesta said, frowning. I cradled the giant gem and pulled it back in through the window. Sombra’s face visibly relaxed, the eyes pulling away from the shield to gaze upwards into the sky.

I turned to Celestia, holding out the crystal. “Here, I don’t think I should be responsible for this, especially if it’s important.”

She frowned and muttered something about not wanting to be either, but she took the heart and tucked it into her elbow.

“Maybe Sarheen knows something about it?” I asked, pointing at the gem.

“Oh, she’d better,” called a wizened voice from the end of the hallway, no longer dark. An elderly woman strode down the hall, long cane thumping along with her right foot. “I know most of us are still a bit hazy after who even cares how long in stasis, but the Crystal Heart is damned near the most important thing in this entire country.”

As she reached the three of us, the older woman looked around at each of us in turn, then held her hand out to Celestia. Crackling at Celestia’s face, the woman chuckled, “Just a touch dear, I’m not taking it.”

With both hands, Celestia extended the Crystal Heart. Handing me her cane, the older woman extended her right hand, slowly stroking the center of the heart.
Change poured over the woman like oily fire, her hair flying into a large bun nestled on top of her head. As the light of the transformation fled down her face, the dust and dirt melted away like ice, revealing a slightly wrinkled, pale face with fierce tawny eyes and a hawk-like nose. Her back straightened with loud pops, and she stretched her legs experimentally with similar retorts.

And I finally saw why they were called Crystal Folken. Her skin gleamed brilliantly for a moment before shattering into thousands of gleaming facets, each capturing and reflecting the meager light until she shone.

“There now, isn’t that better,” she said aloud, as if to herself. Then she grinned, sticking her hand out as though to shake Celestia’s. “My name is Saelea, and I am the currently elected official for the Folken. I can tell you exactly what to do with the Crystal Heart.”

Author's Notes:

Apologies if this is crap, I'm tired and this is damn near unedited.