> Shrinking Lavender
>  by Yinglung
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up in the bed after a wild night of celebration. Morning light pried at my eyelids like metal prongs, causing me to groan loudly.

“Eh?” I yelped. My voice was higher by an octave or two.

I immediately shot up from my bed, and yanked away my deep blue blanket.

Wait, my blanket should have been light blue.

Then, I realized that it was far from the strangest thing that I was seeing. I was sleeping on a bed instead of in a basket. And my purple hooves… What the hay? Why did I have hooves instead of my dragon claws? 

They looked suspiciously familiar. Pushing away the purple mane on my face, I shakily got up, intending to look myself in the mirror and confirm the inevitable.

I cautiously stepped out of my bed, and tried to take a slow breath. But instead, I was hyperventilating.

In between those hurried breaths, a part of me thought to myself wryly. I laughed so many times at a certain someone when she panicked over everything. But now, I was the one panicking.

I engulfed the mirror with an aura of purple magic, and pulled it towards my face. It confirmed my worst fear – I had become the royal student herself, Twilight Sparkle.

I did not even have the time or mind to savor how strange it was for me to know how to use unicorn magic despite being a dragon. I sat down on the floor in a mix of shock, fear, confusion and despondence.

By now, I was a bit more alert than a moment ago. I started to realize that I was recalling things from two different streams of memories. One was mine, from the time when I was hatched and cared for by Twilight. The other one was not mine, but hers. I was a bit shocked to remember the time when I myself was hatched from Twilight’s perspectives. Moreover, I could remember things from before I was born. This was the most bizarre experience I had ever had.

I shook my head violently. I was almost literally lost in a sea of foreign memories and forgetting who I was.

Yeah, who was I? Was I the ever dutiful and studious Twilight Sparkle, or was I her ever helpful and responsible assistant Spike the Dragon?

Before I pondered further, I suddenly remembered something. With a dash of burning worry, I rushed to my basket to see if ‘I’ was there.

No. Not a scale was left in the basket. Then where was ‘Spike’?

I thought hard. If there was a ‘Spike’ physically somewhere, then I had most likely switched with Twilight, and now the real Twilight would be in my body.

Fueled with a newfound hope, I hurriedly rushed towards the staircase. But before I reached the stairs, a small purple figure reached the upper floor first. I pulled back my hooves just in time, but it still seemed to have spooked the one coming up, because he promptly spilled the cups of milk on my face and on the floor.

“Oh my gosh!” The dragon yelped. “Twilight, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you coming! I- I will just clean up right away. Wait, you need a towel for washing your face too, right? I’ll go get it!”

“Uh- thanks.” I instinctively replied.

The small dragon quickly retreated back down and disappeared from my sight.

Although milk still dripped from my disheveled mane, a fact was clear as day. The Spike I just saw was the bona-fide Spike. How he reacted to the sight of Twilight, the spilling of milk and every other small movements. It was Spike. It was definitely me. No way could Twilight pull off this kind of ridiculous prank and get away with impersonating me this well.

My heart sank. Where was Twilight then? Was I supposed to be her? There was no way this could be true, because I was Spike the Dragon… wasn’t I?

Also, what happened? Why was I suddenly in Twilight’s body, with Twilight’s memories? I even had some of her most private thoughts plainly laid out in front of my mental eyes. It was something that both embarrassed and unnerved me.

I began to make strange conjectures. For example, was I actually Twilight, but due to some bizarre experiment went wrong, I ended up thinking myself as Spike? 

Yeah, I was acutely cognizant of the fact that I should not use words like ‘conjecture’ and ‘cognizant’ if I was Spike. But… I had clearly lived as Spike my whole life, plus as I recalled, Twilight had not casted any spell before she went to sleep. Unless she somehow sleep-casted a spell that had copied my consciousness and memory, it remained an outlandish theory.

As I was immersed in the realm of far-fetched thoughts, the other me had already returned.

“Twilight, here’s the towel.” The other Spike said apologetically. “I’m sorry I made a mess.”

I took the towel with my magic and pressed it against my mane. This time, I was more self-aware. Casting magic felt almost effortless and completely natural. Every magic spells Twilight had learnt were felt by me this way, not to mention the basic of the basics like telekinesis. Perhaps because of Twilight’s vast magic potential, I hardly broke a sweat shuffling the towel on my face.

However, looking at the other me, I was at a loss of what to say. For some reason, my tongue was tied when I tried to formulate an explanation of my current status. I didn’t think that it would be a good idea to just tell him ‘Oh and by the way, I am also Spike’. I would definitely be seen as crazy and forcefully sent to the Canterlot Psychiatric Ward.

The other me, however, seemed to be treating my silence as a sign of brooding anger. I saw his pupils slowly shrank for fear of my impending outburst. His little shoulders shook like quivering reeds.

Seeing his sad and supplicating face, my heart was both wringing and melting. 

Maybe Twilight would utter a disapproving word or two at his carelessness, maybe she wouldn’t. But I didn’t care. I simply showed him the warmest smile I could give and comforted him.

“It’s okay, Spike. I’m not angry at you. I’m the one who should be sorry. After all, it’s me who are being all rushing and frightened you.” I said with a chuckle. “Perhaps the milk was a call for me to calm down.”

“Twi… y- you’re not mad at me?”

“Why would I be? I’m clearly the one in the wrong here.”

The other Spike smiled sheepishly. “I thought you were having a bad mood. Um…”

I scratched my cheek. “Even if I’m not in a good mood, it’s no excuse to get upset at my number one assistant.”

I momentarily paused. Was I getting comfortable at being Twilight? That was weird.

Still, I asked, “Am I really looking a bit sore?”

“Well, you didn’t seem to have a good night of sleep. I mean, your eyes are puffy and your mane is going all over the place. This usually means that you’d be super cranky and yell at me for the smallest thing-”

The other Spike covered his mouth as he seemed to realize that he was badmouthing the mare who was standing right in front of him.

However, I simply laughed heartily at his incisive observation. “Haha! Yeah… You’re right. I got too grouchy sometimes. Sorry for that.”

The other Spike looked somewhat relieved at my response, but he then slightly frowned. “Twilight… you’re a lot more sparing than usual today. I won’t exactly complain about the fact that you’re going easy on me, but are there anything on your mind?”

I widened my eyes slightly at his words. They said you couldn’t fool a family, and they were right. This Spike clearly sensed that there was something unusual about his Twilight.

As I searched my mind for a response, I could not help but again think about what could have triggered this peculiar event.

I doubted the other me could help much even if I told him what happened. He would simply freak out, which I totally understood. Exactly why was I not freaking out right then, I simply did not know.

Regardless, before I figured out a possible reason, I was going to pretend first.

“… Nothing in particular. But I wanna ask, did you see or hear anything unusual last night?”

For some reason, my question seemed to have caused the other me a scare. Although he immediately tried to hide it up with a poker face, his gulping and cold sweats betrayed his real thoughts.

I mentally chuckled. I was a terrible liar.

I lightly placed my hooves on his shoulders, and cooed in the gentlest voice I could muster. “Spike, tell me what happened last night. I promise I’d not get mad at you.”

“No! I- It, I mean… Nah. Nothing happened.”

Yep, even more suspicious. It seemed that I might have done something really bad there. Usually I simply just fessed up when Twilight promised to go soft on me.

“Spike. Seriously, I meant it when I said I would not get mad. I understand that it might be something quite serious, but exactly because of that, you should not hide it away from me. Let us try to solve the problem together, hmm?”

The other Spike looked up uncertainly. He seemingly thought for a moment, and then gingerly nodded. He gestured me to come with him. Despite that I had not yet combed my messy mane, I shrugged and went with him downstairs.

We went to one of the bookshelves. There a haphazard pile of hay and books lied. 

He gulped, removed the books, and cautiously reached into the hay. Then he took out something.

It was the crown of the Element of Magic. The one magically appeared when I… Twilight turned the stone orbs into the necklaces of the other respective Elements.

However, something was amiss. No, this might be understating it by too much. When I looked at the centerpiece of the crown, a glaring hole was there instead of the ruby-colored magical gem that was the source of its power.

Mouth shaking, I still tried my best to appear calm. “S- Spike, w- where is the gem?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” The other me immediately apologized profusely. “I- I was a bit too tipsy on the cider during the party, when you told me to store the Elements away for today’s study. I must have mistaken the red gem on the crown with those in my food bowl… When I got up this morning, I felt a funny taste in my mouth and the gem is gone!”

Suddenly, it became clear to me why this happened. I must have, in a drunken stupor, plucked the magical gem out of the crown and ate it whole.

With my deduction using Twilight’s magical knowledge, I thought this was probably what happened: The newly re-forged Element of Magic was firmly tied to the soul of Twilight. Therefore when I ate the gem, a single powerful connection was made between us, and my being was superimposed onto that of Twilight.

Despite my calm analysis, I was shocked and aghast. 

Had I accidentally erased the existence of my Twilight by overwriting her mind? This would be most terrible. But from somewhere in my mind, I was told that it was not the case. How exactly, I was not sure. 

I was keenly aware of myself being Spike the Dragon. But I was also aware that I was not just Spike, or else I would not be approaching this with the stereotypical rationality of Twilight, or throwing around big words that the past me would have trouble grasping with. 

Was I a mix of us both? Was I Spike with a touch of Twilight? 

In any case, if Twilight had not been entirely negated from existence, then there might be something that I could potentially do.

However, right now, I had to deal with the other me. He was looking distraught and on the verge of crying. He knew he had screwed up. The Elements were not simple playthings, even I would have known it.

“T- Twilight, what should we do?” The other Spike asked and sniffled in shaking fear. “I’m so sorry… I know the Elements are, like, super important, and you will return them as soon as you run some simple observations on them.”

I deeply inhaled. “Spike, are the other Elements…?”

“No! They are absolutely fine! I checked!”

He ran to a locked cupboard, opened it and pulled out a container box. He opened it in a frenzy, and showed me the other five intact necklaces.

I let out a ‘phew’. At least it was just me.

His mouth quivered, and he shakily said, “I never meant for this to happen…”

Yeah, pretty sure me too.

I didn’t know where this calm optimism came from, but knowing the true cause of this anomaly and the fact that it affected me alone made me a lot more relaxed and relieved.

I decided to keep the truth to myself for the moment. For one, I doubt telling this to Spike would help in any way. This was a matter of mind and magic. Magical mishaps had to be dealt with magically. Only highly-learnt unicorns like Twilight, and by extension me, might have a chance of understanding what was going on exactly. 

Second, I didn’t want to cause additional worry and guilt for the other Spike. For some reason, whenever I thought of the sight of the other me, I felt a fuzzy warmth in my heart. I briefly worried whether this was a sign of terminal narcissism, but in any case, I was unable to withstand the other Spike giving me a sad puppy look.

And of course, if I was also Spike, I was just as guilty as the dragon in front of me.

For the moment, I supposed I would continue acting my part as Twilight.

“… I see, Spike.”

“Y- You don’t seem… angry?”

I smiled sadly. “Spike, what could anger possibly achieve? The deed has been done. The Element is in your belly, presumably long digested. We must find out what exactly happens to the power of my Element now. For instance, where is it? What do I have to do if I have to activate my Element from now on?”

“Perhaps I’ll have to put you on my head whenever a kingdom-shattering villain turns up.” I tapped his shoulder and joked. 

Spike widened his eyes and let out a suppressed chuckle. “T- That would look weird!”

“But it is not going to be an easy task.” I tapped my cheek. “For now, we’ll have to cover it up.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, of course. We’ll have to hand back the Elements in a few days. We may be able to use the excuse that we just settled down and need some more time to sort things out, but at the end, we must return them. And unless we figure out one way or another, the princesses would find out the truth.”

“But… shouldn’t we let her know so that she can help us solve this problem?”

My smile faltered as I hesitated. “Spike, the Elements are the most important and stalwart defense against evil in Equestria. They are the most powerful magical artefacts that are known to us. The six Elements are interconnected, and they could not be wielded unless every one of them are present. I am not laying the blame on you, but the fact remains that your action had caused the Elements to become incomplete and useless for now. For one, I might be able to solve this issue by myself."

I huffed. "... But more importantly, I really don’t want to expose you to any harm or punishment from the princesses or other authorities, which can be no joke considering the importance of the Elements. You’re... my only dragon. I don’t want to see you get hurt no matter what.”

Feeling a bit awkward after uttering the true reason, I bashfully chuckled.

The other Spike, though, was seemingly stunned by my incredibly forgiving words. He then cried, quite loudly even.

“Twilight…!”

I brought the dragon into my embrace. It felt a bit prickly. His scales bristled against my skin and hair. I was basically hugging myself, a bemusing and wholly strange experience. Regardless, I stroked and patted his back as he continued to cry his eyes out.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now that I was Twilight, I was feeling a stark difference in stamina between my old self and now. Back when I had still been a little dragon, I often felt tired after a few hours of work, and I had to take a nap every several hours, or else I would start bumbling and running into things.

But now, I felt I could go on for a whole day. Of course, not without the complimentary cup of morning coffee. Twilight liked to drink copious amount of coffee, as it helped her read books and conduct her study with maximum alertness. 

Despite the fact that I had a practical need for legal alerting substances, I hated coffee, at least those cheap pre-ground ones Twilight loved to buy in bulk from the corner shop. They invariably tasted like dishwater with a smudge of brown char.

With reluctance, I had poured myself a cup of coffee. To my surprise, the coffee tasted… still not very good, but more tolerable than when I was Spike the Dragon. Maybe the fact that I was tasting this in her body mattered. Somehow, I felt oddly smug about having retained part of my original taste preferences, even though that meant I would have to continue consuming burnt charcoal water until I saved up enough to buy some proper coffee. But at least my brain was properly booted up for work.

I walked near the basket as I sipped my morning cuppa. The other me had literally cried himself to sleep. He looked oddly sentimental today. Or had I been always like that, but was now simply oddly unsentimental? Who knew? But he managed to fall soundly asleep literally an hour and a half after waking up. It had to be a record.

Well, I may as well begin today’s work. I still had five other necklaces to work on, so that’s a plus. 

I should also spend some time checking out the books in the new library, though I doubt it would contain any information about the Elements. As far as I knew, this town was relatively young, definitely established way after the last time the Elements were used against Nightmare Moon. 

And of course, I probably need to measure the dimensions of the Crown and acquire a precisely cut ruby to masquerade as the red gem.

Then I could check out my new friends.

My thoughts screeched to an abrupt stop. My new friends? Technically, those five were Twilight’s friends. Yeah, they had been all friendly to me too, but they had all been treating me as a callow kid, or even more unfairly, a baby. What kind of baby talked like me? Or in fact, talked at all?

I couldn’t help but think about how Twilight treated me as well. She loved me, I always knew that. Now I was even surer. 

However, I was always a baby in her eyes. In the past, I sometimes resented the lack of freedom this attitude entailed. But now, I understood that in the eyes of a caretaker, it was very difficult to not see the foal out of the stallion, or the baby out of the dragon. The childish and naïve past always inevitably superimposed onto a grown face.

I was being unfair, of course. The me from two days ago, or the dragon sleeping in the basket now, was someone that was honestly childlike and guileless like a babe in the woods. Physically pint-sized besides, I did act baby-like sometimes, like throwing tantrums, licking my paws or demanding sleep all the time.

But this outrageous event has caused me to feel a lot more sober. The influence from the more mature Twilight aside, it was like I had lived two lives. When they added up, I saw a lot of blunder that could have been prevented, had Twilight or I at that time had the insight of one another. The clashes of perspectives made me feel somewhat confused, but also gave me an out-of-the-world sense of mellowness. 

The five friends were all interesting ponies, with very colorful personalities. Of course, the one that caught my eyes the most was the spectacularly stunning Rarity.

Although come to think of it, did I really know her that well other than her appearance? Huh. She wielded the Element of Generosity, so she’s generous for sure. 

But uh… Yeah. Without the urge from being trapped in a body of a teenage drake, my head was a lot cooler. Not to mention the weirdness of chasing after Rarity as Twilight. Not that I was against it in principle. But… uhmm…

*cough* Yeah, this is super weird. I have to put the matter aside for the moment.



I checked whether the blanket was nicely tugged to the sleeping dragon, then I went downstairs to draft up a plan to investigate the exact properties of the Elements.


************




“Spike, do you think this looks okay?”

“Um… It looks alright-y to me.” He looked at the Crown and then at me uncertainly. “But fooling me doesn’t mean it can fool the princesses.”

“Nah, it’s good.” I shrugged. “According to my tests, each of the Elements only respond to the presence of its respective bearers. Not even I could elicit a response from the other five Elements. And although the princesses were likely Element-bearers, they had very likely lost the connections to them long ago, or else we would not find them as dusty stone orbs in the old castle or be able to use them against Nightmare Moon, who was a corrupted form of Luna. Unless one delve to the forbidden arts of dark magic, which I don’t think they will use unless in dire situations, they will not notice a thing.”

I beamed brightly. “So in conclusion, unless I, the Element-bearer of Magic, bring it out into the open, which I won’t, no one will ever discover that the gem on the Crown was a dud!”

“… Twilight, you seem oddly upbeat about fooling your beloved mentor.” He gulped. “I thought you will be a lot more… um…”

“Hesitant?” I supplied. Well, he might be right. With her reverence towards Princess Celestia, Twilight would definitely tip-toe around this issue in her signature mix of fear and mania until it blew up in her face. Then she would have to be bailed out by her loving mentor, and possibly also her new friends.

Not that I was not concerned with the possibility of making the princesses cross. In fact, I shuddered a bit at the thought of being discovered. But as I said, this other Spike was under my protection. Unless things went south to an extent that I was a hundred percent certain that I could not handle, I was not going to tell this to any other soul.

He awkwardly chuckled. “Uh, yeah. Ha ha.”

“Spike, what are you worrying about aside from the risk of exposure? I assure you, the risk is zero.”

He made a grimace. “Twilight, I am just worried that the Elements are now incomplete. We won’t be able to fight against any powerful villain who show up. If you pull out the dud Element and fail to activate it, then how’s it different from publicly announcing that it’s a dud?”

“You’re absolutely right. But I’m working on it.” I then grinned, “And I’ll need your help.”

He raised a brow. “How?”

“I’ll need to run a series of tests on you. I suspect that you might have taken on some of the characteristics of the Element, or even become the Element itself.”

“What?!” He yelped. “I- Will it be-”

“It doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. Two days have passed and you are looking fine. Moreover, the magic from the Elements can only be benevolent. So even if you do become affected, it is at the very least harmless.”

I smirked. “Unless you suddenly go off the deep end and become a villain, then I can’t guarantee what exactly an embedded Element will do to you.”

His face turned a bit blue. “I- I will never do that!”

“Heh. Anyway, I’ll try different possible ways that I think might cause very specific magic echoes, when I pump a little of my magic into you.”

Seeing his anxious and fearful look, I hurriedly added, “Don’t worry, it would be absolutely harmless. My magical input will be very small compared to the background magic we received daily. I just need to hook you up to a cap that read those echoes, and see if it contains the sign of harmonizing magic.”

I drew in a breath and announced dramatically. “If so, then congratulations! You will officially become a living, breathing Element for the first time in history!”

“H- How is this a good thing?!” He yelped with obvious anxiety. “It’s so unlike you! You usually aren’t that casual and blasé about magic with big consequences like this! Where is your manic caution?”

I was somewhat stunned by his remark and stuttered. “I- I’m not being blasé!”

Stung by his accusation, my cheerful mood evaporated. I just wanted to make him feel relaxed, happy and less worried. Instead, I came off as too cavalier and unlike the usual Twilight.

He was of course right, I was far from qualified to be the Twilight. I was just a pale imitation, dragging along simply trying to stoke a laugh out of my other self and fix this conundrum.

I hung my head low and let out a sad sigh. He seemed to have realized that his words had stung me, and shifted with guilt and discomfort.

“Sorry Twilight. I knew you’re trying your best to comfort me… I appreciate it.”

Hearing his words, I perked up a little. However, an awkward silence still reigned between us, until he broke it with an off-hand comment. “Ha, Twilight… This is the first time I understand your magic babbles, since you’ve put them in terms that aren’t only found in dictionaries.”

I raised my brows with a bit of surprise. I wasn’t deliberately simplifying my explanations, I just used my own body of words. Good thing that it made my explanations more accessible.

“Really? I’m glad! Perhaps I should begin to teach you some basic magical theories, especially if it turns out what I hypothesized is true.”

“Eh…” He showed me a look of great boredom and reluctance.

I snickered. “Heh, I know studying those old pony’s droning could be incredibly boring.”

“Did you just seriously describe magical study as old pony’s droning?” He made an exaggerated shocked expression, and then he reached a claw to my forehead. “Are you sure you’re not having a fever or something?”

I momentarily widened my eyes at the apparent accusation of abnormality. But then I realized that it was a joke, so I chortled. “Cut it out, Spike! I’m savvy enough to know that studying magic or reading book is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some of us prefer reading, but others may be into other pursuits. For instance, you like eating gems, but it’s not like I do too… or can...”

My voice trailed off. I still savored the texture of crunchy ruby and sapphire in my mouth. But perhaps as I was a unicorn now, I craved gems much less than before, not least because my ravenous appetite was to blame for my current headache.

But oh well, it was a less than appropriate example given the recent events. He seemed to agree that it was a sensitive issue to bring up. “Ha, ha ha. Yeah.”

I coughed. “Ahem, I think we better start early. We need to wrap up our studies and return the Elements to the princesses for safe-keeping.”

He gulped. “I see.”

“So, why don’t you follow me to the basement while I set up the equipment?”

Suddenly, there were a few knocks on our door.

I asked loudly through the door. “Who’s there?”

A thick-accented voice came through. “Twilight? Ah’m Applejack.”

I then opened the door and saw a smiling orange mare in her signature cowboy hat.

“Ah’m just askin’ if you an’ Spike have time. Ah would love to talk to mah new friends while Ah buck apples. Yer welcome to have some, of course!”

“Hmm.” I hesitated. The one big thing on my mind was of course the Elements, and I couldn’t quite relax and go out before we sorted it out.

But before I politely declined, Spike whispered to me. “I wanna go out and have a breather. This thing is making my head hurt.”

I arched my brow. Well, if the other Spike said so, the Elements could wait. 

“... Alright then.”
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack gasped. “The Grand Galloping Gala!”

“… The Gala?”  

“Yep.” Spike waved the two tickets he just spew out from his flame. 

I was obviously a lot less enthused to the idea. I was sure that the other Spike would think that the Gala was unsuited to his radiant masculinity. 

By extension, I would’ve readily agreed. But… I was not currently a paragon of virility, now that I was Twilight Sparkle the royal student.

I should really stop thinking about this whole ‘I was now a mare’ thing. It was awkward enough to handle this mess, I didn’t need another layer of awkwardness by… fantasizing anything in Twi’s perspectives. Ughck.

In any case, my opinion that the Gala was likely just a nonsensical set-up that was overly formal and ostentatious still held. 

I might also be overthinking it since the Gala was moons away from now, but I was a bit averse to the idea of showing up in front of Twilight’s beloved mentor and staying for a whole night. She could figure out something wrong by observation, and then I would be neck-deep in trouble.

As I was considering my hesitation to the idea, Applejack and the other Spike seemed to be engaged in some hard bargaining.

“… Can you imagine the things we can do with all that money? We could do a heap of fixin' up 'round here. We could replace that saggy old roof, and Big McIntosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip!”

She leaned in and gave an implicating gaze to Spike. “If you don’t wanna go…”

Spike, however, simply gulped and pointed at me.

Oh right, I was the one nominally in charge here.

But giving Spike’s ticket to Applejack? Not that I didn’t treasure Applejack as one of my friends, but if I absolutely had to go, I would definitely prefer going with the other me. It just felt safer and more comfortable somehow.

“I’m s-”

Suddenly, a cyan shadow flashed before our eyes, and landed in front of all of us. With a loud bang, the cyan mare plowed into the soft moisty soil.

Rainbow Dash shook herself out of the stupor and immediately asked, “Whoa, are we talking about The Grand Galloping Gala?”

Looking at her expectant face, I internally sighed. She’s obviously another pony who was extremely eager to go.

Just as I foresaw, she began a rambling of how she could get recognized by her dream team the Wonderbolts.

… No offense, Rainbow, but this was not how Wonderbolts recruited ponies. They wouldn’t need a whole academy to train pegasi if they could just pluck ponies from the street and place them directly in their teams.

Alas, I could already predict the reactions from my other friends, who must all have wild dreams about their prospects at the Gala.

And why on Earth did the princess decide to invite us to the Gala only after we moved to Ponyville? Twilight and I had been living in Canterlot for ages, and she had been of age a long time ago. Heck, even I could have attended. There must be some strange reasons for her to do that now but not earlier.

Hmm. And two tickets…

Hang on. Whelps. I should stop zooming out to think, because I noticed that Applejack and Rainbow Dash was already gearing up for an impromptu hoof-wrestling to fight for the second ticket.

Nah-uh. The ticket was for the other Spike and no one else. Sorry.

I quickly intervened. “Time out, my friends, a word.”

“Hmm?” They both turned to me in expectation.

Okay, time to convince them that their aspirations would not work.

“Uh, Applejack, Canterlot ponies are notoriously snobby. Those who will attend the Gala will be the snobs of the snobs. I peeked at the Princess’s receptions back when I was in Canterlot, and the guests are crazy finicky. They won’t even drink a cup of juice without its pulp filtered, or eat a pie without its paste absolutely pulverized. Also, they prefer their food to be prepared by nationally famous chefs. But they are also cheap in the sense that most of them won’t expect having to pay for food in the Gala. So, not to put a damper on your dream or anything, but this won’t work.”

Applejack widened her eyes. She looked a bit frustrated and disappointed, and she bit her lips. But eventually she conceded and said glumly. “Ah see.”

“Aha! So that ticket are gonna be mine, right, Twilight?”

“Sorry, but no. Wonderbolts are not pop music groups, they aren’t going to pluck somepony out of the street because they recognize his or her talent. They have more than a thousand years of history, and they have strict codes regarding recruitment. All new intake must go through the Wonderbolt Academy. Besides, they are super big-shots. Even as the royal student of Princess Celestia, I never really had the chance to directly speak with them for long, even when I was doing a study on them. So it’s highly unlikely that you would have enough time to talk with any of them.”

Rainbow Dash was visibly disappointed. She groaned aloud. “Aww… what a killjoy.”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, but that’s how it is.”

“Fine, I’ll go back to nap.” Rainbow Dash muttered reluctantly. “If any of the weather team came by, drop me a notice.”

“Will do.” I smiled, while Applejack rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just clear the sky already?”

“Meh, I can do it in ten seconds flat. It doesn’t matter if it’s ten seconds in the morning, or in the afternoon.”


************


After helping Applejack some more, Spike suggested us to take a walk in the town. I simply shrugged and agreed.

A walk in the town did lessen my nagging worry somewhat, but the tickets to the Gala have proven themselves to be trouble magnets.

And boy they were. Throughout our short walk in the town center, we were continuously accosted by our other three friends, and even a smattering of other acquaintances in the town. I seriously didn’t know how the news of me having the tickets got out, but I guessed this was how small towns worked.

Even Fluttershy swung by and begged to have the ticket, because she wanted to see the animals in the Royal Garden. It’s unfair to say she also ‘accosted’ me, but for the demure mare to gather up the courage to ask, it was really something. Still, I told her that animals in the Royal Garden were extremely stranger-shy, and she walked away dejectedly.

After a while, we simply decided that it was simply too much to walk around in the public like a pair of moving targets, and went back to the library. I was not exactly into having to invent more excuses in order to not give out the tickets that I did not particularly want myself.

Come to think of it, could I just save the trouble and make the tickets disappear?

I was a bit afraid that it might displease Princess Celestia, but I was even more scared that my screw-up would be uncovered. I just didn’t want to get close to Canterlot in the foreseeable future, if not absolutely necessary.

“Spike, come here please?” I called out.

“What’s the matter, Twi? Do you want to continue your experiments?”

“Yes, but later. For now, I want to talk about the tickets to the Gala.”

Spike winced. “Ew, I don’t really want to go.”

“Yeah, neither do I.”

“T- Twi?” Spike looked utterly shocked. “You too? But the princess told you to!”

“Not quite, Spike. She might have wanted us to, but it’s not exactly an order, but an invitation. Répondez S'il Vous Plaît, right?”

“Yeah, but…” Spike fidgeted, seemingly reluctant to go against the will of Princess Celestia.

“I don’t think going near the princess when we’re struggling with the Elements is wise. I’d avoid Canterlot myself.”

Spike gulped and gingerly nodded.

“… Burn them, Spike.” I whispered. “We should pretend that they never arrived.”

Spike gasped. “But the town ponies have already seen them!”

“Touché. Well, I’ll just say the tickets, uh, were lost when I use them as bookmarks.”

“That’s… a little unconvincing, Twi. You’re too organized to do something like that.”

I became a bit nervous and agitated, the visions of an irate Princess Celestia filled my mind. “J- Just burn them already! I don’t want us to be discovered!”

“A- Alright-” Spike was visibly frightened by my outburst, and let out a flame engulfing both tickets.

A green flame.

Oh dear!

“Holy Guacamole, Spike, you just sent the tickets back to the Princess!”

“I- I- I’m s- so sorry…” Spike stuttered.

“I…” My eyes twitched. Eventually I let out a long sigh and sat on the floor helplessly.

“Twi…”

“I just feel that nothing has been going our way these few days. I’m disoriented and exhausted.”

Spike frowned sadly. “I’m so sorry…”

I was again moved by his pitiful look, as I swept him into my embrace. “It’s alright though, it’s alright though…”

I then stood up with a severe look. “I will draft a letter to explain why we send back the tickets. Maybe I would be frank and just tell her we don’t want to go. Whatever comes comes.”

Spike asked nervously. “Do you need me to write…”

“No, Spike, just go have a rest. It’s about time for your afternoon nap.”

I tried to put up a smile, and directed the conversation away from heavier issues. “When you’re in the kitchen, I’ve put a ruby in your crib, and another one in your stash. Good luck on saving up to buy a present for Rarity.”

“Wow, thank- Wait!”

Spike’s expression turned from beaming smile to utter shock in a second. “How do you know I have a stash, where it is and what it is for?!”

Oh… I knew far more than that, the other me.

I mentally grinned, and at the same time lamented my inability to tell him the truth. But at least I could have some fun teasing the flabbergasted dragon.

“Who am I, Spike? I’m the one who hatched you from your egg! Of course I’m going to know you, just like you know the difference between biting a topaz along its cut or opposite its cut.”

Spike was red-faced and flustered, and he didn’t further question my strangely draconic simile. Good.

I then turned to walk towards my writing desk, but Spike called out.

“So… um, you said Rarity…”

“Yes?”

“So you know about…”

“You’ve fallen for her? That’s pretty obvious, to be honest.” 

I wryly smiled. This was one observation Twilight could not have known with such clarity if not for this bizarre accident.

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Why…” 

I stopped mid-sentence, because I recognized there was a dissonance in my mind.

As the dragon himself, I would not have a problem with Spike’s romantic adventures. 

I might not be inclined, or indeed able to chase after Rarity myself. However, I was okay with cheering the other Spike on, knowing how important the white mare was to him.

But what would Twilight Sparkle think of this? 

Would she be too much of a book-loving dork to notice? Would she disapprove because she would have seen him just as a baby, and that it would distract him? Or just turn a blind eye because she would respect his free will, or just wouldn’t care?

I felt irrationally unsettled finding myself unable to answer these questions, having mastered how Twilight behaved in front of others.

“… Twilight?” Spike asked uncertainly.

“… Oh! Uh… of course!” 

I pulled myself back into reality and smiled. “Cheers, Spike. I’m, uh, glad that you reach the age that you’re interested in this sort of stuff. But I thought that you might not be too comfortable talking about that with me. After all, we live together for so long, and we’re practically family.”

Spike’s face again reddened like a tomato, and he gulped audibly.

I sighed. “Rarity’s a stunningly beautiful mare, I’d readily agree. I… have no problem if you two get together, given if she’s also okay with this. But hear me out, Spike.”

“… Yes?”

“You have to get to know her before you put all your heart to love her. Don’t get blindsided by glamor.”

Spike’s embarrassment was replaced by a face of bemusement. It seemed that he did not quite catch what I meant, but he nodded regardless.

I looked to the side. My already troubled mind had become even more turbulent by all these talks of romance. I wasn’t even sure who the Tartarus I was yet!

I took in a deep breath and turned towards my desk once more. I didn’t want to lose control of myself and lash out at the other Spike again. It always made me feel incredibly guilty afterwards.

I then settled myself into crafting a diplomatic-sounding response to Princess Celestia, when Spike again came forth to me.

“Twilight… the Princess has replied.”

“What? I haven’t even sent in anything yet!”

Spike raised his claws. To my shock, there were seven tickets to the Gala along with a hoof-written letter by Princess Celestia.

“W- What did it say?” I asked with dread, cold sweat dripping from my forehead.

Spike gulped and waved the letter open.

“Dear Twilight,

I was admittedly a bit shocked when I saw the two tickets I sent out were returned to me without any message. Knowing you, I don’t think you’re one to rudely reject an invitation like that without reason, so I hazarded a guess. That’s when I notice I only sent two tickets, when you’ve made friends with five new friends after going to Ponyville. You must have been too embarrassed to ask for more tickets, and you don’t want to upset your friends by going alone. Don’t worry, my most faithful student, I’ve sent you enough tickets for your friends to go as well. I look forward to both your letters, as well as seeing you and your friends at the Gala.

Princess Celestia”

“… Crap.”

“T- Twi, did you just swear?”

I temporarily paused, slightly stunned. In my memories, Twilight never swore in front of me. She cursed in rare circumstances, but never swore. 

But… heh, ‘crap’ was just a mild curse, right? So I rolled my eyes up and sighed. “Spike, there are certain other sayings that could be considered swearing, but crap is not one of them. It’s at most a somewhat uncouth way to express my mild exasperation.”

“Your mild what?”

“Annoyance.”

“Oh.”

I slapped my forehead. “I guess now with the clear directive from the Princess, we have no choice but go, and we have to re-convince our friends to go as well.” 

“Ow… But you’ve been saying that the Gala was a horrible place to be to them.”

“I know. Those horror stories were half-fiction and half-conjecture, but I obviously can’t renege on them all of a sudden.”

“So what should we do?”

“I’m going to tell them that it was Princess Celestia’s wish for us to go. I doubt that they’re gonna act against the Princess’s wish, unless they clamor for the comforts of the moon.”

“Don’t joke about that, Twi…”

“It helps loosen us up a bit, no?” 

I smiled. “Besides, now that she knew what kind of a ‘gentlecolt’ Prince Blueblood is, she naturally would not go out with him anymore. This could be your chance! Think of the things you can do if you and Rarity go to the Gala together.”

Spike’s eyes lit up. “R- Right!”

“You need to ask her out yourself, though. Mares appreciate the showing of maturity through initiatives. If you want to shake off the image of being ‘just a baby dragon’, you have to be calm and confident.”

Spike gingerly nodded.

I then stood up from my desk. “Now I’ll go and give the tickets to them, you wanna come?”

“… Yes.”

Spike bit his lips and called out as I turned towards the door. “Wait, Twi.”

“Is there anything else, Spike?”

“I want to say thank you. You’ve been extra caring towards me since we’ve come here. Even as I screw up one thing after another, you still show a lot of patience. Thank you for everything, Twi.”

“… Silly Spike.” I gave him a wincing grin.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Gala ticket conundrum ended with me doing a U-turn and trying unconvincingly to entice each of them to come to the Gala. 

At the end, I had to make tons of promises. That included helping Applejack to repackage her apple products into something that would attract the Canterlot ponies; helping Rainbow Dash to meet the Wonderbolts by pulling strings as the Royal Student; helping Fluttershy to design a set-up that would cover her presence in the Royal Garden; helping Rarity to find a prince charming that would not be a jerk; and helping Pinkie Pie to… uh, I was still not quite sure, but the gist was to ‘have fun’.

All of these were big promises, some bordering on logistically impossible. But as the Gala was still almost a year away, there was plenty of time to figure out a way to slip out of fulfill them.

Except for Rarity’s. Anyone who was not Spike the Dragon would realize that the mare was no stranger to having admirers. I was a bit shocked as well. The added insight from the purple bookworm, who however obtuse was still a mare of the opposite sex, had allowed me to see something obvious in hindsight – Rarity seemed to be merely reacting to the other Spike’s advance with half-hearted smiles.

I could not help but feel a bit dejected... and oddly a bit annoyed. This was unfair to Rarity, of course. While Spike the Dragon was an extraordinarily fine young gentledrake with a smashing good look and a voice of heavenly charm (ahem), it might be too much to expect prompt attention from somepony he barely met a week ago.

By now, I was becoming more comfortable at being Twilight Sparkle the pony. Not that I would ever stop finding a way to reverse this bizarre occurrence, but that also meant that I was beginning to forgo some of my original feelings. That made me feel relieved, but also added a sense of unease on my part. Was I losing grasp of ‘myself’?

But more pertinent to the current headache of mine, was my concern for the other Spike. Seeing how he obsessed over Rarity all day, I began to feel a bit queasy. I would be very uncomfortable if I were to find out Rarity actually did not care for Spike in any shape or form, and yet the dragon still went charging in like a moth into the fire pit. 

I did not want him to be hurt, both from the standpoint of a ‘fellow’ Spike and his current caretaker. I’d be quite displeased if the white mare made use of his affection just to make him do things for her, or worse, to play his feelings around like a doll.

Heck, this thought would never cross Spike the dragon’s mind, would it? I shook my head slowly in disbelief, and also to shake away the uneasy thoughts.

Unfortunately, I still knew little about romantic love, Twilight only read about them in those terribly mushy books. Two shmucks did not make one genius, and I didn’t know what to do other than cheering him on and offering support if needed. 

Ugh. Why was I thinking so much about the other Spike’s love life? I should have far more important things to worry about!

I sighed slowly. I had a reason to be agitated. The other Spike was not here with me at the moment. He was summoned to Canterlot by Princess Celestia. 

At first, I panicked, thinking that something must have busted up. Therefore, I insisted to go alongside with him in my reply letter. 

It’s only then when the Princess revealed that she needed Spike for a reception for the dragon community representatives from the East Coast, and having a dragon by her side would bolster Equestria’s image of inclusiveness.

I was still worried, but if the Princess was so frank, I couldn’t appear so stubborn as well. So I reluctantly let Spike depart for Canterlot, albeit not without a lot of words of caution. I even gave him a little signet that allowed him to set off a distress signal when in need. I, of course, disagreed with the other Spike’s opinion that it was unnecessary, over the top and epitomizing my paranoia. I was not paranoid, I was just prepared.

I then set my eyes away from the directions of Canterlot, and stepped away from the telescope to grab a cup of water.

But wait, why were there so many pegasi at the horizon?

I quickly retreated into the library and checked the weather schedule. It appeared that there was a scheduled downpour to wash away the dirt on the streets today.

I sighed and began to move the equipment inside the house. But as I was finishing up my work, I heard a rumbling noise from the street level.

It was Applejack and Rarity. And they looked quite crossed at each other for some reason. But before they shouted at each other again, a pegasus stomped on the cloud above them and turned them into a pair of veritable wet blankets.

Suppressing a mischievous chuckle, I quickly rushed down to the street. They were a bit surprised at seeing me, but they said nothing as I herded them both into the library.

“Come inside girls, quick.” I hushed.

Applejack looked hesitant. “Whoa, nelly. Is inside a tree really the best place to be in a lightning storm?”

I exhaled and shrugged. “This tree house is protected by a lightning rod. If it wasn’t, then it would have burnt down long ago. If you’re still feeling unsafe, I can go up and che-”

“No, no, nope!” Applejack hurriedly said. “It’s been thunderin’ sybeanus out there! Ah’m gonna take yer word fer it.”

Rarity snorted, seemingly deriding the orange mare’s lack of trust. She then grinned at me. “Thank you, darling. I’m most grateful for your invitation.”

Rarity’s words reminded Applejack to say something as well, and the orange mare hurriedly added. “Uh, yeah, thank ya fer the hospitality.”

I then quickly magicked a pair of towels from the hanger. “Here, girls. New, clean towels for you to use.”

Rarity immediately grabbed my towel and started drying herself, but Applejack looked reluctant.

I blinked. I then remembered that Applejack wasn’t too big on cleanliness, since she worked on a farm every day. But still, it couldn’t be good for her health being all wet, so I said. “Better keep yourselves dry, or you might catch a cold there.”

Applejack slightly widened her eyes, and took my towel with an embarrassed look.

“A moment, let me brew you two some hot tea.”

I turned towards the kitchen, but Rarity called out from behind. “T- Twilight, it’s fine.”

“Nuh uh. You must keep your core warm after drenching in the cold rain. Now, be my guests and wait for me, will you?”

The two mares glared at each other, and gave me a gingerly gaze. They then nodded carefully.

Hmm, they must be arguing over something. I better tread carefully today not to offend any of them.

So I went into the kitchen and returned to the main hall of the library with a tray of tea. But when I came out, the two were again bickering over something.

“Can you be a polite house guest and not stomp all over the place with your mud-drenched hooves?” Rarity made a gagging expression.

Applejack huffed and put out her tongue. “Who are you t’ tell me what t’ do, huh? Ah’m no persnickety fussbudget like-“

Ignoring the developing ache in my forehead, I pretended not to hear any of the argument, and walked towards the two with a big grin.

“Hey, girls! What are you two talking about so loudly? Is it anything funny or interesting? Can I hear it too?”

The two turned to me with shock. And then they began to awkwardly chuckle.

“H- Ha hah, we, uh, are just talking about the latest gossip in town!” Rarity said in a very unconvincing tone.

Applejack scoffed. “Who’s-”

Rarity gave her a narrow-eyed gaze, and the orange mare shakily grinned. “Uh, yeah… gossips, whatever.”

I mentally rolled my eyes. They were like water and oil… No, water and oil did not explode when they mix. They’re more like coal dust and sparks. 

Regardless, I said. “So, since the storm outside is so big, how about we wait here for a while until the storm calms down, hmm? Let me be your host in the meantime.”

“I, uh…”

A bright lightning flashed outside the window, causing the white mare to gasp aloud mid-sentence.

“Y- Yes, please.” The white mare yelped reluctantly, followed by the nervous nod from Applejack.


************


The night was fraught with petty bickering between the annoyingly prissy Rarity and the terminally unconcerned Applejack. It was pushing at my limit.

What’s worse, the downpour didn’t seem to be reducing in scale, but aggravating as the night progressed. The pegasi must have been working overnight shift. Kudos to them on their work ethics, but darn them for keeping the two timed bombs in my house, and disrupting my observation of the sky towards the Canterlot side.

… Huh, did I just badmouth Rarity, and want her out of my sight as soon as possible? I guess the mind really was slave to desires.

Still, somewhere in my mind, I was clamoring for the company of two mares, especially now that Spike was away from me. It’s lonely and scary to be here all by myself in this still foreign treehouse, in the middle of a terrible storm.

Hmm, three mares in one house, sleeping through the night…

Eww! Wasn’t this what mares call a ‘slumber party’?!

My mind screeched to a halt. The masculine and draconic part of my mind revolted at the idea. It wanted me to bolt out of the door, escape to the far side of the town and yell madly towards the sky despite the pouring rain. 

But there was another part of me… I didn’t know what it was, but it was surprisingly okay with this idea. As far as I remember, Twilight never had a slumber party before, being the shut-in she was. And she would probably relish this rare opportunity to have her friends by her side, without the added interference of having a baby dragon in the house.

Ugh… What should I do?

“… Twilight?” Rarity frowned at me.

“… Uh, what? Huh?” 

I was dazed by the sudden pull from reality.

“You’ve been zoomin’ out for the last several minutes, pardner.” 

Applejack added. “Ah know it’s been mighty borin’ in here, so Ah’m hopin’ that the pegasi would soon go have a rest, then Ah can go home and have some proper shuteye.”

The orange mare yawned, and then belched aloud.

I snorted covertly. However, Rarity immediately winced. “Eww, gross! Can you at least cover your mouth? Have some manners!”

“Meh, somepony can also lighten up and stop obsessin’ over anything that Ah do.”

“Um girls.” I called out to grab their attention.

“Hmm?” Both mares turned towards me with a tinge of annoyance in their looks.

“The night isn’t young anymore, and I bet you two might have to stay overnight until the storm brew over. But this is actually the first time my friends come over and stay overnight! I’m, uh… overjoyed to have you two stay with me tonight.”

The two mares seemed to be quite surprised at the statement that Twilight Sparkle, royal student and bookworm, had had no social life even at this age. Luckily, I was not Twilight, and I could sass my way out of this depressing fact.

“Y- You’re welcome!” Rarity said.

“Me too. Uh, Ah’m glad that yer happy with our company.” Applejack added cautiously.

I tilted my head and smiled. “Well, great. I want you to feel at home and happy here as well. How about we have some fun? Play some games, et cetera?”

Rarity leaned in and said. “You mean… like a slumber party?”

Darn. I purposefully avoided the dreaded S-word, but it seemed to be inevitable.

“Uh, yes, I guess?” I said timidly.

My hesitation was apparently taken as shyness, however, as Applejack slapped my back with her forceful hoof. “Don’t fret, Twilight! If this is yer first time havin’ fun in a slumber party, then we’re happy to make this the bestest slumber party you’d ever have!”

Rarity grumbled. “That’s not even a word.”

“Who cares, Ah heard Pinkie used it once, and a word is a word if someone uses it.”

Applejack said with annoyance, and Rarity immediately turned away with a huff. Only when I looked intently at the white mare for a reply, she seemed to widen her eyes and realized. “A- Ah, of course, darling. We’re totally going to have fun tonight!”

“Great!” I squeezed out a smile.

… Not really.



> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And – I immediately regretted this.

Really, I did. As I didn’t really know what activities a slumber party should have, I consulted some library books that I would not have touched with a ten-yard stick, if I had still been Spike the Dragon.

The first activities, according to Slumber Party 101, were hoof painting and giving each other facials. 

I could barely hear the loud complaints from Applejack. She seemed to be decrying the unfairness of discriminating against mud on hooves, but not mud on faces. Rarity was, as expected, giving her a look of derision.

But that was all filly’s play compared to my inner turmoil. Each filing on my hooves and each slice of cucumber on my face was like a brutal whipping of my remaining sense of masculinity. I mindlessly regurgitated the small talk, but I felt like I was dying inside. I tried to maintain a barely convincing smile, while lamenting what in Tartarus did I get myself into.

By the end of the session, I was feeling light and spinning in my head. This level of torture was certainly illegal by Equestrian law, I just had to find the relevant section in the criminal code.

Now, where were we? Ah, ghost story! This one should be much better. 


************


Oh dear! Was I really that convincing a storyteller?!

Applejack tutted her tongue, as she went to the kitchen to retrieve something to wake Rarity up. 

She was a tougher mare than Rarity, but there were still some tears of fear after I told them about an embellished version of the horrifying legend of hidebehind. 

I mentally grumbled. They should be tougher materials for goodness’s sake! We six had faced off Nightmare Moon, the prototypical villain of the dark. All this folklore about darkness lurking in the woods were likely offshoots from ponies’ fear of the Nightmare herself.

Sighing helplessly, I bemoaned the unfortunate fact that I had scared my friend into unconsciousness. Let’s hope that there wasn’t any long-term-

A splash of water wetted my hooves, as I observed with real horror about what Applejack had done. She simply poured the bucket of cold water down Rarity’s face!

The white mare loudly gasped and shot up from the ground, her curly coiffure was all but undone.

After Rarity shakily stood up, she shook her head rigorously to shake herself out of stupor. Noticing the dripping water on her face and the smirk on Applejack’s face, she immediately accused. “W- What have you done to me and my carefully done coiffure, you uncultured ruffian?!”

Applejack’s smirk turned into an angry scowl. “Is that how you ‘mannered’ pony call somepony who help you up after you fainted at a fake story?”

“I don’t care! The only thing I know is that you did that on purpose and it was to get back at me!”

“So what if Ah’m? You’re just a phony who obsessed over manners, but wouldn’t spare some for the one who help wake you up!”

“You!” Rarity was seething at the seams, tears of anger and humiliation dropped off from the corner of her eyes.

Dang! I had to find some way to defuse this situation before it evolved into a full-on hoof fight! I knew they were fighting all night, but not physically!

What could I do? What could I do? 

Ah, they said they wanted me to have fun at the beginning, so if I threw myself out there, maybe they would give face to me!

To grab their attention, I had to do something even more dramatic than what’s already going on between them… 

Hmm, I had an idea! It’s not the most honest thing to do, but desperate situation would call for desperate measures. 

My tears shall be my weapon.

And… time to recall some of my saddest memories.

Nearly failing the entrance exam- wait, that was Twilight’s memories. I didn’t think I would be as sad about it as her.

Ah, here it was. The time when I was punished by Twi because I stole a whole vase of ruby and drew graffiti on the wall with burnt marks of my flame. She threw me out of the tower and yelled that she would never let me back in… I was devastated, and I thought she was being serious! Now that I knew that she just wanted to scare me a bit, but it was totally not cool and very traumatizing!

By concentrating on my sad memories, tactical tears began to rush across my cheeks. 

“R- Rarity, Applejack, please don’t fight!” 

I made the most pitiful face possible, using the puppy-dog look that I had learnt over the years which had a proven track record of eliciting the maximum amount of guilt and compassion.

I sniffled and continued. “I’m so sorry, my selfish desire to keep you two in my company have caused this. I really am an inadequate friend!”

The tension between the two mares was immediately dissipated. They both gave me a sad, wrenched look and came up to cuddle me.

“Don’t say that, Twilight! You invite us in because of the storm, and you’ve been the most gracious host I ever have!”

“Yeah, yer a great friend by allowin’ us to stay over. Please don’t cry.”

I then immediately seized on their attention. I put up a hopeful face and said. “R- Really? If so, then can you promise me not to fight over some minor misunderstanding anymore?”

Rarity gave Applejack a side glance, and said through gritted teeth. “It’s not a mi-“

I leaned in again with the sad puppy-dog eyes. Rarity took in a breath and gulped.

She eventually reluctantly said. “I guess I can overlook this transgression for once.”

I then turned my gaze towards Applejack. The orange mare seemed even more helpless against my relentless attack of puppy-dog gazes. Maybe that’s because she kept a dog herself.

The orange mare heavily sighed, and said. “A’ight. Ah’m sorry fer dumpin’ the bucket of water on ya, Rarity. Ah could’ve used gentler ways that’d not ruin yer mane.”

Rarity seemed surprised at Applejack’s apology. She then also lowered her head. “I must also apologize, Applejack. I shouldn’t be that critical of your over-the-top way to wake me up. And, uh, your personal hygiene, however hard to tolerate in my eyes.”

I immediately intervened before their small talk became toxic again. I rubbed my eyes and brightly grinned. 

“Excellent! We all should get along, you know, if only just for this little gathering?”

“H- Ha ha… Yeah…” Rarity and Applejack half-heartedly chuckled.


************


Fortunately, the rest of the night passed without much overt antagonism. Passive aggression still flowed through between the two, but as long as they did not break into hoof fight, I was cool. I intentionally skipped pillow fight exactly because of that.

I sighed at my inability to help them mend the fence. Perhaps they’re too different to become friends? Ugh, if this was one of the friendship lessons the Princess told Twi to learn, then I was failing hard at that.

Still, I tried my best to supply half-baked jokes and curious anecdotes of our lives in Canterlot. I paid extra notice at the reactions from Rarity. It made me feel irrationally sad that my… Spike’s antics did not seem to elicit much interest from her, as opposed to the general glamor of life in the capital. Strangely enough, it was Applejack who bellowed belly-laugh after another.

“… Twilight, you’re a different mare than I first thought you were.”

As I was deep in my thoughts, Rarity suddenly dropped this bombshell of a statement, causing me to widen my eyes and straighten myself.

Heck, was I being out of character again? Was I going to be exposed?

“W- What do you mean?” I raised the corner of my mouth in an attempt to look inconspicuous.

“Heh, Ah think so too. Yer kinda high-strung and neurotic when we first met. Ah figure that you mustn’t have lotsa pony contact. But you seem to be well-adjusted as we talk longer now.”

“Indeed. Maybe you’re just a bit shy at first?”

The two mares for the first time in the night laughed together, and I joined in politely.

Duh, I was of course more well-adjusted than Twi. I mean, at least I talk with Royal Guards and Donut Joe when she was slaving away in her laboratory. But phew! At least they weren’t getting suspicious of my demeanor.

“Alright, girls. We should wrap up our chat and go to bed, lest we will oversleep tomorrow. I should have a guest bed up there in the upper floor, you two can go first. I will go check around the treehouse to make sure everything’s held tight.”

“Twi, we can help-“

“Nah, I’m the host and you’re the guests. It’s my duty to look after your comfort. Just go first, I will join you two later!”

The two mares again gave a reluctant gaze to each other, but they heeded my advice and went up the stairs. I whistled as I galloped towards the one of the larger windows of the treehouse. I have already added some adhesive to the edge of the window, but I still wanted to make sure no water would seep through and wet the books.

Suddenly, a bright lightning struck somewhere right outside the treehouse. I gasped aloud as I instinctively stepped backwards. I heard some rumbling amid the rain and the wind, but before I could make sense of it, something rushed towards the window at a speed so high, I barely had the time to react.

The next thing I felt was an incredible, piercing pain on my head, and all that was left was darkness.


> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soft snoring.

Hm, more soft snoring.

A pulsing pain was pounding at my forehead, but I squinted open my eyes.

A white ceiling was in my view, although bandage partially obscured my sight.

I tried to move myself up and lean against the wall. Luckily, other than some minor bruising, my limbs were working fine.

That’s when I realized that I was in a hospital. 

Why was I here? My memories were a blur. The last thing I remember was the celebration party after my friends and I defeated Nightmare Moon. We all ate a lot, and Spike absolutely gorged on the gems. And then the next thing I knew was that I was lying in this hospital bed.

Two figures slept next to me. I slightly shook my head and focused my gaze. They were my new friends Rarity and Applejack, and they look absolutely tired out. They were in a total mess, leaves and small branches embedded in their manes and coats.

I was surprised that even the particular and fussy Rarity was in such a disastrous look. Normally she would be the first to decry such offense to fashion.

I still had no idea why was I here, so I extended my hoof and lightly pushed the two.

“Hnngh…?”

“Eh…?”

They groggily woke up. But when they saw me, it was like they were shocked with an electric blast.

“Thank goodness, Twilight! I- I thought…”

“Call the doc, Rarity, call the doc!” Applejack hurriedly added.

“A- Alright!” The white unicorn dashed outside of the room.

“What happened?” I asked in a clueless tone.

“A really large broken tree branch fell through the window and hit you in the head! We had to cut you out from the branches and send you to the hospital in the middle of the night.”

“R- Really?”

“Eeyup!”

Applejack then squeezed out a smile. “Thank goodness yer alright. Ah guess Rarity’s prissiness does have its use. She carefully cut through the branches so that you ain’t hurt. And Ah carried you to the hospital in the middle of the storm.”

She then tutted her tongue. “Those weather ponies shouldn’t be that careless! They coulda cause a lot of property damage with that!”

S… Storm?

“Applejack, you said there was a storm? I don’t remember there was a storm during our celebration?”

“Huh? Celebration? What are you talkin’ about?”

“The celebration for defeating Nightmare Moon, remember?”

Applejack looked flabbergasted. She leaned in and gazed hard at my eyes, then my forehead, and then back to my eyes.

“Okay… Twi, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“… Uh, going to bed after watching Spike gorge on a bowl of rubies Rarity gave him?”

Applejack exhaled deeply and sat back on the stool. “Oh dear.”

“W- What’s wrong?”

“You must’ve been hit in the head too hard, you’ve got amnesia!”

“H- Huh?!”

“Twi, it’s been almost a week since Princess Luna returned…”

I blinked and became speechless. So what happened in between?

With a loud bang, the door to the patient’s ward opened, but instead of Rarity or the doctor, an anxious-looking Spike ran towards me like an arrow.

“Twilight! A- Are you alright?”

Suddenly, when my eyes locked sight with Spike’s, an incredible headache cracked through my head like an axe. My consciousness dimmed, and I fell back onto the bed amidst the horrified looks of the orange mare and the dragon.


************

…

I was cognizant, but I had not woken up yet.

It was a feeling that was hard to describe. But compared to my inability to describe my feeling, there was something that made me worry far, far much more.

Just as Spike came in the room and locked gaze with me, I fainted. 

… Was that me?

Was I really the purple mare Applejack talked to? I… no, that mare only had the memories of the purple mare prior to the incident, while I was a confused mix between the adopted mother and her draconic son. 

There was a vague sense of continuity, but I was far from sure. Technically, I was only… reconstituted when Spike came back. The power of the Element of Magic that was now residing in his body must have played a role. 

Doubt, like a heavy stone, dragged my heart down. Was I just a parasitic extension of the personality of Spike the Dragon? Would Twilight Sparkle the mare truly be free when she was away from the dragon? Was the care, love and tolerance I showed to the dragon a mere reflection of my selfishness?

A small part of me doubted this theory, since nothing had happened until the branch hit my head. But the guilt savagely seared at my heart.

“… Twilight!”

Something was pulling me towards wakefulness, I instinctively grabbed on it and gasped.

“Twilight!”

I opened my eyes abruptly, and attempted to sit up and straighten myself, but Applejack, Rarity and Spike all pushed me down onto the bed.

“Don’t move! I don’t want you to faint again. Poor Spikey-wikey was almost inconsolable!” Rarity said with a frown.

“I- I’m fine…”

“No, pardner, yer not! You lost your memories and then you faint again! You better stay put until the doc comes ‘round.”

“Applejack, I think I’m no longer, uh… amnesiac.”

“Really?” The three called out at the same time.

“So what are we doing the night before?” Rarity asked in hope.

Still feeling a sharp pain in the head, and feeling uncharitable following my disturbing realization, I could only grumble. “We had a sort-of slumber party, but the occasionally fun chatter was unfortunately dotted with a frequent flow of passive aggression.”

Applejack and Rarity looked at each other and winced in embarrassment. 

“I- It... Well, it’s great that you have recovered from the shock.” Rarity said with a hint of shame.

“Actually, Twi, we’ve mended fences while you’re, uh, out.” Applejack said with a nervous grin.

“… Really? You aren’t telling me that to make me feel better, are you?”

“No, of course not! Ah’m the Element-bearer of honesty, remember? When I was trying to get you out with brute force but failed, it was Rarity who suggested to prune the smaller branches step by step to lessen the load. I’ve come to learn that attention to detail has its perk.”

“And of course, the willingness to get her hooves dirty and her coat wet is also life-saving. We’ve eventually realized how petty our arguments were.” Rarity sadly smiled.

“That’s brilliant!” 

Even with my current worries, I couldn’t help but cheer for my friends. “I’m so glad that you two seem to have overcome your differences. Ah, I’m a bit surprised that it took a branch to the head to do the job, but if it helped my friends come together, then it might not be that bad a deal.”

The mares awkwardly chuckled, but Spike sniffled and yelped. “D- Don’t you pull this on me again, Twilight! You have scared me stiff!”

Applejack and Rarity looked at each other again, and smiled at me.

“The doctor is still not coming around…” Rarity looked up to the ceiling.

“… Ah guess we should go find him. In the meantime, Spike, take care of Twi, okay?” Applejack added.

“Wait!” I yelled out.

The mares, originally poised to leave, turned to look at me.

I grinned with an embarrassed look. “T- Thank you so much for saving me from the fallen branch. I literally owe you two my life.”

Applejack scoffed with a smirk. “Don’t mention it, Twi.”

“Applejack is right. Of course we’re going to save you no matter what.” Rarity added with a smile.

Spike turned and bowed in appreciation, and I added my nod. The two mares then retreated from my bedside quickly.

Hmm, they obviously wanted to leave some time for us two alone.

After the two left, I grinned at the dragon. Against his shocked protest, I bent my back and scooped the dragon from the ground into my embrace.

“W- W- What are you doing, Twilight?” Spike flustered. 

Aw, he was embarrassed. But I could use some intimacy right now.

Still, I pretended that there was some practical reason. “Nothing, it’s just easier to talk this way without me sitting up, no?”

“We’re in public!”

“Yeah, but is there anything wrong for family to cuddle?”

Spike widened his eyes. “Uh, nope… I just never thought you’re the hugging type.”

I gulped. Spike’s words again reminded me the difference between me and the original Twilight.

A sense of glum again plagued my heart. I was a surplus, unneeded. The best that I could do for Twilight was to exit the stage voluntarily.

“… Twilight?”

Spike’s concerned call broke my depressing stream of thoughts. I pulled together a reassuring smile. “I just want to make sure you’re alright and not overly worried.”

“You’ve got it all topsy-turvy, Twi. It should be me who have to check whether you’re fine!”

Spike sulked. “You were so worried about my safety before I departed, but it turned out to be you who got yourself in danger!”

“I didn’t get myself in danger… If the tree decided to break in half and hit my head while I was standing in the safety of the treehouse, then what could I do?”

“I was scared that I would lose you, Twilight!”

I went silent. Little did he know that his Twilight had been no more, and it was his… no, my fault.

Biting my lips, I decided to really put it in all to end this charade. At least, I had to test the hypothesis that physical distance with my other self would revert my influence. 

“Spike, I… might have to go on a pretty long journey after I check out of the hospital.”

“Eh? W- What for?”

“… Research project, let’s put it at that.”

“For how long?”

“I… I’m not sure, but hopefully not too long.”

“… Alright, I’m going to pack up our things…”

“No-” I called out. “I can… no, I must go alone. You should remain in Ponyville and take care of the library.”

“Huh?! Why? I can help you out if I’m by your side!” Spike immediately protested.

I could only show him a sad smile. Perhaps some half-truth could make him stay.

“Spike, I am going to investigate the relationship between you, me and the Element of Magic. This requires physical separation between us.”

He gasped. “W- Will it be dangerous?”

“… I hope not.”

Spike heavily sighed. “But what about the friendship assignment Princess Celestia gave you? Aren’t you concerned that she would be unhappy with you away from Ponyville for too long?”

I gulped. “It’s of course the best that she doesn’t get displeased. But if you don’t tell, and I don’t tell, she won’t know that I’m away for a short period of time. As for friendship learning, as long as I send in something from time to time, she would be happy with it.”

Spike didn’t seem to be entirely pacified. “She might still suddenly come and check up on us. You know, she’s quite… spontaneous for a thousand-year-old alicorn.”

“Yeah, she certainly is.” 

For once, I snorted. I then thought about the experiences of the night yesterday, and how Rarity and Applejack managed to make peace due to my head trauma. Perhaps… this could be my first friendship letter? Even if it was one from a phony like me, it could still make Princess Celestia less likely to put her head into our affairs.

“Spike, do you happen to have quill and paper by your side?”

“Hmm, want to write a letter, Twi?”

“Yes, let’s make it my first friendship report to Princess Celestia. If she has something on her hooves, she would be less likely to want to inquire about our status.”

“I see… Luckily, I do have a set in my bag. The Princess made me jot notes on dragon culture throughout the reception.”

“Good! Get ready then…”

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Sometimes circumstances can bring two ponies who are ostensibly very different together. Of course destiny can play tricks on us, but sometimes, perhaps we can also create the favorable circumstances ourselves. Differences are only relative, and if we can create a higher goal for us all to achieve, then even the biggest differences can be overcome.”

My dictation turned into a quiet mutter. The lesson wasn’t really the most burning concern on my mind. A part of me wanted to be honest to the Princess, and especially the other Spike. But a sense of dread prevented me from doing just that.

I shook my head and said. “That’s it, Spike. Send the letter when we go home. I shall stay for a day to see if she replies, and then I will depart.”

“Twilight…”

“Don’t worry, Spike. I’m not going to make you worried again, I promise.”

Spike’s frown turned into a thin smile, and we embraced each other again.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After two more days of observation, I checked myself out of the hospital with minor bandaging on my head.

Compared to my injuries though, the damage to the library was more evident. Windblown debris was strewn across the library floor. Library books laid messily in puddles, still not quite dried. Some even had already grown moldy.

Seeing the carnage being done to our home, and especially my beloved library, I felt a strong sense of sadness. Perhaps due to Twilight’s influence, I cringed at any incidence of book damage.

The Spike next to me, however, merely groaned aloud in annoyance. “The pegasi are darn crazy! How could they just ramp up the storm without caring about any potential damage to the town houses? Now the tree house is ruined! We have to clean up this mess too!”

“And we probably need bits to patch up the wall as well. I doubt that would be cheap.” I added glumly.

“Can we ask the weather pony to, uh, pony up the cash?” Spike suggested.

“I doubt it. They must have some sort of escape clause when they agreed to help the town make weather.”

“So we can ask the mayor instead?”

“Maybe, but don’t bet on it. Although the library is sort of open to public, it’s not a municipal building. I don’t think it’s publicly insured. Moreover, as far as I know, Ponyville city council is poorer than a country mouse. I’ve read that a few years back, when some local youth vandalized the town hall, the mayor had to beg some local magnates to cough up dough in exchange of some unspecified privilege in order to repair the damage. We’re likely to be drilling rocks for water.”

Spike looked distraught. I sighed and said. “Perhaps I would add earning some bits to the purpose of my journey as well. For now…”

I gritted my teeth and lit my horn. A searing pain came from my head wound, but I still managed to move some planks from the upper floor and hastily boarded up the hole.

“Let’s cover it up like that first. Until I get the bits to repair the damage, you should watch out for seepage.”

“Understood.”

“Have you sent the letter then?”

“I did earlier, but the Princess hasn’t replied or sent anything back yet.”

“Thanks, that’d be fine. I don’t really expect a reply, since the letter is more like a report. I’d take a day’s rest to wait in case of one, and then I’d pack up and go.”

“Where are you going exactly?” Spike asked worriedly.

“If the goal is to achieve maximum physical distance, then the easiest way to do it would be hitch a train to the Northeast, all the way to Trottingham. Remember to stay around Ponyville though, or my calculation would be wonky.”

Spike did not seem to be reassured. “You really should reconsider this. You’ve just been knocked on the head, and became so disoriented that you almost lost a week of memories. If you go alone and anything happens again, no one would be able to help!”

I exhaled. “I’m not going to be away from major population centers for any extended amount of time. The Griffish Isles aren’t exactly rural nowhere.”

He still looked incredibly uncertain. Despite my ongoing existential crisis, I still didn’t want him to feel horrible because his Twilight left him alone, and that he had to worry about her safety all the time.

I decided to use a topic that would guarantee to rattle him.

“Hey, Spike. Don’t say that I didn’t think of you while you were gone. I spent the night trying to gauge how much Rarity’s into you.”

“W- What?!” Spike’s face again reddened like a ripe tomato. It seemed that my efforts to distract him from his worries were a success.

I then sadly smiled. “Unfortunately though, I think you’d need more work to make her pay attention to you.”

Despite his embarrassment and disappointment, he was clearly hooked. “How so?”

“She sees you as some dragon who’s following me around all the time. Not that there is anything wrong with that in my eyes, but to casual observers such as her, your personality just don’t really show.”

Spike clearly wanted to express some irritated frustration, but at the end he could only sulk. “So she sees me only as your tagalong dragon?”

“Don’t fret too much over that. Family being close together is simply natural. But I was thinking… perhaps some away time from me can indeed accentuate your character in her eyes.”

“A-cent-”

“Stress, I mean stress.” Vocabulary really hadn’t been his strong suit.

“O- Okay…”

“Despite over 40% of the whole night was fraught with their bickering, I still manage to slip in a few questions about her interests, things she love, et cetera. I know you’re a bit daunted by lists, so I make an infographics instead.”

I levitated a small piece of ‘cheat sheet’ and placed it into his little hands. “Use it to pique her interests and get her to notice you. I may have little romantic experiences myself, but speaking as a, um, mare, you need to make sure that you’re on her thoughts all the time. And to prevent her from thinking you as her little follower instead of possible love interest, you need to do something other than helping her around. Impress her with etiquette, surprise her with ideas, charm her with maturity, whatever it takes to make her think that being with a small dragon is not only viable, but desirable.”

He remained speechless for quite a while, and then he muttered. “Y- You certainly put a lot of thoughts into this, Twi.”

“I do. I want you, my beloved dragon, to be happy.”

He stared at me for a long time, and then he wrapped his little arms around my legs.

A while afterwards, he looked up with a bemused look. “Twilight… I…”

“Hmm?”

“Ever since we’ve arrived at Ponyville, you’ve been so, so caring and kind to me.”

Against the nagging discomfort in my heart, I mocked a disapproving look. “Are you saying that I’ve been a terrible caretaker before?”

“N- No! Of course not! But ever since we arrived, you’ve let me off the hook for really bad screw-ups for more than once, and you’ve always put it in your all, not only to look after my needs, but my wants. I- I don’t know…”

“… What do you not know?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything on your mind that prompted you to shower me with such care. I don’t think I’ve done anything in particular to deserve it, so it must be something that happened to you.”

He gulped difficultly. “Twilight, don’t tell me that you’re going to do something silly soon, like going to act as my fall mare for my screw-up in front of the princesses. I would never be able to forgive myself if you do that.”

I exhaled quietly. He’s catching onto it. This was only another testament to the fact that I had to resolve this quagmire as soon as possible.

“Spike, I want to protect you, but I also won’t do something like that because it would hurt you.”

I patted his head, as the sentimental dragon again cried into my other leg. 

I might have indeed been addicted to the warm, glowing feeling whenever I spoilt ‘myself’.

I didn’t find fault with it, though.







> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I blinked to push away my dazedness. Before me was a blurry purple image.

I rubbed my eyes again, and a shocking sight entered my eyes. The purple mare that I had been acting as for so long appeared before me with an inscrutable expression.

I hurriedly looked down. Dragon claws, dragon belly, dragon tail. 

Oh heck. I knew it. I knew there would be a day that I had to face this.

Shouldn’t I be happy? After all, I left Ponyville just to find a way of returning the true Twilight to her rightful place. 

I took a deep breath and said.

“I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry.”

I widened my eyes, and the purple mare opposite me did the same. Our simultaneous voices still reverberated through this strangely empty space. What was happening?

We both started to walk towards each other. Her movements seemed to mirror mine, up to the smallest tremble.

I gulped and tried not to think too much about it. As we finally met up in the middle, almost snout touching snout, I raised my claw and attempted to touch her face.

I was surprised that she no longer mirrored my action this time, but rather, she stood firm with a patient look. As my claw slowly swept her face, something unexpected happened.

To my terror, her visage began to wobble and fizzle. My claw simply passed through her cheek as if it was thin air.

“T- Twilight, Twilight!” I cried out, but she did not respond. 

Instead, she smiled.

It was one of the gentlest smiles she gave me in my memory. Ever since I grew up and could be expected to handle some responsibilities, she seldom showed me this kind of patient and tolerant smile again.

How I missed and savored this, I selfishly thought.

A faint murmur rang in my ears. It sounded like a… farewell?

Horror filled my mind immediately. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. 

“Wait, wait- No! Twilight, don’t go!”

As she began to disappear in front of my very own eyes, I clawed at her image futilely, but it changed nothing.

I kept yelling her name, until my throat became dry and scratchy. At last, I dropped to my knee, sobbing at my inability to bring back my dear adopted family.

Before the last vestige of her presence went out of my sight completely, I heard another fainter voice.

“A… He…”

“Wait, what did you say? Twilight! Twilight!”


************


“Madam, madam, are you alright?”

I shot up like I was on fire. Gasping for air and heart-racing like having been chased by a manticore, I looked up to find a concerned but unfamiliar face in the dim cabin. He was a uniformed pegasus with light brown coat and deep brown mane.

“Madam, I’m the service attendant of this train. I’ve noticed that you’ve been rolling over in distress. Are you feeling unwell?”

“I- I- I…”

“Deep breath, madam, deep breath.”

I followed his instruction, and soon my breath slowed down to a level at which I could hold a conversation.

“I’m f- fine, thank you sir…”

“You’re welcome, madam. Here, a handkerchief.”

“H- huh?”

He didn’t reply directly. He only made a gesture to his own cheek, and pointed his hoof to me.

I then touched my cheeks, and then the corner of my eyes. They were wet with tears.

I hurriedly thanked the stallion and took the handkerchief with my magic, drying off myself.

“I- I’m really sorry. I must’ve made a scene.”

He smiled, but with a sad tinge. “Not at all, madam. Look around you.”

I listened to him and observed the cabin. To my surprise, it was empty save me alone.

“Don’t worry, madam, you’re not riding on a ghost train.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. The attendant looked encouraged by my mirth and continued.

“Usually, very few ponies would ride the overnight train to Trottingham, except for nightly commuters from Ville de Platine1. Ponies love light, and the lack of light when the train is on the bridge above the misty sea unsettles them. Since today is the Platinum Festival in the Ville, not even the usual commuters boarded this train, so you, I and the conductor are the only three ponies on this train.”

“I see…”

In the silence that followed, I had some time to think of the dream that I just had. Was it real? Was it indicative of anything substantial? Surely it couldn’t mean…

I shook my head, despite worries settling in. My mind drifted all over the place, even suspecting and worrying about the possibility that Princess Luna was covertly gazing my dream, therefore breeding suspicion about my identity.

“You know, madam, I actually love this view outside.”

My thoughts stopped, as I widened my eyes and turned my head towards the train window. 

It was pitch dark outside at first. But as my eyes got used to the darkness, I began to see more.

A thick layer of mist hung over the cold sea. The train track on the long bridge seemed to extend into nothing. Even stars and moon were obscured by the ground-hugging vapor, leaving only a uniform film of violet and purple before my eyes.

The horizon was blurred, mending the sky and the sea together. It was confusing at first, but after a while, it was strangely comforting to see the whole scene as one unending canvas, stretching from one end to another.

The stallion said gently. “Doesn’t it look like we’re elevating in the middle of the air in front of a big purple cloth? I always find it fascinating.”

I gingerly nodded.

“Of course, ponies get disoriented, and I would not envy somepony who have to row a boat down under. But just purely as an audience, this view is worth a thousand paintings in the Canterlot museum, at least to me.”

I turned back and smiled at the stallion. Although he was strangely verbose for a train attendant, his words certainly calmed me down a lot. “… Thank you, I already feel a lot better.”

“You’re welcome, madam. We have a few hours till sunrise, and shortly afterwards we’d see land and arrive at the outskirts of Trottingham. Take a good rest and most importantly, have a good dream as well.”

The stallion then turned around and began to walk away. I raised my voice and asked.

“Wait, mister!”

He turned back and smiled. “Hmm, what’s the matter, madam? Is there anything that I can get for you?”

“No, I- I just remember that I haven’t got your name yet. I’d certainly write to express my appreciation of your care and attention to your supervisor.”

“Oh, madam, you don’t have to-”

“I insist, sir. Your gracious words help calm me down a lot.”

The stallion put up another smile, this time more helpless-looking. “If you say so, madam. I’m Night Tide. Pleased to have helped.”

“Mister Tide, I’m Twilight Sparkle. I sincerely hope that we’d meet again in the future.”

The stallion nodded with a grin. “Madam Sparkle, I’d hope so too.”
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apart from that agitating dream during the train ride, nothing out of ordinary happened throughout my journey to Trottingham.

It was quite clear that distance alone did not cause the ‘relapse’. Perhaps it was no relapse at all, and the coming back of ‘Twilight’ was just another illusion I dreamt up to comfort myself?

I sighed. My magical research and exploratory studies did not give me much insight either. So I turned to my secondary purpose – earning some bits – in order to put my mind away from the troubling matter.

Trottingham… It was an interesting place, being the easternmost city of Equestria and sitting on the Griffish Isles. It was actually closer to Griffonstone than to Canterlot. 

Although predominantly settled by ponies, griffon influence here was strong, right up to the name of the islands. Some said it was almost an unofficial condominium of Equestria and Griffonstone. Griffons often were elected as mayors and village elders in and around the Isles.

Unfortunately, as Griffonstone fell into deep recession some time ago, settlements on the Griffish Isles took considerable economic hit, and many residents elected to move to the mainland for jobs and security. Still, its ancient, griffon-influenced architecture was something to behold.

“Aw…” I groaned. I was not here to be a tourist. If I couldn’t find a way to reverse my mistake, then I at least have to find enough bits to patch up the library and return as soon as possible.

But as I said, I clearly placed not enough attention to the economic situation of my destination before deciding to come here, because… well, big surprise, there was little demand for a librarian or a scholar under such economic climate.

After a few days of futile search, I dejectedly pondered the possibility of leaving Trottingham to a place where there might be more demand for someone proficient in magical studies.

As I strode through the dusty main road, not particularly paying attention to what’s in front of me, a rather nervous pony rammed into me.

“Aw!” I covered my nose, as the pony, a greyish purple unicorn stallion, almost poked my left eye out with his horn. Instead, I pulled up in time and he only lightly poked my nose, while I caught a snoutful of his shortish aquamarine mane, which was only marginally better.

“Oh dear! I’m sorry, missus! I wasn’t watching the road.”

The older stallion apologized profusely. I sighed and said. “… Don’t be, sir, I wasn’t particularly attentive either.”

The stallion suddenly set his gaze on me firmly, and looking at me from head to hoof and back… And for some reason, it stayed very long at my backside.

I was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable being eyed in the public like that. Celestia forbid he... I was technically a guy, after all!

“Oh sorry, missus, I, uh, just wonder if you happen to study magic?”

I widened my eyes. “Huh? Uh… I- I do.”

“Good, good!” 

The stallion let out a sigh of relief. “Please excuse my impolite glare. I just noticed that you have a cutie mark that seems to suggest an affinity to magic, and for the life of me I couldn’t find one such unicorn in all Griffish Isles!”

“Oh… What do you need a magically-proficient unicorn for, sir?”

“My name is Firelight, and I have a unicorn daughter back in my home in the little big town of Sire's Hollow, some dozens miles away from Trottingham. Surely you must've heard of our ancient and illustrious town, dating back hundreds of years within the founding of Equestria, hmm?"

"Umm..." I searched my inherited memories futilely to no avail. However, the stallion had already launched into a verbose speech about the history and beauty of his hometown, while I stood there like I was trapped by an overly enthusiastic real estate agent. 

When he finally noticed my hapless look, he covered his mouth and wistfully said. "Oh dear, that's not what I am here for, my silly-filly needs help!"

"... Oh?" My interest also miraculously returned.

The stallion cleared his throat and said. "You see, my pumpky-wumpkin was a good, bright, friendly filly when she’s young. We have the most loving father-daughter relationship! Also, the village elders as well as teachers of magic in our town all said she could become one of the most magical unicorns in Equestria!”

I blinked several times. This was rather interesting... if true.

“But alas! After her only friend got his cutie mark and moved away to the mainland, she became quite cranky. She did not make another friend even after she got her own cutie mark in magic some time later, and she shut herself up, even from me! Every attempt from me to match her up with peers all simply fell flat."

He then slumped in resignation. "We suspect that she did not think that those peers we arranged for her are on the same page as her. She’s just too clever for them! So my wife sent me here in the hope that I would find a unicorn who is good at magic, maybe she would feel better at being around someone who can match her in power and wit. I’ve searched for days and almost gave up… So you’re good at magic, right?”

Thinking that this might be the chance for me to fulfill my secondary purpose, I smiled. “I did attend Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorn, and I have studied under the princess herself for some time.”

“Whoa, excellent, excellent!” 

Firelight almost yelped in a rather un-stallionly way. “I never thought I would find a student of the princess herself here! Bless Celestia, it must be my lucky day!”

I sheepishly grinned. Despite having a full shoulder of burden and worries, it’s still a good feeling to know that I might be able to help some needful pony a big time.

He suddenly stopped in his track, and asked me with an embarrassed grin. “Oh no! I’m too excited, I forgot to ask your name! May I?”

“Oh, I’m, uh, Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you, Mister Firelight.”

“You’re way too welcome, Miss Sparkle. Don’t worry about your potential reward as well. We certainly won’t be stingy if you can bring companionship to my dearest daughter.”

I gulped. This friendship mission was still quite new to me. But I hoped that my limited experience in Ponyville would help me through.


************


We hopped onto a carriage out of the city gate, and after passing through some low, rolling hills, we arrived at a village somewhat reminiscent of Ponyville. A meandering river passed through the middle of the village. Red-shingled houses dominated the view, which gave the town a uniquely ye olde Griffish feeling.

As we got off the carriage and walked past the town center towards the edge of the settlement, Firelight became more and more skittish.

I turned and asked. “What’s wrong, Mister Firelight?”

“Um… Actually, my dear daughter is now living by herself.”

“Uh huh.” I nodded.

“She… well, let’s say after she lost her friends and the failed matchings, she had turned to strange contraptions and magical items for goodness knows what reason. The only thing we know is that anyone who got close to her house might get a nasty magical shock or blast for no reason at all. So if you want to actually talk to her, be careful.”

I gulped again. I began to feel like this job wasn’t as simple as I had thought. Apparently, before meeting the reclusive daughter, I had to pass through some sort of dangerous trials.

Still, now that I was here, I couldn’t quite just quit, could I. I bit my lips and pressed on, after the father waved me goodbye and cheered me on from afar.

I sighed and lit my horn. Magical signatures of various traps and buried items danced like small will-o-the-wisps on the small field in front of the cottage. I tried my best to control my magic in order not to trigger any of them by accidentally pumping too much magic into them.

I followed a zig-zagging path and carefully treaded, at some point having no choice but relied on teleportation across short distances. 

At last, I arrived before the door to the hut. I then carefully casted a spell to detect any magical trap on the door, and specifically, on the door handle. After making sure that there were no magical tricks, I sighed in relief and tried to magick the door handle and push the door open.

Hmm, something was wrong. The door handle felt incredibly ‘slippery’, even my magic couldn’t get ahold of it.

I frowned and used my hoof instead to push down the handle.

A painful shock came from the point of contact, but I couldn’t seem to retract my hoof at all, as if it was glued to the handle itself.

My whole body twitched and flailed with the strong current passing by, and it threatened to shut down my mind as well.

Just as I was about to faint, the door slid open, revealing a coldly grinning mare with purple and cyan mane. She opened her mouth and said something with matchingly chilling tone.

Before I could make sense of her mocking sentence, I was finally overpowered by the shock, and darkness consumed my sight.


************


I woke up to a terrible sight. I was tied down to a wooden plank with belts and chains in a dark room. A mare with light purple coat, the one I caught sight of briefly before I was shocked unconscious, stood at a distance away in front of a table.

She heard the sound of me knocking at the planks, and turned to me with a smirk.

“Another fool sent in by my do-gooder father, no doubt? Huh! You’re the most competent out of the bunch, as nopony really got even close to the door before they got turned into a scrub or being blasted away into the river!”

“W- What’s happening in here…?” I weakly yelped.

“What’s happening… I’ll tell you what’s happening, my dear. You’ll be my first ever experimental subject of my biggest invention just yet…”

I widened my eyes and let out a frightful ‘Eek’. As much as I was into science and inventive ideas, I had no intention ever to become a pony subject myself, not in such a setting utterly lacking in ethical guarantee!

I tried to cast a spell to release myself, but it fizzled out quickly. I looked up in dread, and noticed that there was a magical limiter on my horn.

“Don’t take me for a fool. I installed the limiter on your horn as soon as I noticed your cutie mark. Six-pointed star of magic, huh? I might be powerful, but I’m still not gonna risk having to duel with some magical unicorn, not in here at least!”

She elevated a staff from her table. It looked rather like a wooden, twisty tuning fork.

She again smirked. “You come by here at the right time. I’ve always wanted to try out my magic on somepony, but I don’t want to risk earning the ire of the villagers, however pesky and pedestrian they are.”

Half-afraid and half-curious, I asked. “W- What does it do?”

“Nothing much, it will just take away your cutie mark! It would then be safely stored away, and you… you would be my very first step to build a truly equal world, where everyone would not outshine anyone else with their special talent and may live in complete harmony. Isn’t that perfect, ha ha ha!”

Again, part of me was deathly terrified at the idea of losing my… uh, Twilight’s Cutie Mark, but another part of me was curious... Morbidly curious. As a dragon, I never had a Cutie Mark. How much of me was influenced by bearing the six-pointed star? How much of Twilight was influenced by having her Cutie Mark?

Back to the current situation… Certainly, her plan was in maximum loco territory, and I had to escape one way or another, if not also find a way to stop her. It was no longer a matter of earning bits from Firelight. This girl was messed in the head, and she had to be stopped.

But I was clearly powerless to stop her in this state. To figure out a plan, I must learn why the heck she turned from a so-called ‘friendly’ unicorn to somepony who would casually tie me up a wooden board and threaten me with Cutie Mark removal. 

Hmm. I think I had a plan.

I exhaled and smiled. “Alright, then. Good, go ahead.”

The light purple mare leaned forward in disbelief. She seemed not to comprehend what her captive just said.

“… You aren’t joking, right?”

… Point number one, I mentally jotted, was that not even the mare herself seemed to put complete currency into her own plan. True believer would not show uncertainty when someone else okayed their plan. Ergo, I could cross ‘ideological crusader’ from my list of motives.

Still, I asserted. “Of course not, Miss…”

I spluttered. Oh crap, I didn’t even think of asking her name from her father!

“My name is Starlight Glimmer, you dork!”

The mare, Starlight Glimmer, looked rather displeased. “You’re supposed to be someone my parents sent to ‘accompany’ me, how could you even forget to ask for my name?!”

“I- I’m sorry, Starlight Glimmer.”

Starlight Glimmer looked surprised at being apologized at, despite being the manipulator here. She tutted and said. “Tsk, as long as you stay put and do not interfere with my plan, you’ll be safe. If not, then you bear the risk yourself.”

I gulped and nodded, but I otherwise tried to appear at ease.

She then frowned. “You… look oddly okay with the idea of losing your Cutie Mark. Why is that? Isn’t your Cutie Mark the representation of your talent? How can you be so blasé about losing it?”

Blasé? I swore I heard about that word some time ago. And while I would not want to lose Twilight’s Cutie Mark for good, because one day I would have to return everything to her, I did not really feel overly attached to it. After all, it’s not really my talent. 

Also, I wondered what would happen if I were to part with it. Perhaps this experience could help me research towards ending this strange situation.

But clearly, I could tell none of these to Starlight Glimmer, so I had to say something else… Well, I did find her strangely reminiscent of a certain lavender mare, with her magical study background and friendlessness and all. Maybe she would be receptive to the idea of intimacy?

“If you think that removing my Cutie Mark would make me a better pony to hang around with, then by all means, go ahead. I’d be happy if you’re happy too.”

“W- What?” Starlight Glimmer looked a bit shocked at my ready acceptance.

“Your father did send me here-”

She angrily interrupted. “That makes you simply another greedy pony who pretends to be close to me, but actually wants his stinking money!”

“I don’t deny I originally came here for the bits.”

Her face was distorted by cynical anger, as she almost slapped me with her hoof. I winced, but her hoof never touched my face.

Instead, she retracted her hoof and just said coldly. “I never expected more from anypony my father bought and brought to me.”

I sadly smiled. “You need to hear me out first. I didn’t say I’m still doing it for the bits. In fact, the moment I heard about your situation, I’m more concerned about you than any potential rewards.”

She hissed and then loudly yelled. “I don’t need your sympathy!”

“I don’t sympathize with you, Starlight, I empathize with you.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and bemusement, and this time she didn’t yell. A promising sign.

I exhaled and said. “I had had no friends before, and I didn’t think I need one. Back when I was studying magic in Canterlot, books were all I saw and all I needed. This was until I moved from Canterlot to Ponyville, and I met a bunch of nice and kind ponies who would later become my friends. One thing that I realized, is that sometimes you need to take extra steps on your part to show that you mean your business in making someone your friend. Friendship should be about dedication, it should transcend space, time, or for the matter, having a Cutie Mark or not.”

I took a deep breath and said. “I don’t pretend to understand what you’ve been through, but I would be seriously devastated if I lose any of them…”

My voice gradually trailed off. For some reason, the scene in which Twilight disappeared from existence before my eyes flashed in my mind. I now thought it was a dream, and I fervently hoped so. 

But as I mentioned the topic of loss, I couldn’t help but become dejected and thought of someone other than Twilight’s friends – the lavender mare herself. 

I now knew everything about Twilight, I could act like her almost perfectly, but I was still not her. There was a gaping hole in my heart that could only be mended if she came back to me, however unlikely. As much as I refused to think about it, I had everything to do with this tragic outcome.

I closed my eyes and uttered unsteadily.

“… Actually, I did lose one of them. And I’m afraid that I had lost her forever.”

Starlight Glimmer seemed to be taken aback, as tears began to stream down my face.

I tried to maintain my smile, but barely. “She’s my caretaker, and she’s older than me by some years. She’s almost my adopted family, as she had looked after me since my birth. We lived together, ate together, played together. As we aren’t really that apart in terms of years, we’ve developed an invaluable companionship that, now that I think of it, should be counted as my first friendship.”

I looked away from Starlight Glimmer, wet streaks dashed across the wooden board. I became overwhelmed with emotion, and I couldn’t really stop myself from spewing what could’ve been incriminating later. I only wanted release and disclosure.

“… But then, just not long ago, we were involved in a… horrible accident, and she had all but gone completely.”

Starlight Glimmer was clearly paying attention, as she gasped lightly.

“… I was sure that it was my negligence that she might never come back, and I had been plagued with deep guilt ever since. In fact, it was what drove me away from where I live to this corner of Equestria. I would have gladly given up myself just to bring her back, if only there is a way. If only…”

I finally couldn’t bear it anymore and cried aloud. My built-up sadness and guilt had burst out at once. I whimpered, pitifully and prostrate, my hooves yanked at the restraints. Starlight Glimmer looked on, her gaze visibly softened. 

“T- Twilight Sparkle…” She muttered shakily, seemingly unprepared for my emotional outburst.

I sharply inhaled, and I tried my best to pull my shattered heart back and face my current situation. “S- So, you see, Starlight, I know the pain of loss as well. That’s why I want to make you feel happy. I couldn’t get past my sadness without emotional support from others, and I want to make sure you get it.”

I weakly grinned. “Actually, I have never told any of these to even my closest friend. And despite this circumstance, you still listened to my speech of self-pity with patience. For this only, it’s already worth anything material that your father could have given me.”

“Enough already…”

“Huh…?”

She raised her head, the corners of her eyes were moistened by tears as well. “Y- You’re making my own pain seem petty and petulant!”

“I- I don’t mean to-”

“How can you be so… gentle even after losing somepony you love forever?! Whenever I think of losing him, I feel so regretful, and it only fueled hate and anger!”

“… Perhaps, as I said, I couldn’t really blame anyone but myself for losing her. But more importantly, hate or anger can’t change whatever already happened. We carry the sins of our past, our memories serving as our only memento of our once hope and aspiration. In my case, I have to carry on for her, for she lives vicariously within me.”

I bitterly chuckled. How laughable and ironic was that statement.

Starlight Glimmer looked aside. After a moment of silence, she unlocked the magic limiter from my forehead and loosened the belts that tied me up. I immediately slipped onto the ground like a pile of wash cloth, having expended all my strength in my outburst.

“Go…”

“Huh…?”

“I said, go!”

“W- Why?”

“Why not? I have tied you up and treated you like a test animal! I now let you go, shouldn’t you scramble for the door like mad already?!”

I briefly pondered. At the beginning, I really just wanted to do something, anything to slip myself out of this mess. But as I observed her, talked with her, and accompanied her more and more, I realized that I started to feel for her and care for her. She was like a Twilight without the right upbringing, and so she veered onto the wrong path. I really felt a strong urge to help.

“I said I want to help you and make you happy, and I mean it. Perhaps you would like the idea of… being a friend of mine?”

Starlight Glimmer raised her head sharply, and her burrowing gaze focused on my eyes, seemingly judging whether I was sincere or not.

I rubbed my eyes and said with an apologetic grin. “If you doubt my sincerity, I have a suggestion.”

“W- What suggestion?”

“We can sneak away in secret!”

Starlight Glimmer’s eyes went round. I grinned and continued. “You probably still have a nagging feeling that I was still in this for dough. Well, then we can just leave without telling them. I can’t accept the bits or any other rewards from any of you, now that I know your situation. And I see that you think that your parents are… um, intrusive. What about a vacation, a get-away from them? You and I can go to my treehouse home in Ponyville and stay for as long as you’d like. We can chat, play and spend time together as friends, and if you like, I can even introduce you to my other friends!”

The light purple mare gulped. She was clearly tempted, but some uncertainty still held her back. She muttered. “… Why?” 

“If we left each other on our own, then we’ll be two miserable ponies. Why don’t we join together and be two happy friends? The past will never truly be gone, but we can at least live well in the present.”

Starlight Glimmer again looked me in the eyes, but her gaze was no longer unsteady.

She looked to the floor and reluctantly said. “O- okay… Just let me pack up and grab something.”

She nervously trotted to the corner of her cottage, and was about to go into a room.

But before that, she turned again and said, this time with the volume of a mosquito buzz.

“… Thank you, Twilight.”
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With my urge and help, Starlight dismantled the traps around her house. I couldn’t help but feel my heartbeat speeding up rapidly. The place was even more of a death maze than I thought. Some magical devices were cloaked so well, I failed to detect it even when it was pointed right in front of me. 

If I were still a dragon and walked in, I was so going to be grilled lizard meat.

Still, this showed the magical prowess of Starlight Glimmer even more. Whether it was by fate or accident that I met her, I was glad that I had met her before she could fully turn to her Cutie Mark stripping business. She’s definitely no ordinary unicorn, and she would be a formidable opponent in a magic duel. Although this sounded overly purposeful, but it gave me another reason that I must befriend her, if also to keep the peace of the land.

As I was readying myself for a journey on hoof, I caught a glimpse of Starlight hurriedly scribbling something on a note, and then stuck it onto the door of the cottage with a reluctant face.

I didn’t get a good look of the note because I didn’t want to appear as nosy. However, I could already guess what was on it. It seemed that despite her harsh words and tough looks, there was still a part of her heart where she cared and thought for her parents.

We exited Sire's Hollow under the cover of the night. Right after we stepped onto the mud road outside the village, Starlight proposed to play an interesting but also quite exhausting game: a teleportation race. 

Basically, we two had to teleport along a straight line towards Trottingham, which high clock tower was visibly on the horizon. Whoever first to arrive would be the winner, and would have to treat the other to the famous local dish – Bubble and Squeak – Fried mashed potato with cabbage mixed in.

Since she seemed to be really eager, I agreed to her request. It would also be a golden opportunity to gauge her precise level of magic.

And so it began, we both flashed our horn simultaneously and turned into bright blurs. 

Our competition turned the long journey into a matter of minutes, but it also tired us out completely.

To my surprise, she was indeed on par with me in terms of raw magical potential. I couldn’t say for sure, but she might be slightly more magical than me. I felt a bit sad but not too sad, since, as I wryly thought, this was technically Twilight’s problem and not mine.

But in any case, I still won by half a snout. After all, Twilight was more precise in magical control due to years of formal training, and I benefited from her experience.

Starlight Glimmer was even more shocked to have lost to me. It was clear that she never saw anypony remotely close to her in terms of magical power since birth, and she admitted that she thought I would be an easy opponent.

We both laughed at our own disheveled looks at the end, as we sat under the old and half-crumbling city wall of Trottingham, awaiting sunrise. She seemed to be more tired than me, as she felt soundly asleep leaning on my hooves.

As the sun climbed up from the rolling hills, a lone griffon passed through the sky. I turned and gently said.

“Starlight, it’s morn.”

The dozing mare had been nodding off with a dreamy smile, and my voice apparently gave her a scare, since her head abruptly shot up and knocked me right in the jaw.

“Aw!”

By Celestia it hurt! Luckily my tongue wasn’t on my teeth!

“I- I’m sorry, Twilight! Are you hurt?”

I massaged my jaw with a wince. “Fortunately not too much.”

She sighed. “Another reason to treat you to a big bowl of bubble and squeak.”

“No, I can pay for my o-”

Starlight interrupted me immediately. “Come on now, Twilight. A promise is a promise. You won the race fair and square, and I have to make sure that the bowl of bubble and squeak arrived in front of you fairly and squarely and most importantly, without your money input.”

I gingerly grinned, and she added with a wry smirk. “And why would you insist to pay anyway? Aren’t you here to earn a few bits from my old stallion?”

I quickly frowned and retorted, but she again stopped me and chuckled. “Kidding, kidding! I’m not doubting your sincerity anymore.”

We both stood up and dusted off ourselves. As we walked towards the food stall, Starlight turned and asked me again. “I’m still curious.”

“What are you curious about?”

“You don’t look like the money-grubbing type, and you aren’t exactly desperate-looking. What do you need bits for exactly?”

“… Um… actually…”

I decided that it was no harm telling her the treehouse story. After I told her what happened, she looked at me with deep concern.

“Oh dear, you got hit in the head with a feet-wide log?! And you’re hospitalized for three whole days?!”

“I- I’ve recovered now, I think…”

She looked mournful. “You make me feel even guiltier for roughing you up in my home and then knocking you in the jaw.”

I smiled. “If being shocked a bit would lead to such a good friendship, then it’s certainly worth it. And it’s just an accident, no?”

She poked me with her hoof. “You’re such a doormat! Are you sure the log hasn’t given you brain damage and knocked your self-preservation instinct out as well?”

“Hardy har, Starlight. I don’t just randomly defer to anypony on the street. It’s because I know that you never meant to harm me, and you’re a truly good pony and an excellent friend.”

She blushed and turned away. “H- How can you say something like that with a straight face? It’s so embarrassing!”

“I didn’t say that because it’s embarrassing, but because it’s true. But I’m having second thoughts now.”

“… Huh?”

I cheekily grinned. “Your red face is simply too cute to watch.”

“You!”

Starlight Glimmer gritted her teeth angrily, as she reflexively knocked my forehead with her hoof.

Rather… force… fully. I could see stars in front of me already, and my sight dimming.

She muttered something in terror, as she scrambled to hold me in her hooves. By Celestia, I was right when I said this girl was a bit messed in the head, and now I knew clearly that said problem was a deeply unresolved anger issue with casual bouts of violence.

And that was my last thought before I went out completely.

************

I had been knocked out with an alarming frequency in recent days. I hoped that it really did not give me any sort of brain damage.

Well, I’ve been quite messed up already, being a strange amalgam of a dragon and a pony, a mental chimera if you will. I didn’t fancy being further messed up.

In the mist of half-consciousness, I again heard something… not quite Equestrian.

“…Qu'est-ce qu'il y a?”

“Le patient a été assommé par un coup sur le front.”

“Est-ce la première fois?”

“Apparemment non. Son ami nous a dit qu'elle avait un autre cas de traumatisme crânien, il y a pas longtemps.”

The two, one stallion and one mare, continued to chat in what appeared to the Northern Unicornian tongue, also known as Prench. I was ashamed to say, but I could only understand half of what they were talking about, which seemed to be my patient history.

I cautiously opened a bit of my eyes, and bright light from a white lamp caused me to close them again. But it was enough for the mare to take notice of me.

“Ou my.”

She said in a heavy accent. “It seems zhat our patient… uh, Miss Spahr-kle has al-hready woken up.”

“M- Merci.” I tried to dig up whatever I’ve learned about Prench in school. “O- où sh-s-suis-je?”

They smiled, apparently not at my efforts to speak Prench, but rather how badly I fumbled through it.

The stallion raised a hoof and said, this time with a pure Canterlot accent. “Miss Sparkle, you’re in Saint Platine Hospital, the best hospital in Ville de Platine.”

I widened my eyes. “Why am I here?”

“Your friends have brought you here from Trottingham, as there was not enough trained physician on the Griffish Isles to handle head trauma cases.”

I winced. It seemed like that the downturn on Griffish Isles was really bad. Even towns like Ponyville had enough doctors to treat me when I got hit with a log.

I suddenly realized that these were far from the most pressing questions that I should ask. “Wait, did you say ‘friends’?”

The nurse mare said. “Ou? You don’t know aboot zhat? There’re une purple unicorn mare and une braun pegasus stallion who brought you ‘ere.”

Brown pegagus? Who could that be? I didn’t think I know-

“Miss Sparkle! I’m delighted to see you awake!”

We all turned to see a brown pegasus dragging an unwilling unicorn into the patient ward. I blinked and gasped. The brown stallion was Night Tide! Starlight Glimmer followed behind him like a demure maiden, which was a novel sight for me.

“Est-ce qu'elle va bien, doc?” He said in perfectly fluent Prench.

“Ouais, je pense que oui. Il n'y a aucun signe de perte de la parole ou de la fonction motrice, et il n'y a des dommages sur la faculté mentale.” 

The doctor replied, but then added uncertainly. “... Bien que je ne peux pas dire avec certitude qu'il n'y a pas de perte de mémoire.”

Night Tide widened his eyes, and then said to me. “Miss Sparkle, do you know who I am?”

“M- Mister Tide, of course I do. You’ve brought me here, right?”

“Ah.” The doctor smiled. “So her memory is fine as well. Then, excuse us, we have other patients to attend to.”

We nodded, and the doctor and nurse left the ward swiftly.

Night Tide turned back to me and said. “Well, as a matter of fact, we do.”

“Why- I mean, how?”

“My good cousin, Starlight Glimmer-”

My jaw dropped. “S- S- Starlight Glimmer is y- your cousin?!”

“… Thrice removed, but still is.” Starlight Glimmer said with a pout.

“It’s a small world, isn’t it?” 

Night Tide gently smiled. “I saw Starlight in the Trottingham Central Station acting a bit nervous. She was carrying you over her back, and was scrambling for tickets to Ville de Platine. When she couldn’t get one immediately, she seemed to be… panicking a bit, and started placing gems around the floor.”

“What for?” I asked bemusedly.

“I- I want to simply warp directly to Ville de Platine.” She spluttered.

I yelped. “What? That’s dangerous! You need at least half-a-day’s preparation as well as extremely stable and large magical output for such a long distance teleportation! If anything went wrong, you would end up half-buried in rocks or miles high in the sky!”

Starlight Glimmer retorted. “I- I was desperate!”

Night Tide smiled helplessly. “I saw her look, and immediately offered to let her have my space in the service quarter. It was a bit tight, but it’s the only way anypony can have a seat in the morning rush hour.”

“I- I could have made it without your help!” Starlight Glimmer crossed her hooves and huffed indignantly. For some reason, she didn’t seem to appreciate Night Tide’s help.

The brown pegasus merely smiled again. But Starlight Glimmer seemed to be brooding herself, as she raised her voice. “Cut your dodo, Night Tide! When did you ever show consideration for me, huh?”

The brown pegasus winced, but he tried to keep his warm demeanor. “Starlight, I never meant to…”

“If you really cared for me, you wouldn’t have left for your stupid trains instead of staying with me!”

“Come on, Starlight. Serving on the North Sea Line has been my dream all along.”

“Yeah, because your darn Cutie Mark told you so, huh?”

Hmm… Could Night Tide be the ‘friend’ that Starlight Glimmer had lost? No wonder she felt so mad about Cutie Marks. But didn’t Firelight say that the ‘friend’ went to Canterlot? He also seemed a bit too old to be her peer. How come a pair of thrice-removed cousins look so close anyway? 

Ugh, it was so confusing. I better stopped their argument first, it was giving me a headache.

“Excuse me about the volume… my head is feeling light again.”

Starlight gasped aloud, and immediately held me to her chest. She looked at me with an intensely worried, apologetic face as if I was her loving pet squirrel that she accidentally stepped on.

“I’m so, so sorry, Twilight!”

“Mhmrmmm-” I struggled to breathe in her tight embrace, and my hooves flailed in the air helplessly.

Hmm. What’s this? Her coat smelled sweet… like lingonberries. Huh, didn’t expect that. But it’s so surprisingly nice and soothing… What the Tartarus? That’s not the time or space or situation to think about this kind of things! A lack of oxygen in the brain surely did crazy things to the mind.

“… Um, cousin, you might want to…”

“What?” Starlight Glimmer turned and glared daggers at Night Tide.

“Miss Sparkle is looking not very well. Her face is turning more purple than usual.”

“Eeep!” She loosened her death grip and let me go, and I coughed a bit.

“*cough* *cough* I’m okay… now.” 

I exhaled and took a deep breath. “But I rather want to know more about you two.”

“… Tsk.” Starlight Glimmer gave a withering gaze to Night Tide, as the stallion scratched his mane.

“Well, you see… Starlight was my little cousin back when I still lived in Sire's Hollow with her.”

The brown pegasus chuckled. “Her parents were big landholders near Trottingham, and export food to the mainland. Although this made them quite affluent, her parents had to frequently leave home to attend to their businesses. So they hired me to foalsit Starlight.”

Oh… So he’s her foalsitter. Kinda like Cadance to Twilight then.

Starlight looked away from us two. Her angry look was tinged somewhat by sadness.

Night Tide went on with a big grin, regardless. “It was a happy time. She was a very cute and lively filly back then.”

“A- Are you saying that I’m not cute anymore?! How dare you!” Starlight Glimmer turned back and protested loudly.

Coughing awkwardly, I then turned slowly to her and whispered. “… Uh, Starlight, do you realize what you’ve just said?”

The light purple unicorn sharply inhaled, embarrassment shot up in her face like a lit-up rocket.

With a blink of an eye, she bolted for the door yelling incoherent words and disappeared without a trace.

“Will she be okay?” I muttered.

“She’s like that since she’s very young, super sensitive and touchy. But don’t mind her, she would come back fine later!” Night Tide brightly smiled.

“O… kay.” Doubts beset me, but Night Tide seemed confident enough.

“You seem to know her pretty well, Night Tide.”

His cheery face fell. “… I’d like to think so too.”

“Hmm?”

“I always like Starlight. She’s my favorite cousin. Although I’m older than her by quite a lot, but we talk about everything, even those difficult magical theories that I didn’t really understand. Every day, I would take her and little Sunburst from their homes and took care of them until bedtime.”

“… But she said you… um, left her?”

Night Tide looked sad for a second, but smile crept up his face again when he recalled the old days. “A few years afterwards, I found that I was eligible for my dream job. I’ve always loved to ride on the North Sea Line, and I dreamed for a day when I could become a train staff. Since my eyesight is just so-so, I decided that I would be a cabin attendant since I was young. I read up on books about trains, service and manners, and took intern jobs at the train station, until the day I got my Cutie Mark.”

He smiled helplessly again. “It was late, but it came regardless. I immediately set out to contact the North Sea Line and tender my application. Starlight didn’t like the idea of me leaving though. She thought the days we spent together would’ve been forever, and she was quite mad at me. I promised to write her letters and visit her sometimes, but she rejected me angrily, and told me to never write her or see her again. She said she would be fine without me, as she still had Sunburst, who would be her one true friend. Therefore, despite that I cared and still care about her, we never really met and talked… Until this morning.”

I saw it now. No wonder Starlight went off the rails, pardon the pun. She was never one to take rejection well, and she’s been hurt before.

I still asked. “So, uh, who was… Sunburst?”

“Sunburst was a unicorn colt from next door. He’s the best friend of Starlight. See, even their names complement somewhat. He’s also really into magic, though he’s not quite as magical as Starlight, and he always had troubles casting spells. Not that it stopped their friendship though.”

He smiled longingly. “They were the best playmates. As much as I wanted to mingle with them, I still was a lot older, so they got on better with each other than with me, that’s for sure.”

“What happened to him?”

I of course knew the rough answer, but I wanted to hear more.

Night Tide winced and scratched his cheek. “I… don’t know for sure, actually. I’ve only heard about him leaving Sire's Hollow months after the fact. They said the colt got his Cutie Mark and left for Canterlot to study more advanced magic. He seemed to be glad that he would get better education about magical theories than he could get in this corner of the world.”

Huh? Really? I’ve never met anypony named Sunburst in Canterlot. But that could well happen, because there were so many unicorns studying magic in the capital.

Still, I sighed. “That must have been terrible for Starlight.”

Night Tide looked up to me and bit his lips.

I continued. “I literally knew Starlight for only a few days, but I’ve noticed that she had really, really serious attachment issues. It looks like that she had been a trustful filly when she’s young, but now she turns distrustful and cautious because she felt she was left alone not only once, but twice, by somepony she felt really close with.”

Night Tide looked guilty and sad, and he turned his head away.

“You know that at heart, right? She’s terribly lonely. And with such a great magical talent in her disposal but without a guiding hoof, she might go on a path that she would later regret.”

“W- What do you mean?”

I shook my head, and then told him the story of my initial meeting with Starlight.

He covered his mouth with his hoof. “No way… My sweet Starlight shocked and tied somepony up onto a plank?”

“And wanted to magick everypony’s Cutie Mark away, fortunately just for a brief moment.”

“… Just because she thought it was Cutie Mark’s fault that she lost her friends…”

“Exactly. Once I saw that, I couldn’t let it go on anymore. Despite a similar magical background, I turned out better because I had enough support. In turn, I mustn’t let Starlight falter and fall wayside.”

Night Tide gulped. After a moment of silence, he said. “It’s fortunate that Starlight has found you. I was an inadequate elder cousin. I should have done more, but I didn’t.”

“To be fair, you had your own dream too. It might be too much to make you forgo it and focus on doting on her. And in case it’s not obvious, she still likes you.”

My last sentence made Night Tide’s eye popped out in a comical manner. It was quite interesting to see such an over-the-top reaction from somepony so placid.

“No way… She said so many times that she hated me for leaving her alone!”

I rolled my eyes. “And yet she cares so much about whether you think she’s cute or not? No offense, Night Tide, you’re a bit too thick about mares.”

“H- Heh?”

“I’m pretty sure she had a bit of precocious crush on you back then. And she might still have some remaining feelings now.”

“What?!!”

I had to move myself slightly out of the way to prevent being showered by his shocked spread of saliva.

“At least, she looked up to you so very much. You’re pretty much the only figure in her foalhood that she felt safe to rely on. It’s only too common for intense love to turn into intense hate, especially as she was not old enough to learn to deal with separation maturely.”

He gulped. “What can I do?”

“The least that you can do is to confront the past with her squarely and openly, and make her understand that you still love her and care for her despite everything. It’s no time to tip-toe around this if you’re serious about her well-being. She’s become incredibly fragile, and she wouldn’t be able to handle another friend turning his or her back on her anymore.”

“I… I see.”

He stood up and looked me in the eyes. “Thank you, Miss Spark-”

“Still so formal, are we?”

He gulped and said. “T- Twilight, you’ve done so much for us, I must thank you deeply.”

“That’s okay.”

“Starlight told me on the train that you need bits, right?”

I showed him a helpless look.

“She made it sound like I would be broke if I didn’t get enough bits by the end of next month, didn’t she?”

“She told me the collapse at your treehouse, when she explained what happened to you. I could pay the repair cost for you, if only for reuniting Starlight and me.”

“Absolutely not! I didn’t do this for bits… not now, anyway, and I’ve made it very clear and repeatedly to Starlight. Moreover, you two carried me all over from Trottingham to here! How can I receive any more from any of you? I’m at least as magical as her, I can definitely find a good-paying stint out there, don’t you worry.”

“B- But-”

I sighed and smirked. “If you really want to pay me back, it doesn’t have to be with bits.”

I then said something into his ears, and his eyes widened with shock, but also interest.

“… Am I-”

“Yes. But you still have her, unlike-”

I tutted my tongue in slight frustration, this was not the time for self-pity. “… Anyway, it’s what she’s been waiting to hear all these years. Go for it.”

After a brief spell of hesitation, he firmly nodded, and I smiled in relief.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woah, that’s really good.

“I’m glad you seem to like it, Twilight. I used a signal lamp to tell my coworker in Trottingham to bring me a freshly-made one on the very next train. It’s reheated, so…”

“No, no, it’s fine! What a tasty dish, this bubble and squeak! Now I don’t understand why mainlanders always gave such a bad rap to Griffish cuisine. It’s simple, but it’s excellent!”

“Glad you think so!”

Night Tide grinned. “Maybe because the Prench had such a great name as good chefs, ponies tend to ignore our unique mix of cooking styles brought by years of us living in a pony-griffon melting pot.”

“They should really advertise about that. Maybe it could even boost the Griffish economy.”

I then leaned forward and said. “But more importantly, did you find…”

“Twi- light! I-”

I immediately turned to the source of unusually bubbly voice. Starlight trotted in from the corridor with light steps. Seriously, I’ve never seen her being so happy and light-hearted before.

Though, once she saw Night Tide next to me, her smile immediately evaporated.

“… Why are you still here? Go back to hug your trains already!”

She then looked away from him with a pout. However, she immediately noticed the bag of bubble and squeak I was chomping on, and gasped aloud.

“Oh my goodness, I’ve totally forgotten about… Where did you get it from? There shouldn’t be any bubble and squeak vendor in the Ville!”

I grinned and pointed at Night Tide, who waved at Starlight Glimmer awkwardly.

“I heard that you two had a competition, and you owed Twilight a good ol’ bubble and squeak. So I signaled my colleagues to bring me a fresh one from Trottingham on the next train. This way you don’t have to go all the way back just to buy one.”

Starlight Glimmer narrowed her eyes and huffed. “… Who need your help now, huh?”

She magicked a few bits from her saddlebag, and was about to throw them to his face.

I quickly jabbed his backside and whispered hurriedly. “Go already!”

He swiftly inhaled, sprang forward and tackled the light purple unicorn.

“Eeep!”

When Starlight’s sight refocused in front of her, she gasped to find that Night Tide was face-to-face with her, with her back pinned against a wall.

“W- W- W- What are you t- t- trying to do, you stupid-head?!”

Night Tide drew in a breath and almost yelled. “I’m sorry!”

“… What?”

“I never had a chance to say that to you. I always told myself that I couldn’t go find you because you told me not to. But after hearing what Twilight said, I understand that I was just a coward, finding excuses for myself not to fulfill my obligation towards you.”

Starlight began to look really bitter. She bit her lips and growled sarcastically. “Obligation…? Oh my, what obligation? The only reason you’re with me was money, and that was it! Don’t make me laugh now-”

“Starlight, stop.”

The light purple mare widened her eyes.

“We’ve been with each other for so long. I should’ve understood how deeply my departure would affect you. I could’ve dealt with it better, but I didn’t. Now you’ve grown up, I can’t give you your happy and carefree foalhood back… I can’t even describe how deeply I regret it. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive my cowardice, Starlight?”

Starlight Glimmer inhaled sharply. Tremor filled her body, and she began to lightly sniffle, which then developed into a sad and bitter sob. Her hooves rained down on Night Tide’s chest. 

And she certainly didn’t do filly pushes, each smack actually produced a loud pounding sound. Night Tide’s face was clearly showing discomfort, but he just let her anger flow out and onto himself.

After a good while, Starlight was calming down by a bit. Night Tide gently sighed. “You often said that I was obsessed with trains and serving on trains. But it was, after all, simply my hobby, my ‘talent’. On the trains, I saw and met thousands of ponies each year, and I recognize quite a few of them by face. Yours, Starlight, remains the most memorable face for me. The years we spent in Sire's Hollow are joyous, unforgettable, and above all, irreplaceable. I don’t want you to discard them simply because of my untimely departure, for I have always kept you in my heart.”

“Y…You do?” Starlight blinked.

“Every now and then, I would actually return to Sire's Hollow to visit family and friends. Every time I ask them your whereabouts and avoid you, for fear that I would upset you. But I still ask around about your status… just to do nothing with it until now.”

“Y- You stupid do-do…” Starlight sniffled, and punched the stallion some more. The punches this time, though, were weak.

I tried to suppress my wide grin into a simple polite smile. Starlight Glimmer might be brash, cynical and even down-right aggressive at times, but deep down she was incredibly soft-hearted. 

It was obvious that she had all but forgiven him. I was right – there was only one thing that she was waiting for so long, and that thing was his heartfelt confession of his feelings.

************

“Stupid stallion! We’ve just formally reunited, and he immediately had to go back to his post! How can somepony be such a train-hugging idiot, huh, am I right, Twilight?”

“Ha, ha…”

I scratched my cheek and chuckled politely. I had not pictured Starlight to be such a clingy… and punchy type like this. 

Starlight then bit her lips and looked a bit embarrassed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Twilight, you’ve again helped me through another big old issue that has been troubling me since I was a filly. It’s really my blessing to have known you. I don’t know how to ever repay you.”

“Saying silly things again, Starlight? Friendship isn’t loans, you don’t have to repay me in anything material other than continuing to be my friend.”

She gulped and gingerly nodded. “… Thank you, regardless.”

I decided to shift the topic to make her less flustered. “I saw you being quite happy when you came in. Did anything good happen?”

She immediately brightened and grinned. “Sure do, Twilight!”

She magicked a whole bag of bits from her saddlebag and shoved it in front of me. I immediately shook my head vigorously.

“W- What’s the matter? I can’t possibly accept that! I told you-” 

“But Twilight, I couldn’t have gained these bits if I didn’t come to the Ville. So this is technically yours.”

“… Huh?”

Starlight grinned. “You see, since my family is reasonably affluent, many ponies would come to us and borrow money. Most of them are just our local neighbors who needed a small amount of bits to grease the wheels, but there are big borrowers as well. One time, two travelling salesponies came to Sire's Hollow. They’ve definitely heard of my dad, since they went straight to him for bits. Usually, we won’t lend to just anyone, but only ponies and griffons that we trust. But these two ponies were willing to put down their permanent-motion cabbage-harvesting machine as a collateral, so my dad nodded.”

She then mumbled with some indignation. “I knew from their shifty looks that they couldn’t be trusted, and lo, they escaped with our money and disappeared. Still, my dad thought the machine was worth it – Until it turns out that the salespony brothers have put some small animals inside each time to make it move by itself, and it was not self-moving at all! Sadly I was too young and inexperienced to call out their tricks. This put a great dent on our finance, and it compelled my parents to leave home all the time to earn those bits back. It’s a mixed blessing, I guess, since I couldn’t have met the stupid do-do if they didn’t need a foalsitter.”

“I presume you’ve caught sight of the thieves in the Ville?”

Starlight laughed aloud. “Ha, ha! See, that’s why it’s so much easier to talk to someone smart, instead of…”

She grumbled briefly, and then put her tongue out. “Yeah, so after I went out of the ward, I saw the two brothers peddling their snake oils to the out-patients in front of the hospital. Somepony’s nerves! I immediately confronted them, and when they tried to sneak away, I made them stop, and I made them go to the police by themselves instead. Although our bits are long spent by the two thieving brother, the chief was quite happy that another unicorn brought them in. The brothers were apparently involved in multiple scams apparently before that, and some generous soul had put up a bounty, which I claimed for you!”

Facing a brightly grinning Starlight, I smiled as well. But something in what she said unsettled me.

“I- I’m very glad, and I can’t thank you enough… I don’t think I deserve your bits still, but we can talk about it later. But first, I want to know… what do you mean by ‘making them go’? By themselves?”

Starlight looked surprised that I didn’t get it. “Huh? Of course I used a spell to psych them into giving up themselves using a reasonably strong mind magic spell. I’m not going over the trouble of tying them up with a rope and dragged them along on the street.”

I shifted uncomfortably. Although I had met few highly magical unicorns besides Twilight, I didn’t feel that magic should be the way to solve any and every problem. 

I was keenly aware that this set me apart from what the bona-fide Twilight would say and do, but it was a truly visceral reaction, especially given what I’ve been through… When free will was suspended and minds were held captive, it just chilled my conscience off.

Problem was, unicorns like Starlight had little sense of severity as to what their powers could bring. Even I, as a dragon, must learn to control my flame, or else I would risk burning down a house just by burping after a meal.

However, they cared more about how to cast complicated spells than why. She thought messing with someone’s mind was as trivial as turning an apple into an orange. Minds were a bit more complicated than fruits, as I grimly discovered.

Even now, there was a small part inside me telling me to just shrug it off, but I couldn’t for my good heart do that.

Outwardly though, I still said quietly with a diplomatic tone. “Well, they might be scammers, but I think even the worst of criminals have the most basic right to be treated as ponies and not just objects to cast spells on.”

Starlight’s smile faltered, and she pouted. “They deserve it for swindling so much money from my family! And you should know better, Twilight, being such a magical unicorn yourself. Magic is a wonderful, wonderful skill, an art in of itself. It is also our special talent, and it’s only right that we use our talent to solve problems.”

“Yes, we are good at magic. But just as somepony who are good at sword-fighting can’t solve everything by shoving the blade into every problem, we can’t just throw magic at problems, especially when it concerns other ponies or sentient creatures… especially their minds.”

“Twilight, I didn’t know you’re the moralizing type.” Starlight crossed her hooves and huffed.

I lowered my head hearing her implied repudiation. “… I’m sorry you felt like that. I just think that when it comes to the mind and the sense of self, it should be the last line to cross. Messing with it, and making somepony not themselves was to me one of the worst things you could’ve done to them, worse than physically hurting them, worse than banishing them to the moon.”

Starlight knitted her brows and said dubiously. “… Worse than taking their lives?”

I slightly widened my eyes, and cautiously shook my head. With some hesitation, I took in a slow breath and said. “I won’t go that far. But I’d still say though – we feel that we’re awake and aware, but it’s the unfettered stream of mind and thoughts that make us us. If we just mess with one’s mind, we’re cutting this stream. We’re, in other words, trampling on his or her very self, even rewriting them according to our liking. If their mind is forever altered, then it’s like putting out a mind and replacing it with a new one, laughably trying to fool ourselves and the others. Even in the case that such intervention reverts by itself, there will still be a gaping hole in their personal history, and their selves are still compromised.”

Starlight looked at me with wide eyes, but stayed quiet.

“Physical wounds are straightforward; they heal with time. You can even bring somepony back from the moon, just like Princess Luna. But minds are much murkier matters. If we allow us to go for the easier, but also more callous route, then we’re opening ourselves to see others as objects of comfort or discomfort, rather than walking, breathing and thinking fellow creatures. This neglect for empathy makes many a villain in the history of Equestria and beyond.”

Starlight’s face was tumultuous. She seemed to take it as me hinting at her being a villain-in-waiting. I hurriedly added. “Um, I’m saying that not because I think that you’ll fall for it… You’re a smart mare. I worry for… myself, and I always remind myself not to do so.”

“… You kid, Twilight. You’re easily the most thoughtful pony I’ve ever met… Not that I met many ponies, but it does not diminish my judgment.”

Starlight then sighed. “I guess I never thought of it this way.”

“If not because of…”

I bit my lips abruptly. I couldn’t tell her yet. My heart almost leapt out of my chest, and I again felt the intense desire for disclosure. But I bit it back bitterly.

Starlight looked at me quizzically, but she looked down to the floor and said. “I suppose I would try to limit my use of such magic if this means so much to you. I’ll give it what you’ve said some thoughts as well.”

“Thanks, Starlight, it really means a lot to me.”

I smiled. “Your appraisal of me is too generous too. I was a bookworm, I’m still a bookworm. I was one step away from becoming a total shut-in if Princess Celestia had not sent me to Ponyville on a mission to learn friendship.”

“Bookworm, need to learn friendship, you? Bah! Are you kidd… Wait, did you say the Princess herself send you on a royal assignment?!”

I opened and closed my mouth. I realized I had not really explained my background to Starlight. 

“… Um, yes. I am a student of magic under the tutelage of Princess Celestia.”

“Student of magic… Twilight Spark- Wait, I saw you in the papers!”

I widened my eyes. “In the papers?”

“You’re the bearer of the Element of Magic!”

I was first shocked by her mentioning of the offending object that caused my current conundrum, and only then realized that she only meant she heard of Twilight and her friends’ exploits, which cleansed Princess Luna and saved Equestria from eternal night.

“I… uh, yeah, I’m.”

Starlight began to snicker, which turned into a loud laughter, causing me to frown in confusion. “W- What’s wrong?”

“You, Twilight Sparkle, royal student of the Princess, have to go to as far as the Griffish Isles, a place so destitute that even griffons won’t lay eggs nowadays, just to find bits to repair a hole in the wall? You make my belly ache from laughter!”

I pouted. Making money was not the primary reason of my journey. If I was really only looking for bits, I could have found some extra work in Ponyville or Canterlot, or if I was really desperate – explain the situation to either my parents or the Princess and beg for some emergency allowance or loan.

But I couldn’t tell Starlight the whole thing, could I? 

So I made a face and tutted. “I just did what I like.”

“Really? You are far from the most random pony I’ve met.”

“That honor belongs to one of my friends in Ponyville. You might find her hiding in a flower pot inside your own house for no real reason. No real comprehensible reason, by the way.”

“Hey, got to check them out when we got there, hah? If they’re as least half as interesting as you, then it would be quite worth the trip already.”

I grinned wryly. But in my mind, what she had said reminded me that I had to resolve my current ambiguous status. I couldn’t just lecture others on the sanctity of the mind, and then just casually violate Twilight’s. That would make me history’s biggest hypocrite ever.
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You sure about that, Starlight?”

“I’ve always wanted to see the Luna Ocean. If I’m to travel so far from home, why not visit all the places at once? Vanhoofer isn’t half bad, right?”

“I guess so.”

I looked at the view outside the window of this small mountain inn. Moonlight reflected off the snowy slope of the western face of the Himareyas, the roof of Equestria. Ville de Platine was a beautiful place, if not a bit damp and cold at times.

I drew in a breath and decided to ask Starlight a pertinent question.

“Starlight, I want to ask you a favor.”

“Shoot.”

“Can you teach me your cutie mark stripping spell?”

She looked shocked and a bit worried. “W- What for? That spell is for-”

“I want to cast it on myself.”

After a prolonged silence, she wordlessly elevated me using her magic into the air and shoved me into my own bed.

“Hey!” I yelped.

“I don’t know..."

She bit back a sad sniffle. "I- I have never thought you’ve received such a severe mental damage... I’ve definitely worsened it by my reckless actions! Woe to me and to Equestria! You’re such a good friend, not to mention an extremely bright magical mind-”

I then shouted and interrupted her grieving monologue. “I’m not brain-damaged, dang it!”

“Who in their right mind would want to strip their own cutie mark away?”

“It- It’s a very important experiment!”

“What experiment, pray tell, exactly requires the removal of your own cutie mark?”

I tightly winced. “… Please, just teach me that spell. I will never use it on anypony other than myself.”

“I’m not doubting that! You’re just not that kind of pony. I’m just concerned, very very concerned!”

Starlight crossed her hooves and said. “You’ve shown your wares. You know magic, you have integrity, but you’re always so unsure of yourself. I thought it was nothing, until just now! Don’t you try to harm yourself for whatever reason!”

“I- I assure you, Starlight, I’m not trying to do silly things. It’s a research on cutie mark and… minds I’ve been wanting to do very much.”

“… Go on.” Starlight raised a brow hearing the topic of mind magic.

I gulped, and tried to pull together a story about my research, while omitting the real reason – finding a way to isolate and separate my influence from the real Twilight, who might be somewhere hidden in ‘my’ mind.

Since cutie mark was in theory such a potent influence on a pony’s goals and personality, I couldn’t discount the strong possibility that it was binding me down in a way.

Starlight raised a hoof and interrupted my blabbering. “Okay, I get it, you want it badly. But no, I’m still not teaching you the spell.”

I let out a desperate cry. “I beg you, Starlight! I don’t need the money, I just need the spell!”

She stonewalled. “No, nope. No way.”

I then sulked. My research was going nowhere, and now my only breakthrough point was being actively denied. I sat down next to the bed, my gaze weakly swam onto the ground.

I heard Starlight sigh aloud. “… I didn’t say I won’t help. But I will be the one who cast the spell.”

“… Huh?”

“Since cutie mark removal is such a personality-altering experience, self-experimentation will be way too dangerous. How do you record your results if you’re all disoriented and out of your elements anyway?”

My eyes lit up with delight. “Really? You say you’ll help?”

She scratched her mane, a helpless smile developed on her face in response to my enthusiasm. “Well, since you’re so desperate. Goodness, not even I was that enthusiastic about my own spell.”

************

“Uggghhh!”

Starlight groaned and yelled. Immense turquoise light shot forth from her horn. The sheer amount of magic was literally distorting the space near the path, and the exhaustion was visible on her face. The brilliant cyan ray directly struck my Cutie Mark.

And then nothing happened.

If that was a spell with intent to harm, I would probably have exploded right there and then. But I felt not even a small breeze.

Starlight didn’t even care the ground was a cold slush of dirty snow. She just sat down and loudly complained towards the grey sky. “What the Tartarus, Twilight? Are your Cutie Mark just a paint-job?! Are you even a pony?”

Hahaha… Sheesh, that hit way too close to home to feel funny.

And actually, nothing had happened the last fifteen times we had tried this.

At first, we did it in the hotel room. After a few failed trials, she began to get anxious and desperate, while I became slightly suspicious of the efficacy of her spell.

Of course, being the hard-headed unicorn that she was, she got offended at the idea that her spell was phony. Against my vigorous protest, she sneaked up on one of the hotel maids and one of the passers-by, and successfully demonstrated the incredible theft of their Cutie Marks. 

She even offered to show me she could even switch them as she returned them. I then, of course, firmly rejected the proposal to screw somepony over just for scientific demonstration. 

With the doubt on her spell cleared, she theorized that it was simply the matter of insufficient magic. Hence we had moved to a clearing in a forest nearby, in order to minimize any possible hazard to the civilians. We figured that the magic level she would draw on would have been tremendous.

And lo, it was once again proven that she was an incredible magical prodigy. The sheer magical energy involved in this little spell-casting session could level a small hill, conjure a new one, and then level it several times again. 

Could I even take her on in a one-to-one battle and win…? Argh, why was I thinking about fighting her? I was not a dragon anymore, there’s no need to be this competitive and territorial. This Cutie Mark matter was truly driving me to paranoia.

Where was I? Oh right, so she increased her magical output time after time, until now, which she had clearly totally exhausted herself. After yelling towards the sky again like a demented mare, she buckled and dropped onto the ground, falling straight into unconsciousness.

After briefly checking up on her to see whether she was alright other than being exhausted, I simply magicked her up and put her on my back.

Ugh… I was now so physically weak. The life of a magical bookworm with a dragon assistant surely was sedentary and comfortable... Way too comfortable. Even though I had moved and exercised more since the incident, it was still a tall order to carry another pony on my back for such a long walk. I cast a feather-weight spell on us both to ease the burden.

But at least I could bring home with the knowledge that something strange and curious had happened with my mind and body due to the Element mishap. Cutie Mark was the manifestation of a pony’s destiny, and the fact that it couldn’t be separated from this body with my mind squatting in there…

There were too many possibilities. I must study this more when I got back to Ponyville. 

For now though, I should carry Starlight back to the hotel myself. She had been such a great help and a great friend. It was but my own small way to give thanks to her, however paltry and insufficient.
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat next to the window of our hotel room, looking over the majestic harbor of Vanhoofer. To keep the air here pristine clean, the local weather team maintained an almost constant film of cool drizzle throughout the year, similar to the neighboring Seaddle.

Fortunately, tonight happened to be the rare night that the pegasi let up, allowing the gentle moonlight to shower down onto the calm waves. Unlike the nonstop clinging wetness and greyness when Starlight and I stopped by in Seaddle, this was quite liberating, not to mention breathtakingly beautiful.

My mood was the best since I’ve begun this outing. But then I gasped aloud as I realized something. I hadn’t sent any update to the other Spike yet! I sincerely hoped that he would not be freaking out already.

With hasty hooves, I quickly scrambled for papers and quills in my saddlebag. I almost panicked when I discovered that my rolls of paper had gone damp and moldy due to water damage, but then I let out a sigh of relief, after I saw the hotel had provided postcards and papers on the desk.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have been this stingy then. Thank goodness for Starlight to insist on this five-star hotel.” I helplessly grinned to myself. Starlight was not with me at the moment, since she wanted to roam the city center and ‘mingle with big city ponies’, in her own words.

“Dear Spike,”

My quill paused as soon as I began, and I shook my head slightly. The slight weirdness of addressing ‘myself’ in third person was not going to go away entirely, was it?

“… I am sorry to have waited for so long before sending you a letter. It must’ve been quite worrying not to hear from me at all for days. I don’t want to make excuses, but it has indeed been hectic. The sad thing is that I don’t really have any progress in terms of that line of research-”

I nodded imperceptibly after I made sure that the phrasing was subtle enough.

“- However, on my journey northward, I happened to come across a very talented unicorn named Starlight Glimmer. We have met in rather peculiar circumstances, but she has proved to be a very adept magical user and above all, a very valuable friend.”

“Hm…”

“There is no limit as you look up, they say. And how! Starlight Glimmer’s magic potential is easily one of the strongest I’ve encountered. I’m certain that she would grow to do great things in the future.”

“Aw…”

Did I hear something…? Nah, probably my imagination. I shrugged and simply continued. “She’s a very kind pony as well. She showed deep remorse for any mistake she made, and she offered to help my research when I told her that I was running into dead-ends. She even so graciously offered me bits to patch up the library. It still doesn’t sit right with me to accept them, but I figure that it’s much worse to force you to live in a leaky library.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Starlight Glimmer is a curious specimen of a unicorn indeed. I’d tell you more about her after you two are formally introduced to each other, but let’s just say she’s a sensitive pony, and her common sense, as seen from my interactions with her, is left slightly wanting, and I mean it with as little offense as I could. This is probably due to her secluded-”

“Grr…”

Okay, I definitely heard a grumble there, and I was sure that that was not me. I drew in a deep breath, and I sharply turned my head back.

Suddenly, I was snout to snout with a clearly rubber-necking Starlight, who had reacted with similar shock. We two gasped aloud and backed off from each other.

Narrowing my eyes, I quickly rolled up my letter and stuffed it into my saddlebag. She’d been peeping at me writing the letter, hadn’t she? 

Displeasure flared up in my mind. Even though she had probably seen all, I still made the gesture so that she understood that I was not happy at all with her action.

Starlight clearly felt uneasy with my silent irritation, and she said. “T- Twilight.”

“… What is it, Starlight?”

She gulped difficultly. “I- uh, I just want to, uh… know more about you, that’s all, haha.”

“You could’ve asked instead of snooping on me writing a private letter to a loved one.” I grunted with disapproval.

“B- But-”

She sighed, seemingly realizing making more excuses would not help her case. She closed her eyes and quietly said. “I’m sorry, Twilight.”

Well, it’s not like that anything damaging had been done. “… Apology accepted.”

To shift the heavy atmosphere, I then said with a thin smile. “So, Starlight, what have you got in your little downtown excursion? Anything that you’ve bought? I heard that there’re some carved masks on sale, and if you don’t mind touristy souvenirs…”

For some reason, my query did not elicit the expected effect of calming her down. Instead, she looked absolutely on edge, as if there were ants in her horseshoes.

“I- I- It’s alright, I guess, hahaha.” She let out a string of stilted laughs.

I sighed internally. Her lying was even a level lower than the other Spike. In a sense, I was less annoyed about her dishonesty and more worried about her dearth of social skills.

Still, I decided not to open up an impromptu interrogation session. After all, everypony had their secrets. If she did not want to tell me, then fair play to her.

I shrugged and nodded, and then retreated to my bedside. As with the night before, I opened up my saddlebag. After I made sure that Starlight was looking away, I hurriedly reached into a secret compartment and checked.

Wait a second. Where was my parchment?

I suppressed another urge to overreact, and merely lit my horn. I’d placed a beacon spell on the parchment, so that even in the event that I’d lost it, it would be easily found. 

There was still no reason for it to be stolen, since to untrained eyes it was merely a blank piece of parchment. But in any case, I had to retrieve it now.

I tracked the magical trace towards the other side of the room, and…

And I bumped straightly into Starlight’s back.

She gasped aloud again, and fearfully turned back. Without my input, she shoved the parchment into my face and yelped. “I- I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

I held my indignation down, and coolly asked. “Did you go through my belongings?”

“I- I-”

I showed her a pained expression. “Why did you do that? You should know by now that there’s nothing that we can’t lay in the open and discuss.”

Facing a reticent Starlight, I merely said. “… I’m disappointed, that’s all.”

My concise words seemed to have hit her the most. She looked down to the ground dejectedly. After a while, she said quietly. “I know what I’ve done is unconscionable. I’m really sorry about that.”

After a heavy pause, she said. “But ever since I’ve failed to remove your cutie mark using my impeccably designed spell, I’ve been rolling over on my bed every night. How could my perfect magic fail? I really can’t believe it!”

I frowned. “I understand the frustration of not being able to find out a solution for a magic problem. But infringing upon a friend’s privacy-”

“That’s not the reason!”

Starlight added nervously. “N- Not the entire reason, anyway.”

I gave her a silent stare, and she bit her lips. “I- I’m worried about you!”

I widened my eyes. Starlight then said sadly. “My spells should work on all normal, healthy ponies. So when it didn’t work, I did panic a bit about the veracity of the entire theoretical construct of my theory of magic.”

She sighed. “But as time went on, I realized that I also care for you as a pony… a friend as well. I was afraid that you’re suffering from some hidden health conditions, and you didn't tell me for whatever reason. Your propensity to faint was not entirely reassuring.”

Softened by her expressed concern, I bit back a sarcastic remark about the true reasons of my black-outs and said curtly. “I see.”

Encouraged by my warming reply, she nodded. “I noticed that you’ve been doing sneaky stuffs with your saddlebag last night. So… when you’ve gone to sleep yesterday, I reached to your bag and there you go, a clearly magically-encrypted parchment!”

My frown went deeper. “So… tell me, my magical prodigy, did you manage to decrypt it?”

Stung by my acerbic address, she looked visibly hurt. I briefly felt bad that I went off on her, but she carried on with an even smaller voice. “I- I did.”

I closed my eyes, and weakly leaned back onto the wall. “So, what now?”

Starlight immediately burst out in worry. “Why would you prepare for yourself to lose your memory at any time? Why are you reassuring yourself that everything’s 'alright' if that happens? How’s losing your memory alright in any sense or situation?”

I gritted my teeth, but I outwardly replied with a bland face. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But Twilight! Normal ponies just don’t lose weeks-worth of memories all of a sudden!”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it. Starlight, we might be friends, but sometimes there must remain an interpersonal boundary which should not be violated.”

I let out an impatient huff. “And you’ve been crossing that boundary again and again today.”

Starlight inhaled, dread was apparent in her eyes. “T- Twilight, please, I-”

Nervous tears wet her cheeks. “… Please don’t say you don’t want to be my friend anymore. I- I promise that I will no longer snoop around, just-”

Despite my dismay at her closing down on my secret, I still could not bear to see her looking so hurt and despondent. I cut her off and sighed. “... What, Starlight? Do I look like somepony who’s so unsparing? Am I the type of friend that abandon someone at the slightest-”

Starlight quickly hugged me tightly and interrupted my words. Looking at the whimpering wreck before me, I sadly smiled and shook my head.

“I… I guess I can tell you this much.”

Starlight’s head shot up with surprise. “Eh?”

“The thing that’s been troubling me might be related to your inability to strip my cutie mark. So if-”

Delight filled her voice as she cut me off again. “I’ll put it in my all to solve this problem! I’m so glad that my research might also help you!”

She then contorted with clear worry. “Twilight, I don’t want to lose you as my friend. I- It would be absolutely terrible for me to make you so mad that you leave, and it would even be more devastating if you… if you f- forget-”

I mutely pat her back to calm her down. She quieted down quickly as I gently stroke her mane, content to forgo any query and opt for the moment of friendly intimacy.

However, at the same time, a thousand conflicted thoughts ran through my troubled mind. Starlight, Starlight, what should I ever do with you?
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked up to the top of the building again. Against the rising sun, the giant letters of 'Luna Central' were proudly displayed above the Vanhoofer train station.

Starlight had gone to the ticket office at the moment, so I pulled out the itinerary and read it over again.

"So Tall Tale is next, huh."

I scratched my mane. I did not particularly paid attention when Starlight planned our trip, as I had given free rein to her. I simply wanted to make her first long trip as satisfying and fitting to her wants as possible. 

I did not know much about the town either, other than it being at the foot of the Smokey Mountains, and thus presumably having some good mountain view... But a snowy mountain again? Weren't we just freshly out of Ville de Platine?

"Hey, Twilight." 

Starlight's voice rang behind me, so I promptly turned. "Hmm Starlight? Two tickets to Tall Tale bought?"

She gazed at me sternly. "No. We're going straight to Ponyville."

"Wait, what?"

Starlight shrugged. "Sightseeing can wait, but your condition needs to be sorted out as soon as possible. I didn't bring enough equipment or reference books on magic with me, so your library will be a prime place to conduct my- I mean, our research."

I fidgeted and lowered my head. Starlight might have become a good friend of mine, but I was still quite uncomfortable with any kind of disclosure, given how the other Spike still not did not know about my true status.

Come to think of it, I might also be escaping the problem by goading Starlight to draw out this trip for as long as possible, and postponing my own return to Ponyville. 

Starlight seemed to be an expert on magic of the minds, and she might be able to catch something I missed. 

However, what would she make of me herself? I was not what I claimed to be, and I was usurping Twilight's place to live her life and make friends. This was a terrible act for me, and wouldn't Starlight think so too?

Also, I was being pathetically selfish, wasn't I? I started out with such firmness and determination to return everything to normal, so as not to besmirch Twilight's life with my intrusion. However, my attachment to the other Spike and now Starlight was increasingly dragging me down day by day. 

I used to, somewhat pridefully, think Starlight needed me as a friend. However, I gradually realized the need was certainly mutual. My inability to resist her pleading in the hotel only proved this point. Now, it dawned on me that I was dreading her possible negative reaction as well, after her investigation and the inevitable revelation. Despite my promise in the heat of moment, I did not want to lose her myself via a botched reveal.

"... Twilight?"

I sharply yelped, and Starlight continued with a frown. "You look really pale. You aren't sick, are you?"

"I- I'm not-"

Starlight again winced worriedly. "Twilight, I don't know why you won't tell me the full story, but I understand you have your reasons. I will help you to the best of my ability, regardless. You told that train-hugging idiot that you wouldn't let me fall wayside-"

"Wait, did he tell you?" I widened my eyes.

She merely waved down my query. "And in turn, as your friend, I can't let you falter with each passing day as well."

I shakily grinned, attempting to clear out the gloomy atmosphere. "N- Now, it's not like I have any kind of terminal illness, is it?"

"... That sounds about as convincing as a pitch from the Flim Flam brothers."

"Hey!"

The light-purple unicorn narrowed her eyes and ignored my protest. "And even if you speak the truth, there's clearly something very wrong with you."

I blanched. For a moment, however unreasonable, I thought she was talking about my abnormal existence. 

Starlight, be her so inexperienced with social interactions, still hurriedly shook her head and clarified. "I... I misspoke! I only mean that you need some appropriate treatment to deal with whatever problem that's causing your... uh, condition."

I let out a breath and shifted. "... Do we really have to...?"

Starlight let out a sad smile, and cautiously teased. "Twilight, this isn't like you. You're all wise and delivering morals for one moment, and now you're like a foal who is resisting a spoonful of spinach because it tastes bitter."

Her words unintentionally whipped at my conscience. This time though, I was mentally prepared. Starlight was correct, some bitterness needed to be swallowed before things could be rectified. With her expertise, I was much more confident that something useful could be discovered.

And... and I had no right to claim anything, including friendship, that was rightfully hers anyway.

And so, I closed my eyes, pushed away those selfish desires, and simply nodded. "Okay, to home that is, then."

Starlight perked up and was about to go, but then I thought of something important about her.

"Wait, Starlight. Not that I still have any reservations, but Canterlot sits between Vanhoofer and Ponyville. Won't you want to go check out Sunburst first?"

The curly-maned unicorn widened her eyes like two dinner plates again. "Oh my goodness, I totally forgot about that after running into that train-hugger!"

I squeezed out a smile. "I don't suppose you have a grudge with him like you did with Night Tide, hmm?"

"What do you mean by 'did'? He's still as obtuse as ever!"

Starlight huffed insincerely, but she then quietly added. "No, Sunburst is different."

I was a bit curious. "How so?"

"If I did not topple that bookshelf..."

She went quiet for a moment, and only after noticing my confused look, she added. "No... it's not really about the bookshelf, is it? He's a magical unicorn, and it's only natural for him to go somewhere that helps him study more magic."

I thinly smirked. "But a train-loving pegasus can't go to somewhere with more trains... for some reason?"

Starlight briefly looked irked and red-faced, clearly rattled that I pointed out her hypocrisy. However, she then merely sighed. "I've learned my lesson, Twilight. I was too literal, and associated the physical appearance of his cutie mark as the source of my sadness and friendlessness. But Sunburst... Sunburst was a good colt, and he'd discussed and practiced magic with me for countless days and nights..."

Although it was left unsaid, I could surmise that her blame on cutie mark for ruining friendships was not entirely unreasoned. It must have partially originated from her reluctance to blame somepony that she was so fond of. 

As to exactly why Night Tide got the shorter end of the stick, I did not really know. Maybe it was because unlike magic, Starlight did not really see and understand the appeal of trains to a fan? In any case, I would not be so insensitive as to tease her more about her inconsistency.

She let out a heavy breath. "I will go look for him... eventually. But now, a walking, talking pony friend in front of me needs my help. And I'm uniquely equipped with my magic to help her. I think I'm needed in Ponyville more than in Canterlot."

"Starlight..."

"Now, quit being all antsy, the train to Ponyville is about to depart. Let's go, Twilight."

I breathed out as well, bit my lips and nodded. It seemed that my roaming around Equestria was coming to an end, and I had to face my demons.
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Familiar greens again entered my eyes. 

This view accompanied us - both Twilight and me - as we grew up. Canterlot, and the Ivory Tower in particular, had one of the best view of the Saddle Plain, extending all the way towards Ponyville and the distant Everfree. The lush grasses and the meandering Saddle had since been branded into our collective memories.

Starlight, however, was bored out of her mind by my inane talks of shrubberies, and had been snoring at her seat since a while ago. 

I must admit I was being deliberately boring. It was because she had been swarming me with probing questions that were crafted to cause a slip of the tongue. She was a very clever mare, and she's oddly good at cajolery despite having the sociability of a blunted hacksaw. Without my combined brainpower and tactical avoidance, I would probably have accidentally blabbed something out before the train passed Canterlot.

I rubbed my hooves together, and sighed aloud. Since the beginning, I had decided that if it came one day that I was forced to come clean to someone, the first person would definitely not be anyone but the other Spike. 

Besides, I was hoping to enlist Starlight's help without telling her the whole picture. I knew that was not a good, upright thing to do, and I would be letting down her doubtless dedication. However, I was very reluctant to face her with the truth out, given how difficult it would be to tell that to the other me already. 

Before I even stepped into this train, I had silently decided that it might be a good thing for her to know only when it was all final and irreversible. It was not like I would be there to face her scorn, if I was simply and quietly removed from the picture, was it? Then I would not even need to tell the other Spike, or indeed anyone else in the world at all. 

While I was no longer sure if keeping this secret away from the two of them for any longer would be causing the least damage, my conscience continued to compel me to carry the weight of my mistake myself.

A train staff walked near, interrupting my macabre thought. He lowered a glass of fruit punch in front of me. I then thanked him with a polite smile for the complimentary drink. 

I took a gulp, pausing to think of something other than my literal existential crisis. Our train ride had certainly been much more comfortable courtesy to Night Tide's distant string-pulling.

However, Starlight was, as expected, not quite appreciative of his work. That was not surprising, since she was always trading... or unilaterally sending barbs to Night Tide and him alone. I'd never seen Starlight acted so uniquely prickly to anyone else, not even when her parents were mentioned. However, it was also clear that there was very fond affection between the duo, just like Cadance and Twilight. I was honestly stumped if I was to give a name to this kind of relationship, but I was quite sure that it was not very well-adjusted or healthy.

I slowly sipped the fruit punch as my thought swam. Time must have flown, because by the time I was done, the train was already slowly pulling into the Ponyville station and grinding to a halt. 

Starlight stirred from her sleep, and she groaned when she saw me open my mouth. "Oh for Celestia's sake, don't tell me the difference between little bluestem and big bluestem all over again!"

"Not this time, Starlight, we've arrived at Ponyville."

"Really?" Starlight looked surprised, and she immediately gazed out of the train window. She then thinly smirked. "Ah, how charmingly rustic. It reminds me of Stableford, actually."

"Similar thought crossed my mind when I was first at Stableford too."

"Hah."

Starlight stood up promptly and gave me a hoof. "Quick then, Twilight. We need to get to work as soon as possible. Bring me to your library, and we should begin running tests and such."

I stood up promptly, though my legs felt weak. It was as if the gravity of the situation came back to me all of a sudden. Starlight would almost certainly figure out the underlying reason of my resistance to her cutie mark magic sooner or later, even if she was not given all pieces of the puzzle. And her talent would undoubtedly lead to a definite solution, even a concrete spell to undo the offending magic.

I had been talking about giving things back to Twilight all the time. However, was I as mentally prepared as I thought? In the event that the real Twilight returned, and without interfering with the other Spike's life again and causing a double injury, this would mean I had to go. Like a 'poof', disappearing from the world as abruptly as the beginning of this farce.

Despite feeling sick in the stomach, I followed Starlight out of the train and onto the platform without much hesitation. I would give anything to return normalcy to what should have been a precious friendship journey for Twilight and her friends. My quiet departure would be the best-case scenario, and it would be the only right thing to do, if only to return a small favor for her tireless love and care.

"Twilight, um..."

Starlight suddenly turned to me with a look of great uncertainty. I immediately asked. "What is the matter, Starlight? The library is right next to the town center, it's a giant oak tree, there can be no mistaking it."

"No, that's not it. I'm just wondering if Ponyville is always this... empty."

"Empty?" I frowned with incredulity. I looked out of the gate, and indeed the street was oddly quiet, even more desolate than the Griffish countryside.

I passed the turnstile quickly and stepped onto the dusty road. However, my hooves were abruptly pulled back by something.

"Gah!" I gasped, and looked to the ground. Starlight's magic enveloped my legs in its cyan glow. She then caught up to me and said with an almost chiding tone. "Twilight! What in Equestria are you doing?"

"W- Walk out onto the street, of course?"

"This is not normal! You told me that Ponyville is a town of thousands of inhabitants. So where do they go all of a sudden?"

"So... I'm about to investigate?"

"By just walking out without any precaution? Gah, you're so..."

Starlight facehoofed. She was apparently quite annoyed with my deemed lack of carefulness. Her eyes then narrowed to thin slits. "No, Twilight. Townsponies don't just disappear like that. Something very nefarious must be at work here! We must be super careful."

"Uh... It looks peaceful enough out here."

I blinked. "Perhaps they're somewhere away or just at their own homes. I mean, you never saw something like this in Stableford?"

"Of course not!" She yelped.

I scratched my head and offered a possible explanation. "Maybe this is just a local festival or some other thing that I missed, since I'm a newcomer as well. No need to get all anxious before we find out the reason."

Starlight was evidently not paying any attention, as she charged up a shimmering hexagonal protective shield around us two. Briefly distracted, I commented with some wonder. "Whoa, that's a variant of Tutissimus that I've never seen before. The protection looks so firm and watertight! Did you use a separate magical trace to override the refractory-"

Interrupting my own incoming magical critique, I simply shook my head and said with a wry chuckle. "Ah, forget it. Starlight, are you sure that such over-the-top protection is warranted? Unless the sky's gonna fall on our heads in the next few minutes, I don't think we need such a solid shield."

Starlight merely sounded irritated. "Can you be more serious, Twilight? Ramp up your own magic! We're dealing with a possible danger-"

"Is- is that... Twi, Twi, over here!"

Starlight and I both turned to the source of the familiar voice. I widened my eyes immediately, when I saw the other Spike treading down the road alone with a delighted expression. He waved at me enthusiastically at first, and when his impatience got to him, he elected to simply run at me at full speed.

I looked at him, and the translucent shield, and him again.

I immediately yelped. "Wait, Spike, hang on a sec!"

My words of caution was too late, as he directly ran into the magical shield Starlight had cast. Like running against a brick wall at full speed, he was hit hard and fell rigidly back onto the ground. Immediately, he held his crumpled nose, and painful tears began to form in his eyes.

"Oh dear, oh dear." I spluttered, as I hurriedly checked if he was injured and took out some bandage from my saddlebag.

Starlight however did not look too charitable. She simply said dismissively. "Who's this clumsy little dragon that ran into my shield? Do you know him, Twilight? If so, tell him to grow an eye for the giant purple shield in front of him."

Oh horseapples, I had neglected to introduce the other Spike to Starlight beforehoof. It had entirely escaped my mind, perhaps because I subconsciously thought she would get acquainted with his temperament well enough through me.

Also, not that I was mad at her for demeaning me by proxy, but I was very concerned about her excessive boorishness. While Starlight most certainly had not the social tact that I often hoped she had, she was not usually the type to randomly go off on someone she met newly. She could be perfectly polite when she wanted to, so what was up with her coarseness now? It made no sense to me.

Immediately, Spike pointed an accusing claw at Starlight and loudly complained. "So it's you who put that giant wall of magic there!"

Starlight tutted in response. "Me what? It's not my fault if someone runs into my shield himself. You only have yourself to blame for your carelessness."

I winced. Starlight's words were oddly stinging. I promptly separated the glaring duo and quickly said. "Spike, Starlight Glimmer was only casting the spell to protect us both because she thought the empty streets are suspicious. And Starlight, Spike was just excited to see me, and-"

I gasped as I noticed something red on the dragon's face. "Oh goodness... your nose's bleeding!"

Starlight raised a brow in response, but she said nothing. After I finished soaking up Spike's nosebleed, I frowned at her and whispered. "Starlight, I hatched Spike, and he's like my brother and son. Be kind to him, pretty please?"

She fidgeted, but she eventually sighed and said quietly. "Fine, sorry."

Spike merely huffed and turned away from Starlight's half-hearted apology. I sighed and asked. "Spike, why's the street so empty?"

"Oh, don't worry. Everything's fine now."

He covered his nose and said with a nasal tone. "The girls met with a zebra in the forest, called Zecora I think. All townsponies, the girls included, thought she's evil or something, so they all hid in their homes when she walked into town to avoid being cursed. Long story short, it turned out that she's just a bit odd, and is actually a good zebra. So we're walking around town to tell everypony the news."

"Oh." I acknowledged the news with a simple nod.

Starlight, on the other hoof, shrugged with some mocking in her tone. "A mere zebra could cause such a panic? And I thought the villagers in Stableford are ignorant and provincial enough. These ponies are so easily scared by things that are out of their grasp."

"Hey, don't you badmouth Ponyville and the girls! That zebra was, uh, very f- fishy, at least at first glance!"

I also said diplomatically. "To be fair, Starlight, the residents on the Griffish Isles certainly had a higher... weirdness threshold, so to speak. After all, they live with another sapient species all the time, unlike Ponyvillians."

Looking at the pouting Starlight, I added with a sigh. "Okay, I guess there's no need to talk about that anymore, since the problem's already done and dealt with. Why don't we walk back to the library and take a rest there first?"

I turned to Spike with a small smile. "I bet you have many questions for me, and I have many questions for you as well. We should reacquaint for a bit before doing anything else."

Spike raised his brows, joy again appeared on his face. "Sure do! Just let me finish knocking all the doors on this street, then we're all set!"

"Excellent. I hope that you and Starlight could get along with each other too. This is because she would stay in our library for a while as our guest... and my research colleague as well."

"What? Her? Ugh..."

Starlight immediately huffed. "What exactly are you 'ugh'ing, huh... Spines?"

"My name is Spike, not Spines! And you're such an overbearing unicorn, you know what?"

"And you're a bungling dragon that is all-thumbs as well."

Spike narrowed his eyes in clear indignation, then he wordlessly ran off to the houses at the two sides of the street to begin his work. Starlight puckered her lips and looked up diffidently, pretending not to know she had riled the small dragon up badly.

It was quite disheartening to see two of my close relations had such a disastrous first meeting. Since I got on so well with Starlight, I had expected the other me and Starlight to quickly become good friends as well. I did not know what exactly went wrong between them, so I could not even intervene appropriately.

Unlike Rarity and Applejack, they would have to live side-by-side for quite a while. I wanted them and needed them to get along. If they remained so hostile to each other, there was no way that I could execute my plan properly. Even if I did, I shall be rolling in ethereal nothingness so quickly that it would distort the entire space-time continuum.

I lamented. I was not even sure if bringing Starlight to my own home solved more problems than it created. For now though, I should probably settle down, update myself with news from the other Spike, and think long and hard about the immediate future. Some proper introduction between the two was also in prompt order. To move forward, neither of them could be cast aside.
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I leaned back on the couch in my very own treehouse, next to where the offending window used to be. It was now gone, replaced by an extra-reinforced earth wall covered with decorative wood planks.

Before I could even realize and protest, Starlight already found and used her bits to pay for a team of repairponies to fix the treehouse up. She even stepped up to help organize things in the library, much to the chagrin of the other Spike who preferred his way. Her reasoning was that she refused to live in a leaky and messy house herself, but this did not make the situation less tense.

As for now, the one and only purple dragon was next to me, happily recounting his own little adventures with the other girls while he was in Ponyville by himself.

"You know what, Twi?"

He leapt up with excitement, clearly could not wait to tell his Twilight everything after so long. "The griffon might be a bit rude, but it can't compare to the next thing I saw!"

"What is it?"

"A really big red dragon settled himself high up the mountain and spewed smoke all over Ponyville!"

I covered my mouth. "Really?"

"Yeah! I was carrying stuffs uphill for the girls who went to investigate, and saw that big red dragon with my own eyes! Boy, was it scary! I immediately hid behind the bushes with everypony!"

He grinned. "But at last, Fluttershy gave him a good talking to, and he flew away without making more trouble!"

"F- Fluttershy? I'd never have guessed it."

"Isn't it right?" He chuckled.

I smiled in relief and asked. "You all have done a great job protecting the town. But Spike, did you manage to interact with the red dragon yourself?"

He took in a sharp breath. "Heck no! He's so much bigger than me! He could swallow me whole in one gulp!"

I was a bit surprised. If it were up to me, I would definitely go and try connecting with my erstwhile fellow dragons. Bigger dragons might be aggressive and scary, and this one sounded somewhat hostile, but he could also probably give 'me' some pointers to dragon life, by words or by action.

Spike saw my bemused frowny face, and pouted. "You aren't thinking that I'm a coward, are you?"

"O- Of course not! Come to think of it, you might be yet too small to face off with a mature dragon. I'm just a bit curious why you don't seem too enthusiastic seeing some fellow dragons. I mean, you've never really talked with one, haven't you?"

Spike blinked, and then turned pensive. After a while, he scratched his head and said. "Now that you mentioned it, maybe I should give more of a try back then. Of course I'm curious, but it's just that I was a wee bit afraid of his size... Dragons are very protective of their own stuffs, you know."

"I know, but Spike, finding one's root and who you are is also very important."

I raised my head and murmured, causing him to throw me a glazed glance. But then I noticed his puzzlement and added. "Of course you're right though. If you just walked in, he would quite likely think that you have your eyes on his gems. I wouldn't want to place you in unnecessary danger as well."

Instead of acknowledging my expressed concern, he gave me a stink eye. "... You're one to talk, lil' Miss danger-seeker. Not even Rainbow Dash acted so reckless in our little adventures while you were gone."

"Come on, Spike, the branch incident is just one single occurrence... a solitary data point! It's far from a statistically significant trend!"

"Oh yeah? Why do I have the distinct feeling that your new friend over there-"

He gestured towards the basement, where Starlight had sealed herself off in her magical pursuit to understand my condition. "- have somehow placed you in 'unnecessary danger' as well?"

"W- Why would you-" I stuttered, confused about why he would make this assumption.

He bared his teeth wryly and said. "Look at what I found when I was unpacking your luggage."

He picked up and waved a piece of document in front of my face, which appeared to be my discharge record from the Saint Platine hospital. A smaller white tag fell out onto the ground, prompting him to complain with even more annoyance. "Twi, are you on a mission to collect patient tags from all over Equestria? By Celestia, I told you not to get yourself into danger again... What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

I shifted uneasily at his soft but determined query, but part of me felt mildly amused that he had learnt to nag at his caretaker. At last, I reservedly told him the details of how Starlight and I met, and some of our subsequent exploits, which only caused him to react first with shock, then with fear and even some anger.

"What? She's clearly crazy! What normal pony would want to mess up everypony's life by stripping their beloved Cutie Marks? What normal pony would casually tie other ponies up and knock somepony out during conversation? And those nasty spells... Everything you said spells 'sociopath' in my book! Keeping her with us here will be a recipe to disaster!"

I winced. "S- Spike, Starlight is not a soc- she is a good pony! I mean, she cares a lot for her friend...s. And she only need a bit of hints and nudges to learn to deal with social relationships with grace. She might look nervy at times, but that's to be expected from an ex-shut-in. She might also be a bit trigger-happy with spells, but come on - if you have so much magic like her, you can't be blamed for being a bit proud of it, and wanting to use it to solve every problem, right?"

"You're a magical unicorn too, and you aren't like that!" 

He paused for a bit. "Uh... Mostly ever since we've moved here anyway."

That snippet did not help my wincing expression to soften. I simply held my hooves together and lowered my head. "Spike... I know that you have a bad impression of Starlight. But I swear she's quite nice to be with if you spend more time with her. I beg you, give her a chance, pretty please?" 

When I looked up, he looked really shocked for some reason. 

He gulped and apparently did not know how to react at first. But he quickly shook his head and said. "I- If... If you say so... I... I will think about it."

Only then I realized: he must not have expected to see his caretaker lower herself simply to plead with him so meekly, and his mind went a bit haywire. Whelp, I seemed to be ruining Twilight's authoritative image in 'my' mind one pitiful beg at a time.

Before I could formulate another response, he sprinted towards the door, only turning back when he was about to leave. "Twi, I need to buy some veggies for today's big dinner, since you're now back, a- and brought a guest with you."

"Spike..." I only managed to move a trot towards him. My hooves then felt as if they were in thick treacle, unable to move forward.

But he stayed, and he squeezed out an uneasy smile. "I'm just so glad that you're back, safe and sound."

"... Me too. I'm just glad to see you again."

"Thanks for listening to me, and telling me everything about what happened to you up north. I appreciate it." 

I silently took in his words, but I still frowned, quite uncomfortable that even I, allegedly his mental split-image, was unable to fathom his exact thought and action. He then merely gave me another studying look, shook his head with a strained smile and left by the door.

I looked forlornly at the entrance, when a voice rang from my back all of a sudden.

"He cares about you a lot, I'll give him that."

I gasped and turned, and Starlight stood right behind me, crossing her hooves with an inexplicable expression. Her tone was still somewhat antagonistic, but she also sounded softer than before.

"Starlight, when-"

"Twilight, didn't you tell me off for being a sneaky rubbernecker in Vanhoofer? Is it really this strange that I'm a sly eavesdropper as well?"

I looked up with a thin smile, secretly relieved that she was warming up to Spike, and did not appear to hear him call her a, um, 'crazy sociopath'. Given Starlight's emotional tendencies, I would expect more smoke and sulphurous stench instead of reluctant acknowledgement if she did.

But despite her jokey tone, she was visibly nervous, perhaps she was reminded of the unpleasant confrontation back then?

"No worries." I lightly cooed to defuse her nerves. I was not a privacy freak, I got worked up in Vanhoofer just because she saw me writing sensitive matters.

She scratched her mane, but was not entirely calmed. "Twilight, that's great. But there is another thing that I found about the readings I took off you earlier that deeply troubles me."

I gulped at her foreboding tone. "Y- Yes?"

She walked near me, until her eyes were directly opposite mine. Persian blue reflected off her irises, reminding me of the exotic Lapis Lazuli, and its equally exotic taste. She leaned in with a face filled with sincerity and determination, and I could easily feel the warmth of her breath.

And then she whispered.

"... Your BMI is getting a bit too high, Twilight." 

"Pffftui?!!"

Starlight did not even flinch at my major spit-take. "You see, I was getting nowhere with the magical part of my research, because I have sampled your magical aura with all your equipment using all kinds of parameters, and the measurement seemed to be perfectly normal. The best-fit models all suggest that you are exactly what I thought you to be - a well-functioning unicorn with incredible power and talent."

"W- Well, I, uh-"

Starlight simply ignored my mumbling. "I would want to cast some more advanced mind spells to examine you in depth, since my most reasoned hypothesis about the unnatural rootedness of your Cutie Mark, is that there are particular issues with your memory of the moment you realized your true talent, despite the fact that you seem to remember it clearly. That might also be related to your memory lapse some time earlier."

Before I could weigh in, she already smiled wryly. "But I know that you are concerned about magical ethics, and invasive techniques are a big no-no to you, so I'll go find some other ways to verify my hypothesis."

"Okay..."

"But-! Apart from the dimension of magic, your physical measurements are in absolute shambles! This is going to have much more immediate ramifications for your health!"

My cheeks furiously reddened. "I- I am not fat!"

She did an unconvincing grin to placate me. "I'm not saying that you are, Twilight, you don't look visibly, um, plumper than when we left Stableford. It's just that I have observed you during the trip, and you seemed to have quite a penchant for snacks. And whenever you got thoughtful, which was an awful lot of times, you simply dunked crispy chips and deep-fried cauliflowers into your mouth without a blink of an eye. If I didn't know you, I would think that you actually came from the Griffish North, where they absolutely love their sweet and oily snacks."

"I didn't over-indulge myself!" I protested, but then I relented somewhat at her doubtful gaze. "... Okay, maybe a little bit, but it's just mostly for stress-relieving rea-"

Starlight swiped her bangs aside and interrupted. "Facts are facts, Twilight, we've got to adopt a scientific and objective attitude, not only for our magical study, but other things as well. I took liberty to your old records, and clearly you have taken on a few pounds. In addition, you show slight but definite signs of certain nutrient deficiencies due to your unbalanced diet. You must start eating healthy."

"E- Eeek-" Starlight again leaned in. Her manic expression caused me to let out a small scared cry.

She recoiled minutely, then softened ever so slightly. "... Fortunately, I have already drafted a foolproof diet plan that can optimize your body conditions, and it would also set you up properly for our next stage of magical examination. First, you must wake at seven to-"

As Starlight went on on her own, cold sweat began to coat my forehead. First, a familiar sense of guilt came back and haunted me, because I was apparently so lacking in restraints that I was worsening Twilight's health. She taught me, since I was very young, to take very good care of borrowed things, and here I was failing her teaching, this time by will and not by accident.

To be honest, being Twilight gave me the level of personal freedom I, as a dragon, never thought I could have. Not that I had suddenly become the Rich, but I could easily scamper around during the trip, buy street snacks and eat to my fill, all without getting yelled at by Twilight afterwards... Well, maybe her yelling was entirely justified after all. 

Second, Starlight was becoming more and more overbearing ever since we came back to Ponyville together. First the wall repair, then this. Not that I felt she was being annoying, but I did not think that obsessing over me and my actions was doing her much good, both now and in the eventual case when we must part. Did she really learn anything about unhealthy over-attachment after the attempted mass Cutie unmarking and reacquainting with Night Tide?

Despite my inner objection, I wimpily nodded at her plan... or demands in fact. She meant well, and it's for my own good after all, so I did not have the heart or the reason to reject her.

After a long lecture on food and nutrition, she smirked with pride and satisfaction. I looked at her long list of designated dishes for each day of the week, and commented. "So... I guess I have to forgo some reading and research. Preparing all these for each meal is going to take so much time out of my schedule."

"No can do, Twilight!" Starlight quickly shook her head. "I didn't make this plan to create more hassles for you."

She suddenly tensed up a bit, but she again shook her head and grinned. "Err... I'll cook for you! After all, it's my idea, and I will see to its implementation."

For some reason, when I looked at Starlight's grin, I had a not-so-good feeling about this grand dietary detour, though I could not put my hooves to it for the moment.


************


Bang! Bang! Bang!

While I was slightly worried about the welfare of my stomach in the coming days, a series of knocks interrupted my thought. Starlight and I looked at each other with surprise, as the sounds continued. 

"Coming back this quick, huh?" She mused. "He's got faster legs than I thought, despite them being so short."

I turned a blind eye at her backhanded compliment... or just a blunt factual statement without intention to offend. She was sometimes so socially inept that I could not tell. "I don't think it's him. He's got the keys."

Starlight had already taken the initiative to answer the door. To my surprise, a pair of unicorn colts stood out there with excited looks.

"Uh, hi, Miss Sparkle, Miss, uh... unicorn." 

I smiled. They were Snips and Snails, two young unicorn colts who were occasional play-mates to the other Spike. I had taken a liking to them, because they were always so oafishly innocent and enthusiastic, so I encouraged him to mingle with them too.

"Hello, Snips, Snails. She's Starlight Glimmer, a good friend of mine."

The duo dutifully nodded and greeted. "Hi, Miss Glimmer."

"Hello, uh, colts." Starlight grinned uneasily with obvious discomfort. Hmm, was she not so good at being around young colts and fillies?

I stepped in to save her from further awkwardness. "So, the library is always open to studious colts who wish to learn more. Come on in!"

"Eh, not this time." Snails shook his head.

"We're just running around time to spread the news!" Snips exclaimed.

"What news?" I asked curiously.

"There's a new unicorn in town!"

"And they say that she's got more magical powers than any other unicorn ever!"

"Everypony is so excited to meet her! Including us!"

I put a hoof to my mouth and looked at Starlight with wry amusement. The light purple unicorn, however, was entirely flummoxed. "H- How- I didn't even leave the library once I got here!"

I showed them a smile and said. "Well, Snips, Snails, Starlight might be able to answer a few questions for you, but only if you ask them nicely."

Starlight immediately shook her head and looked at me nervously. "N- No! I've lost to you in our teleportation race, remember? Clearly you're the more magical unicorn between us. I- I adore you because of that!"

"Starlight, you're easily the most knowledgeable pony I know about magic, and there must be so much more untapped potential for your talent. If you have formal training like me, you will certainly grow even more powerful."

Starlight was poised to make more counter-arguments, when I noticed the completely befuddled faces of the duo. I turned and asked. "What's wrong?"

Snips said with a big grin. "Not to put a damper on you two or anything, but we think the title of the greatest and the most powerful unicorn in Equestria belongs to somepony else."

"Oh? Who might she be?" I smirked with clear interest, while Starlight widened her eyes, and then blushed somewhat at her own presumption.

"She's setting herself up in the town square, and she would show us her talents to prove it. If you wanna see that, you should go quickly, eh." Snails quipped.

Starlight turned to look at me. Her eager face told me that she was quite interested in gauging this incredible claim.

A familiar voice came from behind the two colts. "Twi, and um, Miss Glimmer, I'm back... Whoa, a crowd here as well?"

We all turned, and saw Spike walk briskly towards us with two bags of vegetables. He lowered his jaw when he saw four ponies crowding around the entrance.

I quickly explained. "Welcome back, Spike. Snips and Snails are so kind to let us know that there is a new unicorn in town."

"No wonder! The town center was so crowded that I almost couldn't hand over the bits to buy the veggies!"

I grinned. "... And she seems to have the most magic out of all unicorns in Equestria! Amazing, huh?"

"That's impossible!" Spike and Starlight called out at the same time. They then looked at each other with visible shock.

Starlight coughed and said. "Ahem. Given how Twilight's clearly the most magical unicorn in Equestria, surpassing me even, this new unicorn must be even more magical than her to claim this laurel. I find it very hard to believe, by merits of probability, that three such magical unicorns would be born in Equestria during the same era, and converge in one single town at this particular moment of time. This unicorn would also have to be so powerful that she might casually bend space-time with her sheer power. I just can't believe this, at all."

Spike blinked in half-comprehension, but he too added. "Y- Yeah, what she said! How can there be a unicorn with more magical powers than Twi? You've got to be kidding me!"

"But it's true! You can see for yourselves in the town square!" Snips stood by his words.

Spike turned to me. "Hey Twi, why don't we put off our meal for a moment, and go check this 'magical' unicorn out? Boy, I can't wait to see her face when she sees what real magic looks like!"

Starlight reflexively nodded in agreement, and she licked her lips with a somewhat predatory look. "Hah. I will go test her out... to see if she's even worthy of Twilight's attention."

"Yeah, right! Smack that fraud!" Spike cheered.

"Twilight, let's go, shall we?" Starlight asked intently, followed by a series of nods from the dragon. 

Despite my joy at seeing the two agreeing with each other for a change, I was not entirely at ease with the less-than-peaceful cause that united them.

Starlight's earlier analysis made sense to me. However, if the unicorn was indeed lying about her power, then what should I do anyway? While stopping a possible fraud appealed to my sense of justice, the matter was not that simple. Starlight was good at offensive magic... too good, even. Letting her loose could cause serious havoc, especially if the unicorn was not nearly as powerful as she claimed. 

But if I stopped her, she would definitely goad me to do it instead. And I did not want to be seen as a show-off by tearing up the unicorn's stage, thereby putting mud on Twilight's good name. 

Then again, I had found Starlight by sheer luck, and it's not that unimaginable that there might yet be more extraordinarily magical unicorns out there. It should be quite interesting if she was indeed as magical as she claimed, even more so if we've got to interact with her somewhat. Perhaps something amazing would grow out of it, like my friendship with Starlight.

I finally said. "We can decide what we should do when we actually see that unicorn in action. But yeah, I'm interested in checking her out as well."

Spike and Starlight looked particularly delighted and keen, while Snails and Snips beamed together and pointed towards the town square. 

"Then what are we waiting for?" Snails asked.

Snips exclaimed quickly. "Come on, let's go! Woohoo!" 
> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Give way! Come on, give way!" 

"Hey, what gives?"

"Sorry! Ouch... I'm sorry!"

I apologized to the shoved passers-by and gingerly trotted. Starlight and Spike walked ahead of me, and pushed the onlookers in their way aside. I had half a mind to remind them that I was not exactly a princess and they were not my security details, but it was hard to put a wet cloth on them when they were so enthusiastic.

I peeked forward in between fretful nods. It seemed that Snips and Snails already took advantage of their small statures and sneaked beneath other ponies to the front. 

Finally, the tip of the town hall entered our sight. I then lifted the eager dragon with magic and put him on my back, as Starlight and I extended our necks above the crowd. 

Between the crowd and the town hall was a flashy façade. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the extension of a single caravan. A blue unicorn mare stood upon its wooden stage in a triumphant pose, her purple cape fluttering in the wind. 

We three then took a good look of the unicorn mare and her set-up. 

"Hm... Isn't that neat?"  I praised. "Her caravan looks small, but it seems to hold every prop of hers. I can't imagine how she could fold and store all those wooden planks she built her stage with, and could still sleep and live in it."

I added with an impressed nod. "Maybe she's indeed very magical, and could just summon a portal to a pocket dimension at will!"

"You're giving her too much credit, Twi." Spike did not agree with my generous appraisal, however. "You don't need magic for that. You only need to know how to properly stack things up."

Starlight nodded. "I also don't sense any distinctly strong magical signature when I did a covert scan just now."

"You did?" I was surprised how discreet and efficient she did her magic. 

Starlight shrugged. "It's nothing to boast about. Really powerful unicorns emit a widespread magical presence even when they're not casting any spells. If she's at least as powerful as you and me, it would not be too difficult to cast a spell to detect the distortion in background magic, given that she was not going the extra mile to suppress her presence. To put it simply, it's like how movement of massive objects physically distort space-time to cause gravitational waves, you can similarly split a small beam of magic, and observe their pattern of interfe-"

She suddenly blushed and scratched her cheek. "Sorry, Twilight. You must've known all these already. I didn't mean to talk down to you."

"Not at all. I am quite impressed by your magic skills as always. It's also always a delight to hear magic explained in such an easily accessible way. Spike would also love to know more about the magic we unicorns cast, wouldn't you Spike?"

Spike looked uncertainly to Starlight and me, but he flipped his palms up and shrugged. "Uh... Yeah, easily accessible."

Was it not? I thought in bemusement, but it was then when the blue mare tipped her magician's hat, and loudly proclaimed.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" 

I turned to look at Starlight, to which she shrugged. "Can't say I heard of her."

Trixie evidently basked in the audience's positive reaction, and continued with full grin. "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"

Spike immediately sneered. "What kind of self-respecting magical unicorn boast like that? If she's in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, she would be kicked out long ago for her in- inso-"

"Insolence?" Starlight supplied.

Spike nodded emphatically. "Yep!"

"Spike, I think Starlight proved that not all magical unicorns are admitted to the School for Gifted Unicorns. Also, if Trixie's really gifted with amazing magical powers by the accident of birth, and she likes to show it off to everypony's face, then so be it."

"B- But, that, s- she's just so ear-gratingly annoying with her boasts!" Spike complained. "And why are we deferring to her already? We're not even sure if she's the real deal yet! Being able to shoot sparks out of tubas does not a magical unicorn make!"

I brightly beamed. "Whoa, isn't that a classic use of linguistic inversion!"

"Well, well, well, it seems we have a neighsayer in the audience."

My praise of the other Spike's spontaneous sophistication got interrupted, when the blue unicorn seemed to have caught wind of his loud complaint. The magician pony continued. "Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?"

She scanned the incredulous crowd, and then abruptly pointed towards the astonished dragon. "You, little dragon, Trixie hear your completely unfounded doubt, ye of little faith!"

"It's your claim that is unfounded!" Spike angrily jumped on my back and retorted. Ouch, he got a lil' bit heavier as well it seemed. "What exactly makes you so great like you have said?"

Trixie let out a series of haughty laughs, the cheesiness was palpable in the air. "Good question. That's because the Great and Powerful Trixie have vanquished the terrible Ursa Major with her brilliant magic!"

"No way!" Starlight gasped, as I silently gulped. Ursa Major was an ursine creature of immense magic. An adult Ursa could grow to a height of hundreds of ponies, and a casual stroll for an Ursa Major out of his or her natural range would spell absolute disaster to any size of pony settlement. 

"When the poor, huddled mass in Hoofington have lost all hope, it was the Great and Powerful Trixie, who swept in with her great magic power, and banished the pitiful barbaric creature back to the cave where he belonged!"

I listened with some worry, and Starlight also shared my expression, albeit with a stronger hint of intrigue. If Trixie was this powerful, I thought, then we must tread very carefully, especially given her... propensity to be a hard-nosed boaster.

I was deep in my thought, when my gaze swept across the audience. I was surprised to find the rest of the girls gathering at the other side, with clear disgruntled looks. But before I could attempt any communication, a stray comment flew forth from somewhere in the crowd. "Did you have a picture of you defeating that Ursa? Or I am going to doubt what you said!"

Trixie's face briefly turned prune-like, but she quickly waved her hooves around. Soon enough, glittering blue light materialized out of thin air, and formed outlines of two figures - Trixie herself and an 'Ursa Major'.

With another flourish, the figures quickly came to life, and acted out the version of story Trixie described, earning another bouts of amazed gasps from the audience.

Trixie's triumphant grin gradually returned. And although that bit of illusion magic was not exactly proof of anything, it seemed to have somehow placated the pony who asked that question.

"That settles it!"

The voice of Snips came from the front. "Trixie truly is the most talented, the most magical, the most awesome unicorn in Ponyville!"

"No, in all of Equestria!" Snails corrected.

"It's true, my enthusiastic little admirers. Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville!" Trixie immediately gloated. "If you still have any sliver of needless doubt... Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived?!"

Among the murmurs in the crowd, I heard some strange gargling from my back. I turned and found an extremely distressed-looking Spike. When he noticed me, he immediately begged. "Oh my goodness, Twilight! She's so unbearable! That isn't even remotely close to being any kind of proof! How come she doesn't get pressed further?! Please set her straight!"

"B- But..."

"If not you, then who? If not now, then when?"

I spluttered in my inability to retort. Oh Celestia... I was so conflicted right now. The desire to be tactful with Trixie, the fear of appearing too conceited to the Ponyvillians, the need to keep everything in order, and the want to placate the other Spike...

Suddenly, Starlight patted her saddlebag and trotted forward. I immediately pulled at her and asked. "Wait, Starlight, what are you doing?"

She waved me down and quickly said. "I will go set things straight."

Spike and I looked at Starlight with some surprise, as she pointed her hoof to the girls on the other side. Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity looked particularly crossed. They must've not taken Trixie's boastful remarks well. 

Starlight continued. "Look, your other friends seem so eager to challenge Trixie. I don't think it's safe for them to poke their heads in given what Trixie claims, as I doubt that these ponies really know how powerful an Ursa Major truly is. Even one percent of that kind of power could level the town."

Spike retorted with some stutter. "The point is moot! Sh- She's definitely a phony anyway! I've never seen a truly powerful unicorn boast-"

"I'd rather not take even the smallest chance." Starlight huffed.

I frowned in thought. Indeed, to let my other friends take any risk with a unicorn that might be even more powerful than us both was completely unacceptable, especially since they were not as combat-ready as me or Starlight.

"Alright?" She again stepped on the ground with some impatience. "I know you would be very upset if any of them is hurt, so I have to preempt them or any other onlookers. I just have the way to deal with her."

Spike and I shared a concerned glance. To my surprise, it was Spike who sighed and said with audible worry. "... Be careful, okay?"

Starlight widened her eyes briefly, but she then replied. "O- Of course I will. I'm just doing this for my own curiosity a- and Twilight anyway. She cares about her friends, and I don't want her to be upset."

I smiled helplessly. At least Starlight did not flip out at Spike's extended branch of olive. This coupled with their double acts earlier, I now felt more optimistic about eventually getting them to like each other. 


************


As Trixie was scanning the audience for challengers, Starlight drew in a breath and charged her horn. Soon enough, cyan light particles converged in front of her and formed a funnel. A classic volume enhancement spell materializing as a magical megaphone.

"I accept your challenge."

Starlight's amplified voice boomed through the crowd, with the expected effects of triggering gasps and a wave of head turns. Trixie's grin dissipated, and she immediately turned with narrowed eyes. "... Who are you exactly?"

"I'm Starlight Glimmer, a student of magic. I traveled from my home in the Griffish Isles to this town." Starlight's lips curled with interest. "If you're as powerful as you claim, then this should be interesting."

Trixie promptly dismissed. "No 'student of magic' in the whole Equestria could compare to the amazing talent of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Say, little hayseed, what do you want to challenge Trixie with? No matter what you do, the Great and Powerful Trixie will do better than you!"

Starlight let out a sigh, and theatrically raised a hoof. Already the gasping crowds were parting and clearing out a way for her to the magician. Oh wow, she was out-dramatizing Trixie. The blue unicorn herself was visibly fuming.

The light purple mare then trotted to the front of the unamused magician, and grinned. "We don't need to play around with foal's stuff. Let's duel with pure unicorn magic, maneo-a-maneo."

I took in a big breath at the impending fight, and apparently so did Trixie. Spike, however, looked a bit unsure and asked me. "Is she really up to the task?"

Hoo, boy. "Starlight and I never really dueled with each other. But it's safe to say that there's a very real chance that I would lose."

"Really?"

"Yes. Starlight's self-taught, and her learning was mostly geared towards spells of a combative nature. I've also competed with her in a teleportation race, and she seemed to have got at least a similar level of magical potential as me."

He put out his tongue. "Whelp, I thought she was just some grumpy weirdo unicorn that you brought back for research. You know, kinda like Moon Dancer? I don't know she's that talented."

I was about to point out that it was impolite to say something like that about our acquaintances, before some loud whirling noises drew our attention back to the front again.

"Hmm? What are you doing?" Trixie asked with surprise.

The bright glow on Starlight's horn did not dim a bit, and she remained in full combat alertness. The pure ball of energy above her head only got more and more intense, spewing tendrils of lightning and spinning like a ravenous tornado. "What are you talking about? We're dueling with unicorn magic, right? I hear that you're the strongest unicorn in the whole Equestria, so here I am preparing my attacking spell to the best I can!"

Her front hooves swept outwards across the ground under the heavy magical pressure, kicking up a bout of dust. She continued, getting more and more roused with each word. "So come on! Give me your best and show me what you got, ye Great and Powerful! Raise me your strongest shield, and see if my unstoppable force can move your unmovable object!"

Trixie's expression was inscrutable. She jumped down from her stage with a flourish, and then positioned herself opposite Starlight from a distance. "... Bah! Don't think that wimpy speech and pitiful bit of light show can intimidate the Great and Powerful Trixie! I'll just take your so-called attack... over here!"

Starlight looked taken aback at Trixie's rebuke. Trixie seemed to imply that she could easily dispel Starlight's attack. Now Starlight was definitely not going to hold back.

Starlight let out an impatient huff and barked. "Fine! If you want to take my attack head-on, so be it! It might just staple you into the ground, so don't say I didn't warn you!"

The light-purple unicorn swung her head and dipped. The swirling mass of magic momentarily quieted down, and quickly reshaped itself into an arrow with a haunting blue glow.

... Sagitta Meteororum, I recognized. Super-concentrated magical blast with a pointed emission and profound residue shock. It was nothing too fancy, but it was a very good choice of an offensive spell given the number of onlookers here. However, the strength of this spell was still quite devastating on its own. I did hope Starlight had a plan B if Trixie was not the powerful unicorn that she claimed.

With a sizzling sound of release, the arrow shot forth, howling through the air like a physical arrow does, only a thousand times louder. It was like the rage of the heavens raining upon some hapless mortal. Said mortal - Trixie - simply lowered herself, apparently digging in, but a number of onlookers already gasped with fright and began to back off hurriedly.

"Holy Guacamole! What in Equestria i- is that?!" Spike also cried out loud. Indeed, it was some terrifying spectacle, being a spell usually reserved for elite warmages of the distant past. It was nothing like the peaceful Equestrians were used to see, even in moving pictures.

Before I could open my mouth to answer - since talking was not a free action - the magical arrow already struck where Trixie stood.

My heart skipped a beat. I detected not the faintest sign of defensive magic from Trixie. 

While such a powerful attack could not be fully dispelled by any but the strongest unicorns, some sort of elementary shield that every unicorn learnt in magic kindergarten could at least save  life. But Trixie didn't seem to even cast one of those.

...

D- Did I just witness a ponyslaughter?!

With this burning question in mind, which I believed shared by most of the aghast onlookers, some of whom were already crying murder and running rampant, I teleported right before the hypocenter of the blast.

Before me was a thick cloud of white smoke, clinging to the ground like a blanket. I sneezed involuntarily, before someone on my back also made a gagging sound. "Ugh, Twi, give me a notice next time when you're trying to teleport. I- I almost puke my lunch out."

"I will try... But your stomach might be the least of our worries now."

Starlight quickly trotted towards the scene, and too got choked by the smoke after coming near. After taking a glance with a deep frown, she promptly cast another spell. A gust of fresh wind blew from above, and the opaque smoke passed into nothing.

There was a very deep hole where Trixie used to stand, roughly pony-sized. I covered my snout as the same acrid burnt smell attacked, but I still cautiously examined... But I couldn't find anything but smashed grasses and chipped rock. She couldn't be...?

I turned to Starlight, but she was suddenly nowhere to be found as well. Huh?

I looked around in complete confusion, and even Trixie's caravan in front of the town hall had also disappeared somehow. Plus the fact that most onlooking ponies had already fled in terror, the square was almost devoid of life all of a sudden. What the Tartarus? Did reality just give up on me?

After another couple bewildering seconds, a blinding magical light flashed before me. Starlight, Trixie and the caravan came back into existence at the same time, but in a very curious position.

Starlight was standing up on her hind legs, and holding Trixie with her front hooves. The magician herself was apparently uninjured, but appeared to have passed out, her signature hat lied tatters on the ground. The caravan was overturned, spilling all sort of strange gadgets on the ground.

"... What was that?" I asked with a baffled look.

Starlight smirked. "Ah, Twilight. I thought you of all ponies would catch what was wrong with the aftermath of my attack just now."

"Well, I don't. So tell me what exactly happened!"

"Easy there." Starlight wryly said, after she placed the magician on the side of the caravan, and put a binding spell on her. "The smoke was a giveaway."

"Why?" This time Spike asked from my back.

"Look, my meteor arrow might eject a bit of a dust from the ground, but that pungent cloud of smoke was not part of the deal. Combined with the fact that she didn't even bother extending a shield, I came the conclusion that she tried to escape."

"Did she?"

"Of course. This mare is a bit of an escape artist herself. She has incredibly quick hooves, because she somehow dodged my attack even with it magically locked at her. She also probably cast that smoke screen to disguise her location and distract us long enough, so that she could escape to her caravan covertly and ran away."

Spike blinked, and then grinned brightly towards me. "Hah! I told you so! That mare was a complete fraud! Otherwise why would she ran away from a magic duel like a chicken? She must've thought there's no way she could deal with the attack, and tried to make tracks while appearing brave!"

Starlight let out a muffled yet amused noise. "Huh. You're quite quick this time."

I, however, remained quite bemused. "But wha- how- ugh! Please give me the step-by-step rundown of the events that unfolded after you cast the attack!"

"Alright, alright!" Starlight snickered at my frustration. "After I attacked and cleared out the smoke, I knew her jig was up. Fortunately, in order to lock onto her better and prevent collateral damage, I had placed a beacon spell on her prior to my attack. So then I immediately teleported in front of her new location."

Starlight shrugged. "She was only too surprised to suddenly find a pony in front of her caravan, and in an attempt to swerve, she fell flat on her face and passed out. There you go."

"That sounds so... easy. She doesn't seem the type that passes out just like that." Spike asked.

"Hah, another good observation. Indeed, Sagitta Meteororum is not the fiercest of offensive spells in terms of raw power, yet it has high accuracy and more importantly, significant concussive after-effect. That was the reason why it was a favorite for warmages. Even though she dodged in time, she was likely disoriented by the shock wave, and it doesn't take much more to incapacitate her."

"Or in this case, let her own nerves do herself in?" Spike suggested.

"Exactly." 

"Ah, I know it's weird to say this, but it's kind of a shame. I had expected some super epic battle between two magical unicorns... Twi rarely shows off her magic after the cactus incident."

"Eh..." I blanked, since I was half-torn between snorting in amusement and feeling embarrassed.

Starlight merely smirked. "I was also getting my hopes up for an opponent on a par with me, so I am naturally disappointed. But I am also relieved, because it seems that Twilight's still the most talented unicorn that I met."

I turned with some abashment. But then, Spike seemed to have thought of something and asked. "Now, you just said your attack was not the fiercest of spells that you could have cast, but it still looked so scary! So what would happen if it did hit her right in her face?"

Starlight immediately looked evasive, while I pouted. "It would've caused serious injuries at best, I'm afraid. Starlight wasn't kidding when she said it would 'staple her'."

I then turned to her with a questioning look. "Starlight, was that the 'way' you said you were going to deal with Trixie? Just smashing her head in?"

"I know that looks excessive-"

"It is excessive."

"B- But I just want to be on the side of caution! What if she really-" 

"You said caution, but there are clearly other more prudent ways to deal with this, Starlight. Some sort of high-level reflection spell perhaps? I'd wager she could at least defend herself from whatever magic she herself dealt out. Then you can gauge and apply the appropriate level of non-lethal force to subdue her."

I continued with frustration. "Thank goodness she knew when and how to beat a hasty retreat, or else we might be facing a very messy situation right now."

Starlight lowered her head and said quietly. "I just kind of hoped that you'd be impressed with my magic..."

... She couldn't be resorting to blowing ponies up to 'impress' me, huh? 

"Yes Starlight, your knowledge and control over this ancient spell is quite impressive. But just because something's there doesn't mean we should use it. I'd be far more impressed if you can show restraint and discretion once in a while."

Spike interjected. "Twi... let's not beat Miss Glimmer with a stick too much. You never know... Heh, maybe, just maybe: if Trixie had been really the 'Great and Powerful' pony that she claimed, then she might not even have a second chance to attack."

Starlight turned to Spike with visible astonishment, and then got somewhat flustered. I supposed she was a bit ashamed to have cast down on him ever since they met, only to have him defend her at time like this. I was also surprised to hear the other Spike speak up for her, seeing how he called her crazy and dangerous just a moment ago. 

But ha, not to be boastful like Trixie, but I was a good lad at heart. Maybe he was feeling some empathy for somepony who also had to endure my - Twilight's - verbal beatdown, or maybe he was even beginning to understand Starlight's well-intentioned but sometimes impulsive ways?

Having thought so, I also couldn't stay too mad at Starlight.

... But wait, maybe this was a good chance to play bad cop, and get them like each other for a change? Oh my, wasn't I a genius!

I immediately made a stern face, ready to deliver some half-hearted smack. But my shrewd plan to mend fences was once again interrupted by an appalled yelp. "What in Equestria happened here?"

All three of us turned, and a grey-maned mare stormed out of the town hall with a flabbergasted look. "My Good Celestia! What happened to the town square?! Why is it a complete mess? W- What's wrong with those ponies on the ground?"

"M- Mayor Mare..." I gulped. Now that Mayor Mare had barged in, I begun to take a better look at our surroundings. Even though the 'battle' between Starlight and Trixie only caused minimal damage, the panic caused by Starlight's frightening attack and Trixie's subsequent 'evaporation' seemed to have caused a stampede of sorts. Trampled saddlebags, hats and horseshoes scattered around us; decorations, shrubberies and lamps were ruined, and a number of townsponies even lied prostrate in the mess, seemingly injured, though apparently none of the other girls were among them... Some little consolation for all the devastation.

Facing Mayor Mare's inquisitive look, my mouth yapped like a fish out of water. So much for dealing with Trixie with finesse and preserving peace of the town. 

Mayor Mare, smart and competent civil servant that she was, was already linking up the dots from observing us, Trixie and the battle scene. Her gaze quickly turned sharp and accusatory... By Celestia, this was going to be worse than the treehouse collapse, wasn't it?

Just as I explained and apologized profusely to the Mayor Mare for what happened, I noticed that Starlight and Spike was quietly chatting behind me. Did they think that I would be too busy talking with Mayor Mare and not hear them? Hmm hmm, wrong!

"Uh, thanks for speaking on my behalf... Spike."

"... Don't mention it. After all, you did bust that fraud Trixie, and boy was that satisfying!"

A chuckle was heard, but then Starlight said with clear disappointment in her voice. "... Glad you think so. Now if only Twilight would think so too..."

"I'm sure she thinks so too. She's just sometimes too stiff-necked-" Hey, I totally heard that! "-and convinced about what she thinks is right. Don't mind her words too much, Miss Glimmer."

"... Starlight."

"What?"

"You can just call me Starlight. It's just much less uptight."

After hearing no response from Spike, Starlight began to sound a bit nervous. "Don't take this the wrong way! I- I just don't want to be called 'Miss Glimmer' all day! It makes me feel so old!"

I snorted loudly mid-explanation, causing Mayor Mare to glare daggers at me some more. Oops. 

I then gave an embarrassed glance to the scattering mayhem in the square. Some paramedics were already arriving at the scene to help the injured ponies up. 

It was... bad, and it certainly could have gone better, without injuries and damage to properties. But at least Starlight and the other Spike were warming up to each other because of this mishap. Once we explained the matter fully to Mayor Mare, and helped clean up the mess, things should be on the up and up, right?

...

Wait. Hang on.

I seemed to have forgot something-

Oh, right.

Trixie.
> Chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Extra squared bales of hay... extra sweet oats..."

With a resigned flourish, I wrote yet another two red items to our already meagre budget of this month. It was then Spike came to me with a welcoming tray of tea. 

I wasn't as a big a tea person compared to Twilight, whose affection to tea mainly stemmed from her time with her mentor. But tea breath was a thousand times better than coffee breath.

... Please don't ask why I felt so strongly about that.

Ahem, so... for some reason, he looked positively annoyed when he put the tray down on the table. Abruptly, he began. "Tell me, Twi. What is Trixie doing in our home again?"

"I think this is the third time you've asked me that question, this morning alone."

"She just threw a tea cup to my face!"

"Oh dear!" I gasped and reached out to his forehead. "Are you hurt then?"

"I ducked in time, and it went out of the window."

"Thank goodness!"

"I heard a clang of broken china, and when I was out, Dust Sweep was already there cleaning up the debris, and he gave me a really sour look."

I blinked again, and then wordlessly added the third item - new teacup - to the book. 

Hearing no response from me, he continued with an irritated voice. "Apparently she can't even touch any cup that is not pink with purple laces and sized exactly the same as her hooves. What kind of pony does that? Is she some sort of tea cup fanatics?" 

"... ... I will give you the bits to buy new cups." After a protracted silence, I subconsciously patted my invisible saddlebag with a gulp. "Uh, after this weekend." 

"What? That's all?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

I made a helpless face to the indignant dragon, and took a sip of the tea. "Look Spike, it's already a blessing that Mayor Mare did not make us pay everypony out of our pockets. We injured a lot of-"

"Excuse me? It's Trixie who provoked us with her constant baseless bragging!" 

He took a big breath, and promptly added. "Besides, the stampede is none of our fault! It isn't our fault that this town has no crowd control plan whatsoever, none, zilch! It surely isn't our fault that ponies weren't taught about how to behave in a public emergency. And it certainly isn't our darn fault that the Ponyvillians never learnt anything about stampedes, when they see the cows do it to them every darn year!"

"..." I couldn't exactly look at the face I was making, but I probably looked like a cashier at a hayburger place being yelled at for something completely out of her control.

Spike then pointed to my snout dramatically. "Also, Starlight might've gone overboard with her flashy blast, but that insufferable fraud totally got what it's coming for her!"

"Shhhh-! She might hear that!" I pointed downstairs in dread. The last thing I wanted was a redux of the head-splitting, ear-piercing fracas back when Trixie just woke up... Yikes.

He looked down the stairs cavalierly. "She knows exactly what she's doing, Twi. Even the doc said what she got was just a minor concussion." 

A faint but still stinging voice then emanated down from the staircase, as if on cue. "What takes you so long, dragon? Where's my new cup of tea?" 

A particularly fake-sounding 'ouch' was heard, followed by another sentence. "You're not trying to deny me, the Great and Powerful Trixie, basic sustenance such as tea, right?? Oh how scandalous! This is no way to treat a patient!  Not to mention a magician as famous and skillful as Trixie?"

The dragon then pressed his temples tightly. "She's just trying to squat here, having a comfy bed to sleep on and the like. Of course, she also wants to enjoy my first-rate catering, all the while massaging her enormous ego by ordering me around and being so Celestia-damned difficult!"

I had no mood to chastise him for the dirty mouth, primarily because I heard with my very ears how tiresome the blue mare could be. I tried to be conciliatory. "Hey, isn't that a testament to your excellent skills to pamper?"

After being shown a particularly severe stink eye, I sighed and explained. "Look, she is injured. We're obligated to take care of her, at least until the hospital finally has spare bed for her."

"Like Tartarus she would move out willingly." Spike rolled his eyes up. "Of course, she can sleep outside for all I care. It's not like that she's not used to living it rough on the streets."

"That's not very nice-"

"Niceties are wasted on somepony who can't see past the end of her snout." He then raised a claw to stop me from speaking up, and then patted his forehead in frustration. "I just don't understand. You would never have put up with this kind of stuffs." 

"Huh?"

"When we were in Canterlot, even the smallest amount of ruckus would've gotten on your nerves. Like, when you're studying magic in the Ivory Tower... Your, uh, 'friends' back there didn't even dare to visit you, even during the day. They're so afraid that they might interrupt your study and get yelled at. But now, when against an annoying braggart and when a backbone is sorely needed, it isn't anywhere to be found!"

I was a bit shook. Slowly, I shook my head and meekly offered. "... Sometimes, perhaps, we've got to be more patient with people around us-"

"Patience, yes-pony, totally the same thing." Spike sarcastically huffed, and then he did soften for a bit. "That troublesome mare aside, I heard Starlight had almost finished working her shares for Mayor Mare."

"Ah! It has been some time, hasn't it?" I exhaled. "Didn't even see her often."

"She was working community services, and she slept in the town hall for the last few days. I met her when I was delivering cloth for Rarity. She looks tired."

"Aw, poor thing..." A sense of sadness and shame welled up inside, and I was again regretting why I did not firmly stand ground, when Starlight insisted to take on all the work from Mayor Mare.

"... but she still sounded so excited about something she's finally going to do for you. I don't know what that is, but it sounds like she's super into it."

"O- Oh." There was a vague but palpable sense of gastronomical unease, as I recalled esoteric recipes such as pancake made with whipped-up seaweeds, molasses and overly-aged cheese. I suspected it would look like the slime monster in O&O, probably after it endured a few shots of magic missiles.

I shook myself out of the perturbing imagination, and noticed that the dragon was still going on about Starlight. "She's not a bad pony as far as I'm concerned... But surely there can't be three mares living inside one damp dinky tree library? Two are quite enough!"

I reflexively protested. "Excuse me? What do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean? Of course this isn't gonna fly! I don't recall anything good from having three mares in the library the last time around."

Touché.

He crossed his arms. "This time, it isn't even Rarity or AJ. Starlight has such an unbelievably short fuse on everything, managing to vent on a good upstanding dragon like me out of the blue. Plus, she's the kind of unicorn who would keep pumping magic into problems, and, if the problems aren't solved, rinse and repeat. That can't be good for this treehouse's structural integrity if anything happens."

I knitted my brows, but he simply continued. "And the less I talk about that Trixie the better. Speaking of which, Starlight's the pony who publicly humiliated Trixie, how in Equestria is it a good idea to put the two of them in the same place?"

I pulled at my bangs with defeat, yielding to his labored argument. "... But there's nothing else we can do, Spike. I promised Starlight to let her use the library for research, and Trixie is our responsibility." 

I said with a helpless smile. "Maybe they would find peace somehow?"

Spike gazed at me long and hard, then his little shoulders slumped with disappointment, the word 'Seriously?' left unsaid.

Silence again reigned, and it was making me uncomfortable. I struggled to think of a way to cheer him up, until something lit up in my mind. Something that I hadn't got around to ask him because of all the ruckuses.

"Aha, how about us talking about something else? Something that is much more joyous?"

"... Like what?" He raised a single brow.

I smirked mischievously. "Like whether you've progressed with Rarity when I was gone?"

It succeeded, at least in producing a spit-take. "Wh- What? What in Equestria are you suddenly talking about, Twilight?"

"I did leave you with something to help, didn't I?" I grinned and patted his head. "So how was it, champ? Is she receptive or not?"

Spike puffed his cheeks, turned his head and mumbled for a bit.

"Hmm?" I asked quizzically.

He first set his gaze at me, but then wandered off for several times, until I said with a disappointed tone. "Oh, did it go wrong? I'm so sorry if it's that. Or... or do you not want to tell me?"

"It's not that!" Spike snapped, and then wavered somewhat. "Well, a bit, but that's not all!"

"Hmm?" My ears perked up again. That might sound weird, but knowing if and how Spike the dragon got with his crush still gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

He muttered under his breath somewhat, and then put on his best impression of an embarrassed Fluttershy. "Well... it mostly went well."

"How so?" I leaned in with a giant enthused grin, as if I was a dragon again and he was an oversized fire opal. 

The dragon shrank away from my intense gaze, but he confided. "We went to movie theaters... and sat through some really sappy dramas. I did as you told, staying focused and never yawned for once!"

"Splendid!"

"Then I helped her mine gems. Mainly helping with the digging, and also checking the qualities of the gems. It's one Tartarus of an undertaking not to just swallow them whole, when I was gently biting to make sure they're good gems, but by Celestia I pulled through."

"Good job!" I chuckled heartily. All those sounded bog-standard so far.

"Then I went to the market and bought her the most fabulous shoe, the most smashing hat, the most shiny necklace and the most extra- extrava-"

"Extravagant?"

"Yeah, that kind of dress. Totally according to the sheet you gave me, even up to the designers, shapes, styles and dimensions. If not for you, I would've thought a seamstress like her might be too proud to wear somepony else's design. But you're right, she loves a good dress above all things. I'm glad that all the gems I sold weren't a waste!"

Spike then shyly grinned and scratched his cheek. "And by Celestia, did she swoon around! She held my hands and danced around for a bit, even tip-tap like an excited puppy because she's so giddy."

"Hah... I can almost imagine that."

"And last we went back to her place-" Spike paused, while my eyes grew round. "- because she wants me to help her out with some left-over boutique work." 

"Oh." I thought that was going somewhere. But eh, not bad for the first date.

"Well, I helped out as usual, and then we bid each other farewell... She was acting a bit weird when I was helping, though."

"Such as?"

"For instance, she was holding all these pins over there with her magic, gawking at me. I told her to stick the pins on my back if her pin cushion wasn't around like last time." 

"Wait, what?" My mouth opened wide in shock. "That's what you do? That'd hurt like Tartarus! The skin between the scales is very sensitive, and they heal really slow! Even if the wounds don't get infected, they would still ache for at least a week!"

I gasped for air, and then continued passionately. "And scales that were pried loose, they don't just grow back! Not to mention that would've triggered even more shredding, it's like random aggressive mane loss! Imagine having to look at all the battered and tattered scales getting up in the morning... It's very depressing!"

After my sudden burst of rant, Spike was speechless for a while. Soon enough though, he showed me a ear-splittingly large grin. "... Hehe! Wow, Twi. You sure know what a dragon has to go through. Been casting transforming spell on yourself in secret, haven't you?"

I blushed and stuttered, realizing I have somehow instinctively shifted gear to dragon mode. "U- Uhh- I don't-"

"Yeah, being a dragon is awesome sometimes, I don't blame you." He threw me a jokingly smug look, and then shook his head. "But I am a grown dragon, I know what I can take."

"But-"

"Look Twi, I know you care. But sometimes you've gotta go a mile further, like, for someone you really care about." 

"Hmm..."

He then chuckled. "If it would calm you down, let me tell you that she did not use my back as a pin cushion this time anyways."

"Really? Do tell."

"She walked around the boutique holding the piece of cloth, and looked weirdly bothered. She kept looking at the pins and at me, and at the end said 'screw it' and gave up on the work altogether." 

"I see..."

"We then sat on the sofa and chatted some more, and she laughed, like, really laughed at my jokes, even though some of them went quite flat, to be honest. At last, she sent me home with a fire opal, and she never gave me a gem as precious as that before! So yeah, it's a bit weird, but it turns out well I guess."

Oh, most intriguing... So Rarity hesitated with the pins. She actually felt bad if they could hurt him, which probably meant she grew to care more about him than before. And she laughed even at the not-so-funny jokes. All very encouraging signs. 

So did that mean...? Oh my! There was very good progress after all! I would've been over the moon if it was me! But then, I wouldn't have realized much of that if it was still me. Whelp.

But then his mirth suddenly faltered. I then remembered that he said the encounter was only mostly positive, and sat straight.

"I know I shouldn't be so bothered. But..." He shifted around with clear discomfort. "But it just feels too... made up."

"... Made up?"

He looked to me, with doubt on his face. "I mean, Rarity was so happy that 'I' seemed to have an eye for fashion, and she was so excited that 'I' could eyeball her dimensions so easily. She looked as if she had finally found someone who was on her wavelength in this town."

He frowned with worry. "But it wasn't me, right? It was you who planned the whole thing. The next time she asks me to pick a dress, or help serve her clients, or anything, it'll all come crashing down. And I'll just be as a fraud as Trixie is."

I felt turmoil in my heart, the words were piercing. Still, I said, if just to calm the dragon in front of me. "... But not all of that is made up, right? Both you and Rarity are good at seeking gems, so you two do have common ground. And you care about her enough to spend so much time and bits with her, so does she."

He looked at me, conflict apparent on his face. "Yeah... but that's about it. I don't really love watching those movies, or dressing up for that matter. I'm not really that good at tailorship as she thought me to be."

After another big sigh, he shook his head glumly.

"What she saw and liked in me is just pretend, and little more."

"We are what we pretend to be and little more too, my good dragon."

Spike gasped with shock at the sudden, third voice. I also turned reflexively, somewhat dazed with the implications of the words.

A light purple mare was leaning on the worn wooden wall near the staircase. On her lips hung a tired grin, a half-filled saddlebag strapped lazily on her side. 

Noticing our surprise, she calmly waved her hoof at us. 

"Starlight!" I gasped.
> Chapter 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few weeks since the Golden Oak Library became a tad bit overcrowded with unicorns. 

As penitence for partly contributing to the mayhem at Trixie's disastrous magic show, Starlight had single-hoofedly taken on the heavy-work of repairing the damaged town center. 

Mutterings from passers-by told of astonishing sights of giant slabs of stones hurling across town, as well as heavy steel piles that were driven into the ground like the earth was jello.

... That was definitely Starlight, alright.

Strangely enough, Starlight was also deathly adamant at not letting me help in any shape or form, probably because she came to see me as a, uh, patient. 

Trixie, on the other hoof, seemed to have decided that her life as a wandering magician was to be put into the back-burner, because she had so far shown no signs of wanting to leave, like, at all. 

Celestia knew why she suddenly decided that our grotty treehouse was prime real-estate. The other Spike could probably disintegrate her if gazes could kill, and we two were at best acquaintances... Well, perhaps also former schoolmates, if what I later dug out about her admission into the School for Gifted Unicorns were true. I swore to Celestia neither of us ever saw her around, though.

While she mostly loitered around our home, she and I kept a curious rapport. She did not act as difficult towards me, and my polite platitude was surprisingly effective at keeping her at bay. She even listened to me when I hinted at her to stop trying to drive the other Spike up the wall, which gave him a rather welcome respite.

Perhaps it was in part because I tolerated her temerity of setting up a ‘re-do’ magic show, stage and everything, right in front of the Library. Ponies were surprisingly not that against the concept of letting Trixie do a show again in the town, perhaps out of sympathy for having her show demolished by being blasted to kingdom come, which offset some of her obnoxiousness. 

Holy Smoke, did Spike drag me over the coal for being so permissive, even with Trixie turning over a small part of her earnings. I also never told Starlight how much I helped with the additional housework, or the amount of magic I expended maintaining that sound barrier around the library, or even that one time Trixie managed to goad me into using actual spells for her show.

Speaking of which, the two unicorns had barely interacted after the incident, because by the time Starlight was back, Trixie was almost always already asleep. Perhaps it was for the best.


************


"By the beard of Star Swirl and the fiery Flamecano, what should I do?"

I muttered to myself using the lowest voice, while pacing around the library like there were bugs in my horseshoes. The figure sticking to me like a wet leaf was the stage magician extraordinaire herself. 

Starlight sat at the far corner of the treehouse, ostensibly surrounding herself with books related to her research, but her gazes from between the gaps were only too conspicuous. The other Spike pat his forehead, and then walked over and whispered something into her ears. At least they seemed to be getting along fine.

For some Celestia-forsaken reason, Trixie had suddenly decided she wanted to ‘get to know’ me better, and begun to hang around me like a necklace. 

Well, the idea itself was not a problem, even though she was not exactly my first pony in mind to make friend with. It was the abruptness that bemused me.

Since a few days ago, the magician mare had been nagging me with her ‘exploits’ and ‘remarkable feats’ of magic, possibly in a strange attempt to impress me. 

I had no appetite for even more drama in this household, so I mostly just played along, entertaining the blue mare with her clumsy ingratiation and roundabout self-congratulation. Well, at least I got to know more about Trixie, and she was mostly bearable when she made an effort to be nice. But why in Equestria was she cozying up to me all of a sudden? Was it that she was concerned that I would have thrown her out of the treehouse otherwise?

My time that was spent with Starlight was cut down drastically as a result. Trixie always found new and bizarre ways to occupy my attention, be it gossips, trips to the town, show-offs or even screw-ups. It’s like the showmare had a way to thread the needle whenever she sensed an opening in my schedule.

That had resulted in a very unhappy Starlight Glimmer, who walked around in the treehouse with her piles of research materials, sulking next to empty chairs and elaborate equipment set-ups that screamed for my presence. The other Spike was the only one that commiserated with her, while meeting my apologetic gaze with a subtle but firm glare of judgment.

Ah, I was still not quite used to the idea of being someone sought after socially, but I should have known. Starlight had been savoring our newly forged friendship so very much. 

She must also be working hard and looking forward to finally wind down and spend time with me in Ponyville, be it to do something about my condition or just hang out. 

I winced particularly at the thought of her disappointment, as I recalled with shame about what happened last night.


************


“Oh, uh, hey Twilight!” 

Starlight poked her head out of the kitchen, followed by the unhurried dragon behind. She was delighted to see me finally walk through the library door, more so because we seldom had the time to chat these days. “You must be starving after a day of outing. Come on in, I’ve cooked dinner tonight and had left something special for you! You haven’t eaten… have you?”

I shook my head, but I must have also shown them a rather silly face of surprise, because Starlight immediately giggled, while Spike wryly smiled.

Since my return, the other Spike and I had bonded with an utterly mundane activity – housework. We worked in tandem and meshed flawlessly, much to his surprise. Cooking was like slicing butter with a hot knife despite having two more mouths to feed, and I secretly relished in his awe and wonder at how in sync we were.

Therefore, it was a total curveball to actually see somepony else in the kitchen. Recalling Starlight’s earlier proclamation about my dietary habits, I widened my eyes in apprehension. However, a wink from the small dragon, hopefully reassuring in nature, gave me some much-needed confidence.

I gingerly trotted near the dinner table and sat down. I tried not to look too shocked or deterred, as the dishes were certainly… a sight to behold. 

There was a pie, or at least something approaching the physical appearance of a pie. For one, I didn’t think I’ve ever seen a pie this aggressively, threateningly lumpy, like something right out of medical textbooks. This shade of grey was also uncommon in pies or any other edible stuffs. And were those hairs on the rim? 

I looked away from the avant-garde piece of gastronomy, and another striking item entered my sight. It was a bowl of brackish brown sludg- thickened soup. Mysterious starchy chunks, running a gamut of muted green, kept oozing up from the bottom, giving the dish a unique outlook of being freshly scooped up from Hayseed Swamp. 

I led my gaze to the last item on the table. It was elegant in its utmost simplicity, as it was simply a tall glass of totally pitch-black liquid. Again, something I would expect to be in my ink pot instead of a drinking glass, but it was so smooth and so uniformly carbonized, not even light from the lamp directly above us managed to glean off its surface. It was by far the most normal item on the table. Surely, something like that could only be made intentionally, right… right?

I briefly considered finding an excuse just to get the Tartarus out, since while the meal before me did not emit an immediately alarming smell, its colors and textures definitely activated all the ancient equine and draconic instincts against consuming dangerous materials.

However, Starlight was looking at me with such bright and expectant eyes… Despite how they looked, these dishes must be prepared with so much heart. I couldn’t possibly let her down by so blatantly bailing out, could I?

My head rose, as I silently asked for absolution for my stomach, and prepared to take a bite of the peculiar feast before me. I carefully cut out a small piece of the mystery pie and launched a fork into it. It broke through the crust with an unexpected sloshing sound, and then it just hanged before my mouth, impaled and held hesitantly still with the magicked utensil.

“Twi- Twilight Sparkle!”

A clearly breathless but still loud voice tore through my eardrum from the library entrance. “The Great and Winded Trixie dem- requires your immediate attention!”

I turned to the source of the sound, and saw the blue mare stand in the door frame with her usual dramatic flair.

“Um, Trixie?” I was still not entirely used to being so casual with her. “You’re so quick! I thought you told me to go home first because you’ve got something to do in the mayoral office?”

“Yes! But I, uh, do need your help!” 

She gave the dinner scene a cursory glance, before looking back to me with a more pleading expression. “I have run into some, ahem, technical difficulties with the accursed bureaucracy in this town. They had to gall of telling me that my stage show in front of the library is somehow not ‘up to code’!”

“Huh?” That was a new one.

“And not to mention the trouble they give me just for parking my wagon – my whole livelihood – on the street! Can you even believe that? The exquisite sight of my dazzling wagon brightens up the whole neighborhood, and I haven’t even thought about charging them for my public service as I was so generous!”

The other Spike rolled his eyes so hard, they had probably fallen out and rolled to the back of the bookcases. I gave her my standard face of placation. “That’s really unfortunate to hear. What can I do for you?”

“I need you to come with me, and prove to the annoying clerks that I do currently live out of this treehouse. Some regulatory mumbo jumbo about being a dependent of an established household and exemption, blah blah blah… I might have fallen asleep half-way through.”

Starlight had this inscrutable expression as of yet, but she suddenly spoke up. “That’s all well and good, but surely both you two have not eaten right? Why don’t you-”

Trixie interrupted, and her words were not as subtle as mine. “Ughhh... Yeah, you can keep that bog cuisine to yourself.”

She then trotted next to me and simply pulled me out of the chair with her magic.

“H- Hey! She can’t- She’s-” Starlight yelped, but then Trixie already raised a brow at Starlight and reproved.

“Look Star Chef, I nagged the clerks so hard that they would wait past sunset for me to get her, and I must get this all sorted by tonight, or else they would tow my wagon tomorrow!” 

Trixie then gave Starlight a conceited look that did not quite match with what she was purportedly concerned about. “Surely you would be understanding enough not to let them ruin my entire livelihood over a meal, huh, huh, hmmmm?”

She then turned and looked at me with such intensity, I simply let out a vague whimper.

Starlight took note of my response, shuffled and flashed me a wan smile. “I, I guess it cannot be helped. I will just keep them heated till you come ba-”

But then, I was already being dragged out of the library by Trixie. I could swear I saw a strange hint of glee on Trixie’s face. She then yelled into the treehouse from just outside the door. “Hey you know what, don’t bother! We’d be really late, so we’ll just grab a hay burger or something on our way there. Ciao!”

“Wait, wait-!” I said with no small shock, but Trixie was surprisingly strong for a unicorn. In a blink of an eye I was already a good distance away. Hm, must be all the wagon-pulling.

Released from Trixie’s pull, I trotted with a choppy gait and sighed with much guilt, as a small part of me did want to evacuate. Only then, I realized I was somehow still holding the forked pie in the air. As if asking for forgiveness from an absent Starlight, I closed my eyes and ate it.

… It was surprisingly okay.


************


My guilt welled up again at the recollections, even though Trixie was indeed in need. Spike later told me more about how Starlight insisted on working alone and only got him to taste-test. Not only I judged Starlight’s dishes by their looks, but I also pretty much just rolled over and let myself be dragged around.

To my bigger shock, Starlight did not seem even a bit mad with me afterwards, nor did she mouth off the pushy magician. 

But that only made me feel even more guilty!

I quietly groaned, and then nodded smilingly to Trixie’s alleged anecdote, how she defeated a fearsome cyclops using nothing but her slicing wit, and earned the adulation of a tribe of griffons.

Meanwhile, the other Spike gave me the silent gaze again. That made me briefly consider why I was tolerating Trixie up to this point. I mean, he was clearly having none of her nonsense. It was quietly unsettling. Was there really anything wrong with me?

It was at that moment a welcome distraction came into the picture. 


************


“A royal visit, you say?” 

Spike fanned at his still smoking mouth and asked hurriedly. “At this moment of time? Is it because- I mean, is it to check on us?”

“I don’t know. I can’t really say.” 

I said in a consciously veiled tone, seeing there were two ponies not in the know here. Still, I could not help but cast my eyes on Starlight, who gave me an unreadable look. “It’s a casual visit, she wrote. Perhaps she just wants to survey the realm.”

At least this would be a good way to extricate myself from the mare that had glued herself on me.

“But in such a hurry? She’s coming tomorrow!” He gawked at the letter with worry. “Is she planning to catch us unguarded?”

“We all know she’s the spontaneous sort for an Alicorn.” I tried to calm the dragon despite my own uncertainty. “Whatever happens, happens. We’ll just get ready and let things be. Roll with the punches and all that.”

Unlike the poker-faced Starlight, Trixie simply barged in our conversation and asked. “Why are you two talking about a Princess stopping by like it’s the sheriff coming?”

Before I even gave a reply, she smugly grinned and proclaimed. “Aha, I see now. Don’t you worry about being busted for whatever crime you might have committed. For I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, am also an expect in stealth and intrigue.”

Starlight and Spike both raised a skeptical brow, while Trixie smacked a forceful hoof on my shoulder and pulled me close. “Since I’ve grown to quite like you, Twilight Sparkle…”

I did a double take.

“… I shall teach you one of my immensely useful skills, the dazzling Smoke-Out Escape! This way, you can always be one trot ahead of the authorities!”

I gently increased the distance between me and the mouthy magician, and tried to explain. “No, Trixie, and Starlight as well in case you’re wondering – Spike and I are not some kind of fugitives from justice. I thank you for your concern, Trixie, but we probably need decorations more than smoke bombs for now.”

“Decorations?” Spike asked as he tilted his head. “But didn’t you just say Princess Celestia’s just on a casual visit?”

“Casual or not, a royal visit can’t be too shabby. As the Princess’s liaison in Ponyville, I have to maintain a modicum of royal decorum. That means arranging for a modest reception, you know, putting on some show and such.”

“Hm, I guess that’s fair.” The dragon nodded.

Starlight seemed to have some idea, but she was immediately preempted by the boisterous blue mare.

“Did. You. Say. Shows?” Trixie slammed her hooves on the floor with excitement. “How fitting! There is one fantastic stage magician, right here right now! I even have the stage ready. Oh, an opportunity to put on a show for the most prestigious royalty in the land, you don’t exactly see those every day… With any luck, tales of my deeds will be told from Maretonia to Saddle Arabia!”

“I’m talking about something more like a simple welcoming banner-”

“Pfft, those can be arranged.” Trixie waved her hoof dismissively. “A welcoming banner at the town entrance and multiple, very clear direction signs to the main stage!”

Spike retorted with an utterly unamused tone. “The Princess comes to check on the ponies in Ponyville. You are not even from Ponyville.”

“Tsk, none of you are from Ponyville, and yet we are here.”

The small dragon groaned. “But what about catering? We’d need more than just a gag-pony!”

Spike blatantly ignored the daggers in Trixie’s gaze and continued. “We’d need food and drinks. Even if it’s just a single pony, it’s the princess we’re talking about, we can’t put together some crummy snacks and call it a day!”

“I’ll do it.”

Starlight finally managed to squeeze herself into the conversation. She gave me a simpering look and continued. “To clarify, I mean I will go to the Sugarcube Corner and the Sweet Apple Acres to make arrangement for the banquet. I know whatever I make would not be nearly as presentable or edible enough.”

“Starlight-”

“That’s okay. It’s a good thing to know one’s strengths and weaknesses.” She said with a measured tone. “Either way I am doing something for you, and that’s fine by me.”

I gulped hard at her words and Spike’s recurring gaze, and was about to apologize further. But out of nowhere, my face was smacked with a ball of fur.

“Whu-?”

The blue, hairy object wriggled and chirped, before being removed from my face by a turquoise aura of magic. Starlight inspected the rotund bug-like creature, and turned it around several times. It buzzed and shook its pairs of tiny wings, and its big colorful eyes stared attentively at its captor.

“What exactly is this hairball?” Trixie looked on incredulously. “Where did it even come from?”

“It’s quite cute!” Spike smiled, and jabbed at the creature with his claws, causing it to emit a pleasant purring sound. “Look at it goes!”

“I saw it come in from the upper floor.” Starlight said matter-of-factly. “Must have come through the window.”

“Whatever, just get rid of it.” Trixie waved her hooves dismissively again. “I’ve learnt on my travel not to mess with critters however they look.”

Starlight, on the other hoof, looked cautiously thoughtful. “I seem to have seen this creature in my studies before… Any ideas, Twilight?”

I shook my head with some shame, as knowledge on bestiary was not exactly my strong point. Twilight used to prefer reading wordier books, as she thought the illustrations were distracting, and I simply have lapsed in ‘my’ studies in a way that Twilight of the past would have cried bloody murder. 

I would agree with the other Spike that the critter was adorable, though.

“T- There it is. Oh, thank goodness!”

We turned to the gentle voice that had suddenly weaved herself into the conversation. A yellow pegasus flew through the door with a clear expression of relief.

“Oh, Fluttershy.” I greeted with a smile. “Good morning, what brings you to the library today? If you are looking for the book on herbs and their suitability as feed additives, then it hasn’t come in through the interloan yet.”

“No, I’m just looking for-” The demure mare still looked a bit fidgety, especially since she noticed there were four of us here. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?”

“No, not at all.” I reassured. Fluttershy, though, looked at Trixie and Starlight with clear apprehension, seeing how their first public appearance before the citizens of Ponyville ended in complete pandemonium. 

Spike gestured to the wobbling creature still held in Starlight’s aura. “We’re just talking about this little fella. Is it yours?”

“Yes! I mean, well, not exactly.” The yellow pegasus, in sweet self-consciousness, shyly corrected. “I just found this adorable little guy near the edge of Everfree. It’s so cute! I just can’t help but to bring it into town to show everypony!”

“It looks so soft and lovable, yeah.” Spike grinned at the purring critter. “I won’t mind having one or two in the house, to be honest.”

“Meh, it’s just a ball of fluff.” Trixie muttered under her breath, while Starlight stared at the creature intently for one last time, before returning it to its finder.

Fluttershy gave Starlight a skittish nod of thanks, before shifting with even some embarrassment. “But when we’re at the market, it slips out of my saddlebag and just ate up a whole basket of apples! Poor thing must be famished!”

She then sighed wistfully. “I paid the stall owner, and then tried to get it to calm down, but it escaped again.”

”And after a lengthy chase, it somehow ends up in here.” I held my jaw and surmised.

“P- Pretty much.”

“Well, since it’s here, I may as well try to ID it later, if only because it is so delightfully cute.” I twirled my mane in thought. “But probably after we set things up for Princess Celestia’s visit.”

“The Princess is coming?” Fluttershy’s eyes grew round.

Spike clapped and rubbed his claws. “Yep, tomorrow morning, and we’re about to get around and put up decorations.”

“Oh… I see, I guess I should be going then-”

However, as the yellow pegasus turned around to leave, the fur ball suddenly trembled in her hooves. Another nearly selfsame fur ball then popped out from its mouth.

The new fur ball was of a different color, but it buzzed and chirped all the same. They flew around the assembled ponies and dragon in cheerful unison, and emitted an almost saccharine hum.

Fluttershy immediately swooned, and Spike let out a cooing ‘aww’. Even Trixie begrudgingly admitted. “Okay, I guess that was a little cute.”

Starlight and I, however, were more interested in its curiously fast growth.

“Such a remarkable way of reproduction for a macro-organism.” I said with amazement. 

“It gestates completely within the parent, and yet is the same size as a mature specimen… And if the trigger to its reproduction is food intake, then it assimilates nutritional matter with an astonishingly fast rate and high efficiency.” Starlight stroke her cheek intently. “We must consult the Compendium of Equestrian Fauna-”

“Yes, yes, your passion is noted.” 

Spike gave both of us a pat on the side, and then waved the timid animal caretaker along with her two new critters goodbye. “But as far as I know, you two are not exactly animal experts. If even Fluttershy doesn’t know what that is, it’s not going to be quick. Remember, we still have a princess to welcome.”

“Spike’s right.” I smiled. “We can study this together when we are back from work tonight. It’s been some time since we spend time properly together.”

“Aye, sure thing, Twilight.” Starlight looked visibly perked at my promise. She gave a not-so-discreet peek to Trixie, who have gone back to planning for her big show for the Princess. She then nodded again with a clear smile.

I chuckled. “It’s not like these critters are going anywhere.”


************


They were definitely going somewhere, alright. That somewhere being every-bucking-where.

The deafening sounds of insect buzzing reverberated across the winding streets of Ponyville, almost drowning out all the screeches and screams from innocent bystanders. 

I turned back in alarm, and a sky-shielding swarm of fur balls suddenly descended upon the square in chaotic tandem. All edible stuffs in the open were picked clean off in a blink of an eye.

Holding a half-hung piece of colorful fabric, Spike and I exchanged an astounded look. Out of sheer instinct, I yanked the dragon with a levitation spell and quickly put him on my back.

“Hey!” He protested at being suddenly manhandled.

“Sorry. These creatures seem to be quite ravenous in their appetite.”

He immediately blanched. “D- D- Does that mean they are gonna eat us?”

I put up a reassuring tone. “I’m just being prudent. They don’t seem to attack living beings from what we’ve seen.”

“Riiight...” He looked to the insatiable cloud of devourers with still some disquiet in his voice. “But even if that’s true, they’re going to eat all the food in Ponyville at this rate!”

I let out a plaintive sigh and leaned my head back onto the dragon. “That would indeed be bad.”

“Not just bad, but really bad!” Spike cried and grasped my cheeks. “A lot of ponies are going to go hungry. We’re all going to go hungry!”

“While there would definitely be disruption, I trust the royal government would promptly divert aid from elsewhere, so as to make sure a famine doesn’t break out at the heart of Equestria. Plus, they don’t seem to touch inorganic materials, so gems and minerals would be fine.”

“B- But-” Spike, however, seemed to be more agitated than me. “Even so, ponies will go without a job and have their lives ruined! Like, Pinkie would have nothing to bake cakes with, the Apple family would see their soon-to-be harvest gone in a ‘poof’, Fluttershy would struggle to feed her animals-”

“Not trying to lay blame on her or anything, but I think you’ll see that it’s her desire to feed animals that contributes to our current conundrum.”

He stuttered for a bit, before returning to his flustered reasoning. “Besides, you know, ponies would have much bigger things to care than the weather or fashion, so Rainbow Dash and Rarity would also be screwed!”

I chuckled. “And getting Rarity into trouble would be a bridge too far, right?”

Spike quickly blushed, but he let out a frustrated groan. “This is no time to joke! Why aren’t you more concerned about the whole thing?”

I paused, and asked myself the same question again in my mind. I suddenly realized why there was a nagging feeling of mine that did not want this situation to resolve quickly.

At the end, I supplied with some shame. “I apologize. I suppose I should indeed take the situation more seriously. I guess I was, without thinking, hoping that the disruption would distract any royal scrutiny. But it’s selfish of me to think so.”

Spike then scratched his head hesitantly. “I- I haven’t thought of it this way. But yeah, we really should try to stop the swarm first. Celestia knows if they would escape Ponyville and spread to other parts of Equestria. Nopony deserves to have their livelihoods destroyed, if even somepony like Trixie doesn’t.”

“Right. So, any ideas?”

“What? You’re turning to me for ideas? Do I look like I am the one who graduated from a School for Gifted Dragons?” Spike first noted with a droll smirk, then frowned. “Can’t you just, I dunno, use some doohickey spells to make them stop eating?”

“Well, I do have a spell or two that could in theory trick them away from ingesting organic matter.” 

I pondered. “But seeing how they have an unnaturally intense appetite, and a heretofore unknown yet highly efficient mechanism to exploit the energy from a wide range of materials, they might just turn onto other non-organic sources for continual catabolism. I doubt I have a spell that could counteract their very drive to consume, not before I have a good understanding of the nature of their behavior.”

“Uhhhh-”

“They will just eat non-food instead.” I switched to my Spike-speak.

“Oh… Eh?”

We both noticed an exasperated blue mare galloping from afar, and wearing an absolutely livid expression.

“Hey you two, do some- just do something already!” Trixie asked with a mix of incredulousness and impatience once she approached us. “Why are you just standing around? There won’t be a show or even reception any longer if this dump of a town turns into Famine-ville!”

“Well, then why aren’t you doing anything, o brave Hero of Kvetch?” Spike began to mercilessly mock the blue mare. “Surely saving Ponyville from this hungry horde would be a simple job for a unicorn as resourceful as you?”

I swore I could see a vein or two popped on Trixie’s temple. But then we briefly met gazes. 

Miraculously, she simply took in a long, slow breath and calmed herself down.

“… Very well, I shall show the scaly hayseed there how it is done.” The stage magician proclaimed with her usual bravado, but I could sense that she did not have much of an idea yet. “And steady your eyes too, Twilight Sparkle, for I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, am about to add a new feat for the ages into her long list of-”

Trixie’s grand speech was cut short by another bright blue-green flash. Her erstwhile opponent, Starlight Glimmer, materialized right before us with a serious expression.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight, I am late to connect the dots.” The light purple unicorn immediately apologized with a sigh. “Of course their appetite plus their multiplying rate would mean exponential growth.”

“No worries, we are all slow on the uptake here.” I reassured her. “So have you figured out other things?”

“’Fraid not. I was just going to the Acres, when some townpony spotted me and told me there is some sort of attack on the town. I then rushed back and looked for all of you.” 

She then added bashfully. “They might have looked to me as somepony who can just blast anything into oblivion with one hit.”

“Not an unfair assessment.” I noted wryly.

Starlight’s mouth opened as if to say something, but she rolled her eyes with a snort instead. She then trotted towards the edge of the meandering swarm, which extended all the way along the main street towards the horizon.

“I am just going to banish all these pesky fur balls back to where they came from. If they will just stay there, then we don’t have to worry about them anymore. They are from the Everfree Forest, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and not a bad idea… Uh, need my help?”

“No, just stay back and watch.” Starlight’s words were curt but firm.

I fell into a pensive silence, and the light purple unicorn immediately fired up her horn. A massive aura materialized before her, and grew into hundreds of frightful tendrils that darted towards every individual in the swarm. Each of the fur balls that got hit was immediately teleported away, giving it an illusion of an all devouring leviathan.

“What in the ever-loving heck is that?” Spike gasped, and hugged my mane even closer in fear.

“What an annoying show-off.” Trixie, on the other hoof, was completely oblivious to the irony of her own words.

I just quietly gauged Starlight’s efforts to get rid the perpetually hungry creatures. Her spell seemed tailor-made to lock onto the individuals within the formless swarm. She might have ramped up the showy factor, but it was the epitome of precision and magical control.

However, as time went on, something just did not add up. The swarm was at first held at bay by Starlight’s magic, but they did not wane in any appreciable numbers at all. 

At last, the light purple unicorn panted heavily with exhaustion, and abruptly ceased her spell.

“What happened?” I asked quickly.

She took in a long breath. “… As I suspected, these creatures must have some kind of homing ability towards their peers, or that they are attracted to the food sources in town. They just won’t stay where I teleported them to.”

“That’s a shame.” Spike commented and stuck his tongue out, while Trixie just jeeringly snorted.

The glare of the magical unicorn against the swarm turned harsh. “If they are too simple to understand my benevolent intention, I guess I have to do it the hard way.” 

She did not even wait for a bit, before unleashing another sky-rending beam of pure magical energy. This time, there was no well-crafted subtlety, only raw power and utter annihilation.

The beam narrowly missed a crooked signpost and an old bell tower, before reaching the edge of the swarm, fiercely howling and blitzing.

Spike covered his eyes and peered out of the gaps, while I instinctively winced, expecting a blazing inferno of barbecued bugs and the subsequent counselling session with a heartbroken pegasus.

However, the creatures moved together in a choreographed motion. Like an oddly organized horde of angry frilled lizards, their mouths collectively flapped open to an impossible width, weaving themselves into a terrifying curtain of abyss.

The attack hit the dead center of the swarm, but instead of turning the creatures into hot dust, the blinding light went into their mouths and disappeared like a candlelight in the wind.

Much to our horror, the fur balls seemed to have fully absorbed the attack. They ballooned in size briefly, before letting loose a torrential stream of new individuals made with the sudden influx of energy. 

The air filled up to the brim with the cute yet all-devouring critters, their bodies compressed and slipped against each other, all while pushing towards us like a tsunami.

Starlight clearly did not expect this outcome, neither did the rest of us. She froze there, eyes round as melons. I knitted my brows and trotted forward, preparing to teleport the whole group to a safer distance, but Trixie seemed to have some other idea.

“Watch out!” I called out to the galloping mare, worried that this was far from something the magician could handle herself. 

“Twilight Sparkle, I told you I am going to do something about this myself, before that magical brute barged in and screwed things up even more!” The magician sounded exasperated and somewhat uncertain, but also oddly exuberant. “Now feast your eyes upon my work and behold!” 

I gasped in shock as Trixie entered a mad dash towards the ferocious swarm, her cape fluttering in the turbulence.

“Geronimo-!”

She raised her front hooves, let out a loud cry of war, and elevated her cape to reveal the content underneath – tightly-secured belts carrying numerous metallic spheres.

I was briefly startled by her explosive belt, before the blue mare catapulted the spheres out one by one with her magic, and began again to gallop with her full might. Instead of explosions, pungent colorful smoke quickly enveloped the advancing file of swarm section by section, and eventually occluded our view of the surprisingly courageous magician who disappeared under the smoke and the swarm.

The remaining three of us looked on with mouths agape, before the magician mare dashed out of the smoke cloud again, holding one of the fur balls using her telekinesis triumphantly. Unlike a moment ago, the fur ball looked much more lethargic, and its wings beat listlessly without rhythm.

“Haha, hahahaha!” Trixie sounded as if she did not believe she did it at first, but she quickly raised her hooves in victory. “The Great and Powerful Trixie always has a few tricks up her sleeves!”

Although Trixie’s smoke still clung to the air stubbornly, we could see something similar happened with the swarm at large. They have lost most of their vigor and swam around the smoky air slowly and aimlessly, clustering into a writhing ball of confused bugs. Their mad pursuit for edible materials had completely ceased.

“Whoa.” Spike was the first to give an audible response. “That’s… That’s something. I guess smoke bombs are not just for escape after all.”

“That faint a praise does not at all match with the absolute genius that goes into my operation, scaly hayseed.” 

Trixie tutted. “My smoke bombs are so smoky because of all the very special oils I put into them myself. I use them to repel mosquitoes on my travel all the time. I know it is going to work on all other kinds of bugs, naturally.”

“So basically, you fumed all those hairy bugs out of the air.” Spike blinked a few more times. “… I can’t say that’s not effective. It did the job anyway. So, bravo.”

Trixie harrumphed, basking proudly in the reluctant praise from the other Spike. 

“Hey-! Wow, you girls make the parasprites stop even before I gather up the instruments!”

A high-pitched, sprightly voice rang behind us, and we turned to find Pinkie Pie rolling in, for some reason, as a one-pony band. She looked intrigued at the positively plastered swarm. “How you do that?”

“All thanks to Trixie and her quick thinking. She used her homemade smoke bombs to disable them. Now their removal should be easily expedited.” I smiled, and then turned to the magician mare. “Thank you so much, Trixie.”

“So am I a good friend indeed to a friend in need?” She asked eagerly.

“Oh, uh, of course you are.”

Trixie’s head held high in clear joy and pride, while Starlight averted her eyes. I nonetheless kept on asking the pertinent question. “You also sound like you know what these ‘parasprites’ are, Pinkie.”

“Oh, you know, they are the ever-hungry parasprites! If you don’t get them out of the town soon, they will eat all the crops, harvest, absolutely everything!”

“And those instruments…?”

“Oh, they are for exactly that!” She grinned brightly. “Just watch!”

Pinkie blew a loud tone with the trombone, and began to beat on the drums. Unbelievably, the writhing mass of tipsy parasprites began to half-fly and half-squirm towards the pink pony. With each hit of the keys, the massive swarm rippled and bobbed, and sluggishly followed the pony piper, all the way towards the horizon out of the town.

“… My head hurts.” Spike jumped down from my back and held his forehead.

I patted the dragon with an empathic nod, before catching eye of Trixie pulling Starlight to the side. The blue mare had this look of glee, and whispered something very quickly to Starlight’s ears with a swaggering grin. Starlight seemed quite stunned at what the presumably boastful mare had said, and she hung her head further lower. 

I immediately frowned, and was about to trot near them to express my disapproval at the magician’s apparent aggressive aggrandizement, but Starlight just slunk away and said quietly. “Twilight, I… I think I will just go ahead and finish my job at the Acres.”

“Wait-” I barely spoke up, but Starlight was already gone in a flash of teleportation magic.

I quickly turned and glared at Trixie, who only then noticed my clear displeasure and slightly flinched. “What exactly did you just tell Starlight, Trixie? Are you boasting to her how witty you are for thinking up a way to immobilize the parasprites?”

“What, no-” Trixie widened her eyes, and then slapped her own cheeks dramatically. “Ow, I mean, yes, yes I did. Ah, I shouldn’t do that, I really shouldn’t. You know, humble in victory gracious in defeat and all that. I’m sorry!”

“… Okay. I mean, you did well to hold up the parasprites until Pinkie came along, but that doesn’t give you the right to-”

“Yes, got it, got it-” Trixie looked like she’s already out of patience. “You know what, Twilight, we really should keep at our work to prepare for the Princess’s visit, don’t you think so? We’re already behind schedule with this whole parasprite nonsense.”

“Whoops.” I realized she was right, as the sun was trending downwards. “Fine, we’ll talk about this tonight after I met with Starlight.”

Against Trixie’s loud groan, I added. “Spike and I will keep putting up the banners and decorations, and then probably check on any loss of food suffered in town. You go back to prepare whatever kind of show you’re trying to put up, okay?”

“Aye, the Great and Powerful Trixie never disappoints.” She smirked. “I’ll have to check on and replenish my props as well. See you around.”

I waved Trixie goodbye and let out a heavy breath. I realized very clearly now. I was so blind and passive, and definitely not giving nearly enough attention to Starlight and her feelings, especially ever since we were back in Ponyville.

I must sit her straight up and have a serious talk, mano-a-mano, to clear the air and remind her that I still value her as a very good friend.

I gritted my teeth, my stomach and guts tied in a distressing knot. Spike held up the opposite side of the banner and stared right into my regretful eyes, and I was certain he knew what I was thinking. He merely sighed and shook his head.

I hoped it would not be all too late.