Fix This!

View Online

When Spike woke up on that particular Saturday, he wouldn't have thought he would be in charge of so much, or have a husband or have a child. . .or be an Alicorn.

When Cadence woke up on Saturday, she never thought she would not be as important as she thought she was, or that she could breathe fire or that she was a dragon.

''And that should be the last of them,'' Spike commented happily, passing the last scroll to Twilight that contained lists upon lists of spells that were either incomplete or required a certain level of finesse to get the certain result intended. When the prospect of cracking these spells came to the unicorn, Twilight could not resist the opportunity to flex her skills. "You sure about not spending all day in here by yourself?''

Twilight smirked as she finished setting up her workspace to begin her research and experimentation. All of the incomplete scrolls, the ones that needed to revisions, and the ones that had yet to be made were just calling out to her to work her magic at solving. "Of course, Spike; given that a decent portion is already done, it should be done before you know it. Besides, this is me we're talking about." Twilight said, smiling at her assistant.

Taking her word at face value, Spike simply let her be as once Twilight started something, it would take the world ending or a miracle to get her to stop. He only hoped that she would get done before anypony important besides Cadence came by today.

What he didn't know would be that very thing would be his undoing later in the day.

Princess Cadence was stressed.

Moreso than the usual amount for a pony, and a lot of that attributed to her being an Alicorn and the Crystal Empire's sovereign.

Day in and day out, ponies would come by to air out any issues, from the streets not glittering as bright as they should be, the rivalry between businesses, the lack of readily available food to issues that weren't even really issues!

The sun, and it being too hot was not her specialty, there was already a princess to consult on that.

And to make matters worse, her personal life is also becoming an issue as well with Shining Armour complaining about their personal love life, and the varying responsibilities that they have to end up interfering with the small-time that they do have for each other tend to result in yelling, and that was something that Cadence did not want in her life and marriage.

And these were supposed to be the best years of her life!

Sighing as yet another day graced her, Cadence's only glimmer of hope was the fact that she was going to Ponyville to not only talk to Applejack about getting her some extra-strength cider for her troubles but also to spend a little bit of time with someone else of the Sparkle family who did not give her a growing headache.

For all that Shining Armour needs to know, it was nothing more than a diplomatic meeting that could not be avoided.

As she took flight towards the train station, she was certain that Shining Armour could handle the Crystal Empire for a few hours.

What could go wrong?

''Thanks, again Applejack!'' Cadence waved at the farm mare with three bottles of cider in her saddlebag. In all, meeting with her was a refreshing change of pace as opposed to staying where she was. While they could have not talked about what they both wanted to, it was a good enough talk that it gave Cadence a sense of peace since she got to Ponyville a few hours ago.

Walking down the long dirt road, the thoughts of what comprised her day thus far was nothing short of interesting, but she merely wanted to put all of that behind her as she continued on the path on her way to Twilight's house. The pair could catch up on old times, share any new stories, and maybe even find some answers to her problems.

From where she could see, the Golden Oaks Libary was about a mile or so away as she came over a hill. Before she knew it, she would be meeting and talking with Twilight, and that was something that she had yet to see as good or bad, depending on how the unicorn's thought process is at.

But she didn't want to think too heavily on that when she was so close. ''At least I know I have my cider with me,'' Cadence chuckled to herself, shaking her head at her silliness. She should try some now if she wanted-

''-Hey, Cadence!'' a voice called out to her as she was lost in thought and stopped. ''Over here!'' the voice was to her left. Coming out of one of the many restaurants in Ponyville with a brown paper bag in one claw, and apple in the other was Spike, smiling and running over to her and giving her a hug. ''I thought you were coming by later.''

''At first, I was, but I didn't want it to get too late when I got here, plus you know how Twilight is; I figure me coming earlier can coax her out of her studies to want to hang out with her sister today,'' Cadence joked, nudging the dragon as the pair began to walk towards the library. ''What do you have there?''

Spike groaned, swinging the bag in the air before catching it upright with a tad smush. ''Order of daffodil and daisy sandwiches for Twilight, with a double order of hay fries and then she wants me to stop by Sugarcube Corner to pick up some mint chocolate cupcakes.'' the tone of his voice was not lost on Cadence as they both knew that one shortfall of the unicorn is her ability to be a bit of a glutton. ''What about you? Looks like cider from the look of it.''

A blush crept its way on to her face as they continued to walk. ''Y-Yea. You know how it is being the pony who everypony else depends on or needs your opinion. It gets a bit stressful at times. So having a little downtime and something to help shouldn't be so bad. You know?'' Cadence asked as Spike clapped her back in what was confirmation as he put his apple in his mouth.

''Yea, that's preaching to Celestia. But most of the time, she doesn't think much of it, so I don't. But there's always something more she can do.''

''. . .Does that make us wrong for assuming?'' Cadence questioned, not feeling particularly bad about what both of them knew.

''Cadence, it'd make us wrong if we didn't,'' Spike said.

It was more or less decided. Sugarcube Corner soon came into view, and Spike ventured inside, hoping the order would already be done or just nearing completion as to not keep Twilight waiting any longer than he would have wanted. But then again, two cupcakes were not too much a hassle to make and decorate. And while Pinkie Pie was ever so wanting to converse with the pair, it was settled that it would be done another time.

While resuming their walk to the library, their previous conversation was sparked once again with Spike wanting to know more about what exactly made it so hard to the Princess Of Love, as well as run the Crystal Empire. From his own experience dealing with nobles and ponies like Celestia and Luna, he knew there was no such thing as an easy day, and that only fueled to give him more respect for them to be the ones to take the mantle when it was not something asked of them.

''So, is it hard being. . .well, you? I can't imagine that you actually like every little thing you do,'' Spike said, tilting his head as he tried to wrap it around the question he wanted answers to. Cadence merely groaned as he did, and exhaled a breath that deflated the royal and refined persona that was put on and was replaced with a teenage mare. Taking off her crown and bringing life to her horn, she whisked away her regalia and sighed in contentment. It made Spike smirk. ''Better?''

''Very much.~ And to answer your question; it really just depends. And not just whether or not I have less work this day or that day, also how I feel as a pony inside also plays into things running smoothly, or making them seem that way at least.'' Cadence winked, Spike not understanding fully.

''How?''

''Well, what I do almost every day is kinda the same, but the way I go about almost never is the same. When it comes to spreading love around or helping that love be realized when it's dormant is probably the biggest example. Ponies and their emotions are kinda delicate, and most times, ponies end up lying to themselves about their true feelings,'' Cadence explained as she idly twirled her crown in her magic. ''And as the Princess Of Love, I feel it is my duty to give, in a way a nudge to help those feelings run the natural course.''

''Natural course? Are you saying you actually make ponies fall in love or just help them to do that themselves?''

''A little of both. I actually can make ponies fall in love, but it depends on them accepting that 'love' in a way. And what I mean is that it's really random on who they fall in love with and who I would want them to.'' Cadence said.

''That doesn't make sense. Ponies fall in love because you make them, but it won't be who you choose? How does that work?'' Spike frowned, blowing a weak raspberry in retaliation. That was silly. You couldn't make somepony fall in love without being sure of who you want them to be in love with, right?

Racking her brain to try and figure out a way to explain in a way that he understood, she slowed down her stride and thought about it for a moment with him. . .

Rarity. She had it now.

''Okay, imagine something like this; you're in love with Rarity, right?'' Cadence asked, throwing the dragon a curious glance. Looking up at her, and then to the ground, Spike only shrugged at the question. ''You're not?''

''It's not that I wasn't. Well, 'love' was kinda an understatement, now that I think about it.'' Spike said, munching away at his apple, savoring the sweet taste and texture. ''I did admire Rarity for a time, she was a pony that did something she loves, and she is very nice, so that was something else too. . .But I honestly think it was just a small crush. Plus there was the fact that she never saw much of my advances, or if she did; she never responded to it and just chalked it off as nothing.'' Cadence felt a little bit hurt at hearing that.

''Do you still feel that way about her, or has it passed?'' she knew that it was a somewhat sensitive question, and without attempting to pry, but it was something that she somewhat felt that had to be done for her sake.

Spike answered without hesitation. ''No. Because if I do, I can tell that I'll only end up doing the same thing I did before, and then that won't be good for me. Maybe if things were different, I would try, but with now. . .I'm sure that I may be able to find somepony else for me. I can't focus on going backward, only forward.''

Cadence had to applaud Spike a little for being mature about something as sensitive as love, but when she heard what he said, it could have been taken in a negative way when somepony has the love of their life deny their feelings or even not acknowledge them at all. which could lead to even more of a headache, but the route that Spike was voluntarily taking was something she was sure that would grow into quite the formidable strength when the time calls for it.

''Wow, Spike, that's very refreshing to hear that you think like that. It. . .does my heart good to know one less pony or dragon in your case won't get too wrapped up in the thrall of rejection and misplaced emotions. . .but I do remember telling you about how I can make ponies fall in love, so would you mind if I used Rarity as an example?''

Spike merely thought about it for a few seconds before responding. ''Sure, knock yourself out,'' Spike said, not really caring much, only wanting to gain a clearer understanding of what she meant.

''Well, in your particular case, and I can see this making sense using how you are now,'' Cadence hmmed, trying to consider how should she first tackle explaining. ''I can use my magic to draw out your innermost feelings of care and affection. It can be so strong, that in some cases, the pony in question ends up doing something over the top right away, but most times it doesn't get that serious,'' Cadence's magic brought to life two hearts in the air, hovering a few inches from each other. She then willed one heart to grow in size and spin to help illustrate her point.

''So, when you say 'overboard', how much are we talking about?'' Spike wondered. Cadence pursed her lips together, seeming to not want to tell.

''Let's just say that one case where we had to have a few nurses to help out with the aftermath. . .'' Cadence said nervously as Spike looked on in wonder. Nurses? What in Celestia's sun happened? "That bad?''

''That bad,'' Cadence said, trying her best not to relive that experience. But she did want to finish her explanation. "So when it comes to bringing those feeling to the front of their mind, it depends on the pony that they have in their mind, and then if they come to terms with their own internal feelings, then they act on them.'' Cadence willed the hearts to come together as one.

''Act?''

''In your case; you could have feelings for Rarity, and vice versa, but you may never act on them because you were both scared to tell the other, and I can help to bring that to the front of both of your minds, and hopefully you act on them. That's what I mean by I can make you fall in love, but the pony in question you end up acting that love on depends on you.'' Cadence said, taking the apple core after Spike was finished in her magic and putting it into a nearby trash can. ''And most of the time, it does end up being a good match.''

Spike had another thought pop into his mind. ''And do you ever get tired of doing that?''

''No, not really. I will say I wish there were some days where I would not have to play matchmaker, but like any kind of job; there has to be somepony to do it,'' Cadence sighed, trying her best to look back on the good things about the things that she has done as for the sake of love, and that brought a smile to her face. ''I just wish. . .''

''Wish what?'' Spike asked, curious.

''Wish that I could be given a little more appreciation!'' Cadence nearly yelled in disappointment. ''Everypony I come across always has this grand idea that doing the things that I do is as easy as it is to bake a pie or look outside and admire the sunshine! I know what I do may look easy, but that's only because I have done this for so many years and learned all I could, and that translated to it looking like anypony could do it, but there could-'' Cadence was cut short by the drake.

''-Be serious consequences when they try and do what you do and fail, and so when you come in to fix it and make it look easy the whole time you're doing it, you end up getting a few nasty looks or misplaced scolding?'' Spike's voice carried plentiful amounts of sarcasm behind it as he summed up exactly what Cadence was going to say as she held her mouth open. ''Was I wrong?''

''Spot on, actually. I'm guessing you go through the same thing, too?''

''Like you wouldn't believe,'' Spike said back, shaking his head at the question. ''Being Twilight's assistant isn't really too hard, but it does have its own days when we have to make checklists and double and triple, then quadruple check them to make sure she didn't forget anything.''

''She has you do all that?'' Cadence asked, intrigued a tad. Quadruple checking checklists?

''And help her experiments, help her to plan events, write Princess Celestia letters, and pretty much anything that she might need, and that it kinda does give me a headache when it backfires on her,'' Spike said, scratching his chin, throwing Cadence for a loop a bit when he continued to talk about the varying escapades Twilight and by extension, Spike had to experience, such as when she went overboard over a friendship letter not being sent to Princess Celestia, to all of the issues that revolved around her.

''But, do you regret being her assistant, even with all she has you do?'' Cadence asked, wondering about where his mind was at when it came to Twilight because for as long as she knew her as a filly, Twilight has always had more of a headfirst personality and she always had to be the mare who did things that nopony else had the willpower or magic to want to endure the eventual challenges that were sure to follow, but Twilight was a strong and. . .quirky unicorn and she was sure that a lot of the 'flaws' that had now, would only get ironed out as she got older and experienced more of life.

Spike merely had to reflect back on the times that he had to endure being her whims and almost harebrained schemes, and he found himself, more times than most he would be the one that would have to get his friends, and often all with some smart looks or goading at the situation often made the things that he did often more difficult than without the pressure of messing up being on his head. It did, however also contribute to his own personal sarcasm or quips when things had yet to fully hit the crew besides Spike or when everything was all said and done.

He had plenty of reason to be less than cheerful about the arrangement, and he was not given due credit for the things he did, as well. But in a way, he also dealt with it for the sake that Twilight was the pony to care for him, and that made her family, and for that, he was ever grateful.

But even he had a limit.

''No, I don't regret who I am. Twilight does show her appreciation for me, even though it's not as constant as I may want. I know it's there, but I think more and more, she'll need to do things on her own versus her having me do things.'' Spike said, his tone sounding final and unwavering. The pair hadn't noticed how far they walked in relation to their conversation. If not for years of acquired sense of location, Spike would have ended up walking straight into the door of the library.

Something the pair both had to admit about one another was the amount of relatable things they found by talking to each other. They both understood the burden of being in a position that most would count as being easy and that the nitty-gritty of what happened every day was lost on those who were not in the same boat as them. Spike would be responsible for making sure that Ponyville did not become the byproduct of one failed experiment or mishap on the part of the unicorn, and that in itself was quite the chore to have set on his shoulders.

Cadence had multiple ponies and duties to attend to, without much regard of her own feelings, not to mention living her own life with her husband and daughter, and to help spread love through Equestria the best that she can without any help, and that made for quite the routine to get established with. Cadence held a higher respect for Spike than she did, as well as Spike when they both found out the uncanny relationship they shared.

In all, it was quite the talk for them.

''Spike?'' Cadence spoke in a whisper, just as her hoof touched the wood of the door, a slight sigh of happiness coursing through her as she turned and looked to him.''Thanks for the chat, we really should do this more. I feel so much more-''

''-Better, I know,'' Spike replied back, feeling the same. He had to admit that even though it was only a chat for a few minutes on the way to their destination, it was something that served to help the both of them vent, in a way, Cadence a little more than him. It was a feeling he couldn't easily categorize himself, but he knew it was something that he did not want to be foreign to him. He could get used to talking with Cadence, plus he felt that they should be talking more; they were family in a way, after all. He flashed a small smile. ''Ready to deal with Twilight?''

Oh, of course. She had almost all but forgot about actually meeting with her face to face today. She blushed a little bit at the question, but still resigned herself to go through with what she originally planned on having done in the first place.

The pair walked inside the library, relishing the feeling of the sun no longer beaming onto them and proceeded upstairs to see Twilight still hard at work with modifying spells when the smell of the food in the bag began to slowly coax her attention away from her quill writing across the parchment.

''Oh, Spike, that smells delicious,'' Twilight beamed, taking the bag from him, along with the small box with her cupcakes. ''And you remembered my cupcakes too.''

Spike puffed his chest out a tad, smirking. ''Nothing to it, you know? Think you're ready for a break?''

Twilight was already halfway through her first sandwich when she stopped and gulped, and thought about it for a moment. ''I guess, but not for too long, Cadence is coming by later so I need to-''

''-I'm already here, Twilight,'' Cadence said, coming up the stairs from using the bathroom before rejoining Spike. ''I could have waited, but I figured why not come early and surprise you? Plus, we both know how you can get in your work; last time, I was waiting for two hours before you decided to blink an eye to me,'' Twilight chuckled nervously at what she said.

Spike laughed at the exchange between the two as they did the Sunshine dance with her, like each of them did every time they met. He figured with this time, he took a look at one of the spells that she was attempting to fix; a simple mind spell that was designed to enable the user to hear the thoughts of anypony they chose, but it appeared to be limited to one pony at a time. The footnotes talked about the error taking part in how it was cast, and the unwanted feedback that it provided every time that it would require the caster to constantly re-cast the spell in order to keep it going.

At the time, a pony that he would rather not see using this spell was Twilight, in fact. If she had the ability to read the mind of whoever she chose, then it would not be so good when it came to terms of privacy, and while he was somewhat sure that having that power and choosing not to use it would be something that Twilight would be able to restrain herself from using.

Hopefully.

He then noticed Twilight talking to Cadence and showing her a few of the spells that she was working on and demonstrating a few of them as Spike's eyes began to droop a little more than what he was used to. His mind swam with uncertainty, though the embrace of sleep overpowered that initial feeling.

Before he resigned himself to taking a small nap in light of the lengthy conversation the two of them were sure to have, he began to think more about what he and Cadence talked about.

Sometime later. . .

Spike was almost sure of himself.

He shook his head and tried to nurse the small headache that threatened to split his head in two, and his horn was also hurting as well.

Wait, horn?

''Oh, my goodness,'' Twilight was heard having a panic attack about something. Spike heard her come over and into his field of view, visible fear with a hint of intrigue behind it as he tried to make sense of things. ''Are you okay?''

''Yea, I think so,'' Spike said, his voice fully throwing him for a loop when Cadence's voice came out of it. Spike had to take stock of what was happening; he was in a different place than he slept, he felt heavier, stressed and his 'horn' was hurting. And to add to it. . .

Cadence's voice came out of his mouth. He had to make sure of something-

''-Aaaaaahhh!'' Twilight looked over to see Spike suddenly wake up and scream in horror. ''What's happened to me? Why am I like this?''

Twilight rushed over, looking her assistant up and down, and before she could even get another word out, 'Spike' looked over.

''. . .Why am I over there?''

Twilight looked back and forth between the two, and made a revelation about the situation. Lips quivering, her eye constricted to pins before she spoke.

''I-I may have switched. . .your bodies by accident,'' Twilight chuckled nervously, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

''You what?!/How?!''

Breathe Pink Fire

View Online

Anything Twilight said was cut off by a book being clumsily thrown at her face.

"Guys, wait, if we just take a second to assess the situation we can figure this out," Twilight said in a worried tone. She did not mean to have this happen; she just was going to show Cadence a few of the spells that she was fixing, and when it came to the last spell, she mistakenly cast the spell without double-checking it.

"How did this happen?" Cadence asked though it was Spike's mind inside her body. One hypothesis she was more than sure that was true was they did not retain their own voices when the switch was made, which could lead to some confusion and doubt if it was really something that happened. "I hope you know how to fix this, Twi."

"I s-second that." Spike said back, barely able to stand on 'his' two feet and his legs shaking along with Cadence doing the same before resigning to just sitting down awkwardly. ''What magic did you mess with that you probably had no business meddling in?''

Twilight clicked her tongue and turned her head to the desk where she had her spells. The true fact of the matter was more of . . .well, she didn't know. The spells that she was given were more along the lines of harmless, and plus she figured that she would have a lesser window for error than the one that was just made. ''It seems that the spell to enable the user to hear the thoughts of others ended up switching both of your minds into each other's bodies; but why?''

''Well, did you end up casting the spell at one of us, with the hope that we could be able to read the other's mind while I was asleep?'' Spike asked, just sitting down as he attempted to gain his bearings in being an Alicorn. ''Did anything like that register in your mind when you did that?''

That particular thought did not cross the mind, or at least it did not right away. Twilight's thought process to the entire spell was to see the likelihood to hear the thoughts of another pony that the spell was directed at, though it seemed to attach itself to Spike and Cadence. ''I don't think so, but at any rate; it doesn't seem to show a way to reverse the spell. . .'' Twilight said, catching the pair's attention.

''W-What do you mean? You have to fix this, Twilight. I can't be a dragon. I have an empire to attend to; a husband and a little girl! How can I explain this to them when they see me?!'' Cadence groaned, on her feet and claws like a pony, though it only felt slightly more strange this way as opposed to being a pony. There was less of a straining point when she extended and retracted, so that was a plus. Then she suddenly realized her tone of voice at her disapproval of being a dragon. ''No offense, Spike.''

''None took, ''Spike said, agreeing with his sister in law. This was something was sure to not last long, if the pair had to endure this. It felt weird enough being taller than what he was used to, but also for him to have a horn and a pair of wings only added to his discomfort. But strangely, there was a small part of him that felt some enhanced sense of peace and frustration at the same time, almost as if both were canceling the other out. ''But I agree with Cadence; how soon do you think you could have a reversal spell ready?''

That was something that Twilight did not want to tell the pair. She could already see the gears turning in her head about what it would take to fix this. And she knew neither of them would like to hear it. Curse her thirst for knowledge!

Chuckling a tad, Twilight faced the pair. ''Well, that is dependent on what I can get in time to fix it. I'll need to consult my tomes to see what ingredients I'll need to fix this. That, and I may need to consult Zecora as well.''

''And about how long do you figure that will take?'' Spike asked.

''I don't know, 2, maybe 3.'' Twilight said, beginning to look in a few of the spellbooks that she had, her mind wandering away from their question.

''2 or 3? What, hours, days, weeks?!'' Cadence asked with a trace of fear in her voice.

''Months, at best if Zecora and I can't make heads or tails of it, and that isn't to say it'll work even if we do find something.''

. . .

''What, was it something I said?'' Twilight wondered when the pair looked at her with the widest of eyes before looking at each other and Twilight promptly met with another book to the face.

''What do you mean? Can't we just consult Princess Celestia and Luna on this? Shouldn't they know what to do in this situation?'' Cadence attempted to walk as Spike normally did, with some difficulty without falling over. ''The Royal Archive should have all you need to find out what to do in this situation, you know,'' Twilight clicked her tongue before going back to her books, though with a noticeable slower sense of urgency.

''Is she doing this to us, right now?'' Spike asked, moving over to the dragon with exaggerated movements. The more he tried to walk, the more he found it to not be as difficult as he thought, just he would have to keep track of where his hoofs were going so he wouldn't trip over himself.

''It looks like it. I mean, I can't be you, and you can't be me, no offense but I don't the Crystal Ponies will take too nicely to their leader suddenly forgetting her duties and having a completely different voice; they'll know something is up.'' Cadence huffed, already thinking about the current situation and what could befall the pair in their respective lives if they were forced to deal with this for any period of time beyond his, or even worse; forever! Shining Armour would definitely know that something is wrong, and also Flurry Heart; granted she was not that old, but she would already have some time of bad feeling from the Alicorn not sounding like she was supposed to be.

''Preach to the choir on that one; I can't be you! I don't know the first thing about magic! I'm pretty sure I can't even fly with these wings!'' Spike said, attempting to unfurl his wings, but only succeeded in making them jot out and shake back and forth before he stomped around a bit in order to get them to stop and relax, catching the attention of Cadence looking at him strangely. ''Sorry.''

''When it comes to consulting the princesses, that already was thought of since Princess Celestia already took the time to look up what she could to try and she sent these scrolls to me in the hope that I could be the one to figure it out, so there's not much when it comes to that regard,'' Twilight said with some disappointment, but still continued to look in some of her books. ''The two of you will just have to figure this conundrum out while I work on this reversal spell.''

''Are you serious?!/I know you're not being serious!'' Spike and Cadence got up in Twilight's face; the unicorn's book in her magic dropping to the floor. ''We can't do this! Everypony will instantly know that something is wrong from the first word either of us speaks!'' Spike began to panic more and more. ''I can't be The Princess Of Love! I don't know the first thing about love, or how to tend to subjects or anything like that. I-'' Twilight cut the dragon off. Well, Alicorn in this case.

''-I understand how the both of you are feeling-''

''-No, you do not, this is why we feel so strongly about this, Twilight. Cause you don't know,'' Cadence interrupted, huffing a bit of pink smoke of out her mouth.

Strange.

''-Regardless,'' Twilight continued. ''This is the best option that we have at the moment, so it seems that the two of you will just have to develop some sort of excuse and learn more about what the other does and commit it to memory. Just long enough for me to figure something out.''

''Really?'' the pair asked, the blandest of expressions on their faces.

''Really,'' Twilight replied matter of factly. She then shooed the two out of her study and downstairs to formulate something on their own. ''Don't worry. You definitely got this.''

. . .

''Aren't you at least going to say sorry for what you did? You ruined our day to relax and hang out.''

''And I am sorry for that, and for this little mix-up with the spell,'' Twilight stopped at the top of the stairs, turning around and facing the pair for a second. ''I know I may not be panicking like guys are, but worry not. I know I can find something to help put things back to the way that they were. . .but honestly, they're not that bad. The worst is that you're stuck this way.''

''That's the worst thing?'' Spike asked sarcastically, dragging his voice before sighing and lowering his head, to which Cadence walked over and laid a claw on his back. He then looked over to his sister, which was also himself, and shook his head even more. This was going to be a process. ''Think we should get started?''

''Yep.'' Cadence replied, turning around with the drake to go outside, albeit slowly and slightly wobbly for both of them. ''Anything I should know about being you?''

Spike walked outside of the library, the sun's rays laying across his body and providing a small amount of warmth. ''You're gonna have a craving for jewels, or anything if you're given a lot of stuff. And also on occasion, peanut butter, and hay sandwiches.''

''. . .Need I ask?'' Cadence stopped and looked very confused before shaking her head of that thought. Ugh.

''Nope,'' Spike replied, almost falling over as Cadence hopped on his back and stopped to adjust himself before walking again at a slow pace. ''What about being The Princess Of Love? Will I be feeling things more?''

''Like you wouldn't believe, Spike. Like you wouldn't believe.''

Draconic Authority

View Online

Twilight sat in her study, looking over the current progress of the two for as long as she was able to see before the pair disappeared towards the direction of Fluttershy's house. She wondered what amount of good the pair could give each other in the way of help from this incident which was the result of less than favorable outcomes. Twilight hoped the pair would be able to make this work for the time until this can rectified. ''If this gets out, then nopony will be able to keep this down, let alone even more if I can't fix these two.'' Twilight said, chuckling to herself nervously. But no matter what, one thing could be learned from this; Twilight would need to make sure she puts very distinct signs and warnings to prevent this from happening again.

But she held faith that the pair would figure something out. . .hopefully.

''Hmm? What's this?'' Twilight observed a small rise in the scroll. Almost as if the one scroll was two. Using her magic to carefully peel back the parchment, she observed some more writing that was on a separate scroll itself. It appeared to be footnotes about the spell. It highlighted one of the various risks behind using the spell, and according to Twilight. . .

Being stuck in the other's body just may be the lesser of two evils.

"Left, left, left!'' Cadence called from Spike's back. When the dragon said he wanted to learn how to fly, she thought he would have had some basic idea of what to do, but she did not think it to be as bad as this! ''Left, left; your other left!~''

''I-Isn't that just right?!" Spike called back, desperately trying to keep himself in the air without crashing. Using wings were a lot harder than what the Pegasi and Alicorns made it out to be. The wind whipped in his face, causing him to close his eyes and be shut off to the world for a few moments. He only wanted to go for a test run to see how hard it would be for him to learn how to fly. He managed to hover without too much difficulty, and then he wanted to bump things up a bit, Cadence was a little bit skeptical but the pair both knew it was something that needed to be learned.

''Don't overextend your wings, they'll lock up!'' Cadence called out, seeing his, well, her wings beginning to ruffle and shake. Something she should have made note of would be not starting off quite as high. Another thing was him not using his hooves and body to guide himself through the air.

It looked as if he would need more practice!

Spike attempted to go into a nose dive to test the limits of what he could do, though it only resulted in him overreaching and him and Cadence heading down to the ground faster than the pair estimated. In retrospect, they should have focused more on the fundamentals of what it takes to be able to fly and not crash.

''Fix this! We're gonna crash!'' Spike called out, whining his eyes out and locking his wings against his side. ''I don't want to go splat like a pancake!''

Cadence stopped panicking for the moment to realize something. ''You're the Alicorn!''

Oh.

''Ok, so explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to crash into-''

''-Tactical landing-'' Spike interrupted Cadence.

''-Riiiight. We'll go with that. You did 'that' into one of Fluttershy's bee's honey vats, and then proceeded to get us covered in honey and grass.''

Spike blushed, a little hint of pink showing past the grass and honey. ''I mean, it was a good idea at the moment.''

''Spike, my mane and tail will take months to recover,'' Cadence said, her face contorted in annoyance. Spike really could have found a better thing to save the pair from an uncomfortable situation. They weren't hurt, only Cadence's pride. ''Don't you have anything to say about this?'' Cadence sat down and mugged her brother.

Spike groaned and began a slow stroll over to a nearby pond as she dragged Cadence by her tail as she pouted with folded arms. ''Well, we've been each other for a few hours, and I can walk a lot better, I need to work on my flying some, and then there's the magic. . .that I haven't yet taken care of yet, but everything else is pretty good,'' Spike said, dipping into the pond and swimming around in the hope of getting most of the honey and grass off. ''What about you?''

Cadence stopped and thought about it for a moment. Being a baby dragon at that certainly didn't feel all that weird, but it was something she never would be able to tell somepony without experiencing it. Besides the height change, and the scales, and two feet versus four hooves, and no wings or magic, she felt freer in a sense. ''It's certainly different from being an Alicorn, that for one,'' Cadence chuckled, but went silent when she thought about the possibility of the pair being stuck like this.

''Do you think Twilight will find out a way to make this right?'' Spike asked, taking a seat next to the dragon when she looked deep in thought. Cleaning that honey off certainly took a while, but most of it was off, but the pair was still a tad bit sticky.
He couldn't blame her for thinking the same thing she knew that he was thinking. The only reason why that was not more prevalent in his mind at the time was because of the learning more about each other. He never had a real reason to doubt his friend, but the situation did seem less than favorable if he had to be honest.

''I don't know Spike, I actually don't know,'' Cadence held her head in her claws as she tried to think. There were too many variables to think about; The Crystal Empire, Shining Armour, Flurry Heart, The Cyrstal Ponies, then she had to think what Spike had going on in his life; his life in Ponyville, his. . .whatever else he had in his spare time. It was a big issue! ''All I know is that we can't stay like this, because if we do; we can't hope to think about what the backlash of the ponies around us if stay like this and if anyone finds out!''

Spike had to think about that thought for a moment if only one. What was so bad about ponies finding out The Princess Of Love and the assistant of Twilight Sparkle had their minds switched and that they may not be able to be switched back. . .

Huh. Spike slowly began to understand what was going on. Or at least he thought he did.

''And not to mention taking care of Flurry Heart, and Shining Armour is sure to blow his lid when he finds out his wife is actually in the body of his adoptive brother!'' Cadence exclaimed, pacing back and forth while Spike continued to think more about the situation. He was okay with dealing with fillies to a degree, but an Alicorn filly is something that is easier said than done.

And then Shining Armour. . .

He was not kissing his brother, at all.

Cadence continued to ramble on and on about the different problems and inconveniences that would be in front of the pair. What she did not notice was the sparkle of magic from Twilight popping into the conversation.

''Guys. we have a problem!'' Twilight yelled out, running up to Spike, the panic in her eyes telling him that it could only mean one thing, and it had to be nowhere near good.

''Yea, we have a problem!'' Cadence said, clutching the spines on her head in worry. ''We can't do this; Spike doesn't know the first thing about being The Princess Of Love! He can't lead the Crystal Empire, even with Shining Armour!''

Twilight looked at her sister in disbelief. That's what she was worried about? The spell was more important!

Oh, wait.

She didn't tell them yet.

''They won't like this,'' Twilight thought, biting her lip and absorbing the brunt of Cadence's rant. And why did the pair smell like honey? Eh, forget it.

''Twilight, what's going on with the spell"? Spike asked, laying a hoof on her shoulder. ''How bad is it?'' he hoped he wouldn't regret asking that question. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. Well. no time like the present, but they would have to take care of stopping Cadence from talking for the moment until things can be explained.

Spike figured this could be a good as time as any to try out his magic. Granted, this would be the first time he would try using magic since he became an Alicorn, he was sure he could figure out what to do if he tried his hardest to use a spell to help his situation. Taking a deep breath and exhaling he focused his thoughts on his horn, feeling the skin on his skin around the base of the appendage constrict a tad and hold the position.

''And then Princess Celestia and Luna, when they find out, they'll. . .'' Cadence's words began to be echoed out by silence worming its way into the Alicorn's mind.

''Uh, Spike, what are you doing?'' Twilight looked to see Spike tensing up. He appeared to be trying to conjure magic, but he looked to be overworking himself. ''You just need a small spark to ignite your horn and the rest will take care of itself. Try imagining a fire being started in your mind. It may take a few tries. but after you do that, just think about what you want to do after that and your horn and magic will resonate.''

Easier said than done. Spike quirked a brow before stopping and relaxing for a moment. He stared down at the ground and narrowed his eyes, the ever so slightest twitch of his forehead and then the sound of magic shimmering filled his ears. His horn felt alive now, almost as if there were a separate entity from his body ontop his head. The feeling was something of bliss for the first few seconds, then afterward, a mild calm as he was able to feel every small wave of magic as it flowed from the base to the peak of his horn.

He focused his mind and envisioned Cadence being held in the air a few feet, and with a few moments of focusing, the dragon was knocked out of her rants by being immediately lifted up from where she was and turned around and looked very much surprised.

''Hey, good job Spike!'' Twilight congratulated. ''You were able to do that on your first try?''

Spike blushed, his confidence shooting up a tad. Huh, maybe doing this Alicorn thing won't be so bad. ''It wasn't easy, I'm just glad I didn't mess anything up. Now, what were you gonna say about the spell?'' Spike almost forgot about the previous tone of Twilight's voice or the fact she popped up when she was supposed to be deciphering the spell.

''Well. . .it turns out that being stuck this way just may be the more preferable option,'' Twilight said, a nervous chuckle in her voice. ''The spell was actually a two-part sequence spell.''

''So that's good, right?'' Cadence asked, a confusing glance in her eyes as she looked at Twilight explained. ''That other part should have the way to fix this then, right?''

''Not entirely, at least as far as I can tell. Some of the text in the scroll is in language that I'm not entirely familiar with, so it probably will take some time to find out what it means. But from what I could gather, this spell has a drawback to it; the original spell was designed to hear the thoughts of others, though this revision of it was altered to also be a fallback should it be used for any kind of espionage or information gathering.''

''What kind of fallback?'' Spike wondered, narrowing his eyes.

''If the mechanics of the spell or any information is told to anypony besides the caster when the two of you separated, then the spell will countermand,'' Twilight said, frowning a bit.

''That's it?'' Cadence asked. ''What will the spell do at that point?''

That Twilight did not know. She could only guess whatever it was, it could not be good since pertaining to espionage and secret gathering. She only shuddered to think about what exactly could happen if the spell activates. Curse her, and her foolishness with spells that she should have taken more caution in executing in the solitude of one of her labs, but this particular session she did not think there would be much risk.

''Are you serious?'' the pair's question came when a moment of silence filled the air.

''Afraid so,'' Twilight hummed to herself as she looked over the spell once more to confirm what she had known for the past few minutes. ''Verbatim, and I don't think we would be so lucky as to try and tempt the limits of the spell than we already have.''

''That you already have, let's not forget that'' Cadence reminded her sister as she tried ever so hard to deflect. ''So, we can't
really tell anypony about this, cause it might be worse than what it already is?'' Cadence pursed her lips together and thought about the matter. It would be difficult and with all of the responsibilities that the pair had (mostly Cadence), it would be even more difficult to get anything done.

And with Spike's flying ability, she was sure that he would end up hurting himself.

''So what do we do?'' Spike asked when being presented with the information.

''You'll just have to work together; some sort of team effort to do what you need to. You'll be part princess, part dragon,'' Twilight chuckled at her little pun.

''So you're basically making us do this on our own?'' Cadence motioned for Spike to let her out of his magic, and when he did, she walked over to her sister and looked her in the eyes with the most unimpressed of frowns.

''Well, yes and no.''

Oh really?

''Spike.'' was all Cadence said before Twilight looked on in wonder. Spike nodded and brought life to his horn again, imagining one thing to happen.

''BLEUGH! What the-AAAAAAAH! *SPLASH!*'' Twilight was suddenly flung into the pond, after being coated with honey and grass by Spike.

''Couldn't you have done more?'' Cadence climbed onto Spike's back as he walked away from Twilight. The nerve of her.

''Not any more than that, or she would have reacted.'' Spike groaned. He had a feeling his earlier thought about kissing Shining Armour may have to be a reality. And that thought was one that scared the dragon, well Alicorn actually.

Turn It Around?

View Online

The rhythmic sound of the Ponyville Express coming into the station was the only thing that Cadence and Spike could hear. Action had to be taken with the utmost of caution, lest the worst happen, and the pair had next to no idea of what they could even be.

The Crystal Empire would not last long without its sovereign, not to say Shining Armour would not be a suitable stand-in, but Cadence knew her husband could be a little headstrong at times. ''This is all types of bad,'' Cadence muttered, nibbling at her claws in worry. ''Still think we should turn back try and fix this?''

Spike sat on the bench and contemplated that statement. The two of them couldn't talk to nopony besides themselves and Twilight, or else. How would they manage to carry out the duties of The Princess Of Love?

''No, because the more that we wait, the worse that things could be for you and Shining Armour,'' Spike looked at the train conductor leading ponies on and off. Time would only tell if things would be the very thing to be their undoing. ''Shining Armour may be Captain of The Royal Guard, but I don't think even he can handle an entire kingdom for long.'' Cadence noticed the look of seriousness in his eyes about this.

''So, what then? How can we play things off until Twilight find the counterspell?'' Cadence asked, rubbing her spines in worry.

That made Spike stop and think; the biggest issue would be for the pair not to disclose any information at all, lest the worst happens. So they would need to make sure not to tell anypony that, but another thing that the pair probably did not hope to think about would be if the spell also would trigger the failsafe would be if the pair said anything to anypony besides Twilight.

''Well, I don't think that it would be any good to try another spell to try and cover things up, or that might be worse. . .'' Cadence began to mull the possibilities. Something would have to be done.

''Well, what if we play it off like we're a ventriloquist pony?'' Spike asked, adopting a sly look for a moment. If they used the right techniques, they may be able to make it seem like the other was talking.

''Is that the best thing-''

''-That's the only thing we can cling to, sis.'' Spike put a hoof on his sister's shoulder. ''We gotta just do the best that we can.''

''Ugh, fine. I just wish we could at least tell Shiny about this; he could at least keep the eyes and ears of The Crystal Ponies away until we figure this out.''

Spike gestured for Cadence to climb on his back as the Ponyville Express prepared to set out for the many destinations on its route, The Cyrstal Empire being one of the last ones on schedule.

''Honey, come back here!'' Shining Armour galloped around the throne, desperately trying to capture his Alicorn daughter as she flew around and made a complete mess of the throne room. All the time, Flurry Heart had a very innocent smile the entire time as she blubbered and avoided her father's magic. ''You could hurt yourself!''

''Bwahaba!'' Flurry chuckled and levitated one of the chairs in her magic and tossed it out the nearest window where an audible thwack could be heard.

''Sweetie please!''

''So we're clear on the plan, right?'' Spike asked, Cadence looking outside the window in disagreement. ''Cadence?''

''This won't work.'' Cadence replied flatly.

''Never know until you try. So we just need to find you a face covering, and we should be good,'' Spike cheered a silent victory. Cadence only looked at her brother in genuine curiosity; to what length would this plan work before total ruin would follow. ''But how do you think this will go?''

''Nowhere near what any of us may think; then there's also Flurry Heart to think about. She's still going through trying to talk, and then her magic is still developing, and then-'' Cadence was stopped by Spike putting a hoof on her shoulder and smiling a bit.

''It'll be alright. . .the worst thing to do is nothing.''

Twilight sat in her study, understandably still miffed at being launched earlier.

She had to give Spike props for the kind of magic he was able to use at first. But the spell was important. She didn't want to lose nopony to this spell, so she would have to put all of her resources into making sure that did not happen. If only the original caster of the spell was still alive, then she could just ask what needed to be done to fix it.

But, being a spell for something less than desirable may make the process of asking a tad difficult.

''If only I could decipher this text fully; it seems the pony who wrote this spell out wasn't the best at penmanship, or just held no real grasp on how to transcribe any of this. . .but hopefully I can reverse this spell so that maybe this can be used for something better.'' Twilight looked over the parchment once again, furrowing her brow and attempting to look at the spell from a different angle.

She only hoped she would be able to produce something before the pair ran into trouble.

''What am I missing?'' Twilight thought, looking at the symbols that seemed so familiar, but foreign at the same time. ''This is turning my head upside down.''

''Why not turn it upside down?'' Pinkie Pie asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

''AHHHH! Pinkie! What are you doing here?!'' Twilight jumped up and somehow clung to the ceiling with her hooves. Huh, kinda like Pinkie does from time to time.

''You asked me to come over because you needed help, remember?'' Pinkie asked, smiling, and reassuring her friend of why she suddenly appeared. ''Something about a riddle or something, right?''

''Oh,'' Twilight remembered. She did consult Pinkie. From what she could tell, Pinkie may be just the thing that can help this spell come to light. ''I did.''

Wait a second. Turn it around?

''Turn it around? I. . .hadn't thought of doing that. Do you really think that will help?''

''Better than doing nothing. Plus the simpler thing to do often is the best.'' Pinkie said as Twilight looked at her friend in genuine curiosity.

''You? Being simple?'' Twilight flatly asked, Pinkie smiling back and nodding. ''Well, there's always a first for something.''

Twilight took a few moments to do as her friend suggested. . .

''THIS IS NOT GOOD!~''

Here Goes Nothing

View Online

Shining Armour sat in the throne room, finding the time to relax some after managing to get Flurry Heart to sleep. Celestia knows that what else he would have had to do in order to get her sleep before long. He's just lucky he did not have to break out the clown costume.

Something else that appeared to his mind was the state of his wife. She certainly was gone longer than he would have expected. The sun began to retreat for the day, the amber glow of light coming into the open window and almost blinding him. ''Where is she? She's almost always back before 6.'' Shining Armour commented, pacing back and forth in a small circle. He wasn't all that worried, but he just would have liked to be informed as soon as possible.

Shining Armour began to think about what she said earlier; she said that she was going to see Twilight and that in itself should have told him that something was up, but he chose not to think too much about it.

His wife was not the average mare, let alone an Alicorn, but he still worried as a husband.

The Crystal Empire, however, was not in any immediate danger or really had any small issues that would need tending to that the citizens themselves could not take care of themselves. All in all, it was. . .peaceful.

''She shouldn't be gone too long; disaster or not, The Crystal Empire needs her here.'' Shining Armour said to himself, walking out to the balcony to see the vast reach of the land from the best side that the castle was able to provide. He had a clear view of the mountains terrain in the far distance, the snow-capped peaks resembling pale beacons of light as the dark and green of the rocks and moss contracted near the bottom along with the trees.

Huffing a smell breath out through his nose, Shining lazily directed his attention back to the cradle further in the castle where Flurry Heart was currently sleeping. The little booger, he thought. He loved her like no other, but Celestia knows she is well within the range of a problem to get her to do anything the first time around without some kind of goading or toy.

The sound of a train horn sounded in the distance, making Shining's ears flick back for a moment. The Ponyville Express? It looked to be departing, meaning passengers were dropped off here. Cadence may have been back quicker than he thought. He wanted to greet her at the station, but to leave his daughter just sitting there would also be a slight risk in itself; he dared not wake her in order to bring her with him down.

That would just undo all of his hard work.

''Think, think, think,'' Shining hummed to himself, rubbing a hoof over his chin as he tapped his other hoof on the ground for a few moments, he came up with. . .

Nothing. Having somepony to come in and watch her would make sense, but he would have to venture down the hall for that, and while he didn't doubt that Flurry would be ok for that small amount of time, it still sparked a bit of worry within him; ever since the whole Chrysalis debacle and other recent things that have threatened the lives of him and his friend and family, he was understandably more worried than usual.

He just cared.

''Huuuuawh.'' Shining sighed, walking over to Flurry's cradle, silently admiring the pride and joy that was his daughter before softly rubbing a hoof on her cheek, watching the way she babbled in her sleep for a moment before going silent and lightly breathing in and out air. ''Guess I'm staying here.''

''Ok, so remember the plan,'' Spike said, reminding Cadence as she sat on Spike's back and continued to look nervous the entire way off the train and down the main roads that would lead to one of the castle's side entrances. There really was no going back once they had got this far. She wished she had more time. Time to figure something out that wasn't this, and time to make sure that any of Spike's 'plans' wouldn't end in her body being damaged or her mane being anymore affected than it already was. ''We should be fine.''

Cadence wanted to stop walking and give Spike a smack across the head, but she resisted only just. This was not the time for making any kind of jokes when they could end up stuck this way!

Or worse!

''I fail to see how this will work,'' Cadence said as her face covering muffled some of what she said. Having the cloth not too tight, but just enough slack would hopefully make it to where air would not make it move too much to be noticeable. ''You honestly think speaking for the other will work? What if Shiny wants to kiss you?''

Spike nearly fell over, catching himself as his body shuddered in worry. Ugh, he really, really did not want that to happen. He. . .he. . .

Got it!

''Don't worry, I'll just tell him a have very highly contagious sickness that if he wants to get anywhere near me, he'll have to risk his own health,'' Spike triumphantly stated, touching a hoof to his chest in pride. ''I'm a genius.''

''If anything, you just made this worse-'' Cadence sighed as she clutched a claw. She would have to tell him this now before they got any further. ''-Shining Armour doesn't have the best bedside manner; if anything, knowing him, he'll end up going for it anyways,'' Spike whined. Was his brother that dense or that much in love?

''Oh, well that changes things.'' Spike quietly said, noticing how nice the ground looked. Huh, crystal.

''Don't suppose you have any other bright ideas, do you?'' Cadence wondered as the pair walked up to one of the side entrances that lead to the lower level of the castle. From there, it would only be a few minutes before they would their date with destiny. ''I only hope that Twilight is making some kind of headway.''

Pinkie Pie and Twilight had to be quick, it would only be a matter of time before something happened and the spell activated its failsafe. Spike and Cadence should have stayed a bit longer if they could help it, but that didn't matter. Just getting to them was the only one that did.

''Pinkie, hurry!'' Twilight galloped ahead, intent on getting to the train station as quickly as possible. Finding the materials to reverse the spell was actually not difficult, but it required a monstrous amount of magic to help the process start off. Teleporting to them would be the best of options, but it still used a bit of magic to use, even at a considerable distance that The Crystal Empire was. ''Where's the train?! It should be here by now!''

Pinkie Pie bounced over, humming a sweet tune as her friend looked around to see a train that was not there as it had yet to come. ''The train won't be here for about an hour,''

''What?!'' Twilight asked, looking to see nothing on either side of the tracks. The Ponyville Express had a good track record of being on time, and the one time that she really needed it to come, it didn't. ''What are we going to do? We may not have much time if we move slow!''

Pinkie continued to hum, not as worried about what was going on as Twilight. Most times, whenever any issues happened, it often resulted in fixing itself with a little bit of wishful thinking, and sometimes the help of her Pinkie Sense. Looking around the area where the train often was stationed when not in use for repairs, she spied exactly what she knew they needed. ''Twilight, I found something that can help!''

Help? Really? Twilight managed to snap out of her wild thoughts and follow her friend over to the area where she was pointing to see. . .a thing. ''Pinkie, you know we can't use that; it's not fast enough.'' Twilight shook her head and really began to wonder what about this plan that was no doubt beginning to form in her mind would work.

''But a lot of the old conductors use it whenever there's a problem! Why not now?'' Pinkie gestured to the object more, hoping to change her friend's mind. Whatever was going on in The Crystal Empire was certainly important, so they should be getting going versus arguing.

''Ugh, fine. We have to get going anyways, we might as well make the best of this.'' Twilight said, knowing she would grow to regret this, but it was to help Spike and Cadence, and for that; she would do what she would need to be done.

''Harder, harder!'' Twilight shouted, her legs feeling as if they were on fire. Sweat caked her brow and she began to get lightheaded. How long had they been doing this? Why did it have to be so far? And why was Pinkie Pie enjoying this way more than she should be?!

''You're one to talk, Twi!'' Pinkie, shaking her hooves in the air wildly like a filly. This was amazing; it worked her legs out so much and had a better idea of what it felt like to fly with fewer safety restraints. As a matter of fact, either one of them could have fallen over at any point by now, which made the experience all the more exciting. ''I think you need to keep your head up and breathe through your nose so you won't get as scared!''

''How is this easy for you?!'' Twilight wanted nothing more to stop; everything hurt. Helping your friends and all was certainly good, but sometimes, it would have to be a line drawn at some point.

''Why do you think I jump and bounce almost everywhere?'' Pinkie sat back and laughed as she pumped her legs more, the look on Twilight's face of pure disbelief and mild interest overriding the pain she was currently feeling.

''I find that hard to believe!'' Twilight grunted and wanted nothing more but for them to be at The Crystal Empire already. ''Could this get any worse?!''

Pinkie shrugged as her legs maintained an even pace to the point where she almost didn't have to think about it. Among Twilight's pleas for this to stop, another sound stood out to Pinkie. Managing to crane her head backward and look at what the sound was, a small smile graced its way onto Pinkie's face, but this was not of happiness. If she had to label it, it would be more akin to mild acknowledgment. Yelling past the rushing wind, Pinkie had a feeling that this would help motivate Twilight. ''Um, Twi?''

''What?!'' Twilight yelled in exasperation.

''The Ponyville Express is behind us.'' Pinkie saw the shift in her friend's attitude almost instantly as she sat up, scrambling to switch positions and use her front hooves to accelerate the contraption faster. ''Oh! I see you're motivated, then I'll go faster then!'' Pinkie channeled her boundless energy into her legs as the sounds of gears grinding, metal shrinking against each other and the occasional thump against the tracks outweighed the sound of the train whistle behind them which sounded at full volume.

Crossing over a bridge that was barren on either side, safe for a spacious chasm that led down to a river also did not give the pair much hope as both of their efforts proved to be mildly effective against the speeding train that nearly began to nudge the back of their mode of travel.

''Why did we pick a railroad cart?!~'' Twilight whined, hoping they would make it in one piece.

On Two Fronts

View Online

Spike and Cadence slowly walked up the stairs to the castle’s main hallway, passing by a few of the Crystal Guard as they not only saluted their Princess, the savior of the Crystal Empire, as well.

If only they knew what lied ahead for the pair.

Nopony so far had suspected anything, but that also was in part of the pair not speaking at all, as they were completely unsure about their Spike’s plan, but they couldn’t just sit around in Ponyville doing absolutely nothing.

When they were far enough away, Spike dared to say something. “Are you nervous as I am, right now?” Spike asked as he kept his head forward and spoke slowly enough to not make his mask move around. Every hoof step felt like a bag of weights, only getting heavier and heavier the further the pair went.

“I don’t know, does possibly having anything happen to us if this plan of your goes south doing anything at all for your morale?” Spike actually attempted to answer, only to realize his sister’s sarcastic nature. He smacked his lips and remained silent. “Didn’t think as much.”

“Well, can you blame me for at least trying to make things a bit less worrying? I’m still 60% certain my idea will work,” Cadance only rolled her eyes at Spike’s certainty of the plan.

As the pair rounded another corner, soon they would run into the throne room, where Shining Armor and Flurry Heart would no doubt be. Possible curse or no, Cadance needed to see her Flurry Heart, and to somehow assure Shining Armour. “And besides, you should be more worried than me; you are the Princess of Love right now, so you may want to focus. I don’t know how we’ll get past the talking, but I do have daily duties I have to attend to, and if they don’t get done, it will probably be a lot more than just upset ponies to deal with.”

Spike shuddered at the thought of messing up something of this magnitude. He didn’t know the first thing about love, and he was all of a sudden supposed to be a master of it? And what about Shining Amour?

He would rather sleep in Tartarus for a week than kiss him.

“Well. . .” Spike said nervously, his mouth contorting into a wicked crazed smile under his mask. “No time like the present. Maybe this will be one of those times where Twilight manages to pull something out of her bag of tricks.”

Cadence flicked her brother on the head, which was essentially her head as he yelped. “You do realize is was Twilight who got us in this mess in the first place, right?”

Spike stopped just before the entrance to use his magic to take Cadance off his back, setting her down in front of him as he rubbed a hoof behind his neck nervously. True as that was, he knew Twilight would come through when it counted the most. She always did.

“I mean, come on; let’s try and see the positives of this.” Spike said, walking into the throne room, paying attention as he looked around and saw Shining Armour.

Asleep near Flurry’s crib.

“Like what?” Cadance asked, also seeing her husband knocked out like nopony’s business.

“Shining Amour is asleep, so I won’t have to kiss him,” Spike replied a matter of factly.

Walking over to her daughter’s crib, Cadance felt a twinge of love come from her heart at seeing her precious little baby sleep so peacefully. It hurt her a bit more knowing that she couldn’t really embrace her daughter as herself, but rather a baby dragon.

Spike slowly walked over to the edge of the balcony that over looked the Crystal Empire, noting its beauty and quiet. It was indeed hard to think that this place once under the rule of King Sombra before being hidden away and almost lost to time and memory.

He spied The Crystal Heart in the center of the city, its radiant light glowing bright to dispel any darkness, and being the crown jewel of the land.

Cadance must have something to wake up Flurry Heart as he heard her babbling and yawning. Turning around, Spike saw his niece pick up her rattle in her magic, albeit at a slow pace, only to look directly at Cadance as she smiled. . .and then Flurry Heart whacked her in the head with it, making her fall to the ground.

“Baaba!” Flurry shouted, blowing a raspberry at Cadance, who clutched her head in pain. Looking over at Spike, she giggled and flew forward, her eyes wide as she cheered, catching Spike off as she slammed into him, causing him to fall over the railing.

He instinctively clutched onto Flurry, turning over and forcing his wings open as he pulled up hard, the change in gravity making him feel as if his stomach touched his back.

“Weeeee!~” Flurry scrambled over Spike, latching on Cadance’s head and steering him around.

“Nghhh! Flurry! Let go!~” Spike hollered, trying avoid slamming into one of the Crystal pillars, zooming throughout the town as the Crystal Ponies looked on in part awe and part worry as they assumed their sovereign was dealing with her daughter’s tantrum.

Colors and buildings zoomed by, Spike’s wings working overdrive, his hooves gradually coming to the ground as he galloped, his head hung low as he weaved in and out of produce carts.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Spike yelled, as he spied a pony pushing a cart full of lettuce from behind, unable to see in front of him.

“Bababa!” Flurry pulled Spike’s mane upward, causing him to hop up and clip the top of the cart, causing it to fall over and the pony’s produce to be scattered about on the street as Spike took flight once again.

“My lettuce!!!~” the pony whined, being buried in lettuce.

“Sorry!” Spike said, sure that what he said the poor merchant couldn’t hear. He then managed to correct his course by lifting Flurry Heart in his magic and bringing her in front of him as he had a clear course as he hovered in the air for a moment. He looked at Flurry and wanted to be mad at her for what she did; but that face was too cute to say no to. Especially when she held her hooves out for a hug. “Awww, I can’t be mad at you. Come on, let’s head back,” Spike put Flurry on his back as they flew back.

“Cadence, are you alright?” Spike asked as he touched back down with Flurry as she held her head in pain. “Geez, she got you good, huh?”

Cadance groaned, being careful not to put too much pressure on the small lump that was forming. “Flurry’s magic is still pretty raw, so she doesn’t have the best of control yet.” Cadance looked to see Shining Armour, but upon a closer look made her giggle.

“What?” Spike asked. Simply pointing to look closer at her husband, it was revealed that Flurry must have drawn on Shining’s face before the pair’s arrival as when he turned over on his side, black marker streaks were crudely drawn on his face, circle and lines over his eyes resembling glasses as his chin was scribbled to show a goatee. “Ok, that is pretty funny.”

“D-daaady!” Flurry giggled once again.

Crystal Empire Train Station. . .

“Wooo, woooo. . .Celestia help us, we finally. . .made it.” Twilight said as the pair finished their trip, though Twilight was close to passing out.

Pinkie walked over after parking the cart on an off part of the tracks, smiling as her legs felt amazing, she hadn’t felt that funny since the cow stampede when Applejack overworked herself. “Well, we made it, now what?”

Twilight slumped over on the ground, weakly raising a hoof in the direction of the castle. Pinkie took a second to think, then another idea came to her. “Oh, oh! Stay right here! I got just the thing!”

“S-Sure thing.” Twilight said. A few moments later, Pinkie Pie zoomed back, a small thud sounding as Twilight managed to raise her head to see her Party Cannon. “P-Pinkie, what i-is that?” Pinkie Pie slowly picked her friend up and sat her in the chamber.

“It’ll be ok, I already accounted for the wind, so you should be fine.” Pinkie pressed the big red button on the end. “Fire in the hole!”

BLAM!

“Pinkie Pie!!!!~” Twilight cried as she went soaring towards the castle, flying like a rag doll.

“Don’t worry, Twilight! I’m right behind you! BLAM! Weeeeeee!”

Use Or Lose

View Online

Spike looked at Flurry Heart as she flew around the throne room, giggling without a care in the world. Cadence walked over to the balcony, sighing as she fought to make sense of what they would have to do to hopefully fix what Twilight possibly could not. The Crystal Ponies, Flurry Heart, and Shining Armor all came to her mind as she stared over the central square. A sound came from a distance, making her eyes twitch momentarily.

''What are we going to do?'' Cadance whispered to herself, shaking her head and huffing. The more she thought about the situation, the more that it made sense that the two of them may just end up being stuck this way for the foreseeable future. ''I wonder how we're going to make this work until Twilight finds a way to fix this.''

Spike felt the same and wondered. They certainly were in the thick of it now, and while Flurry Heart was probably too young to understand anything either of them was saying, but there was also the idea of having to deal with any of the ponies, let alone Shining Armor.

He still was not going to kiss him, no matter what.

''I second that, but my idea is still on the table, you know. How badly could it backfire?'' Spike asked, cooing to Flurry, who touched down and rested her tiny frame on Spike's back.

''Well, we have to do something; I really don't want to think about what could happen with this spell going wrong,'' Cadence groaned at her sister-in-law's 'frantic' ideals when it pertained to magical studies. She still wondered why it never occurred to her to think about every possible venture of conducting a spell that she knew next to nothing about. “Just make sure we keep the masks on, and stay close so it looks natural when we try and talk for each other.”

But that thought also spoke to the same of about Celestia sending the spells to her without any requisite checking to see if any flags could pop out of the woodwork.

''Well, it's not like the answer will just come flying out of-''

''-Watch out!'' a blur zoomed through the open balcony, nearly knocking Spike over as he fought to make sure that Flurry was safe. A thud sounded as all sounds in the room went silent. ''Ooooooh.~'' Pinkie appeared as a flat shape on the wall, her eyes spinning around and around before eventually slumping to the ground.

''Pinkie?'' Cadence asked, rushing over to the downed pony with Spike shaking his head at what just occurred. ''Why are you-''

''Waaaah!~'' a purple blur followed after, Spike's sense, or whether if it was Cadence's body reacting, he flared his magic and seized it in his magic before it hit the wall.

''Twilight?'' Spike asked, tilting his head. What were they doing here? ''What's going on?''

''Brrrh!'' Twilight shook her head, trying to fight off the dizziness before bringing the scroll that started the mess in the first place. ''I think. . .we may have a way to fix this, but it's going to take a lot of-''

''Hwaaauh.~'' Shining Armor began to stir, looking over the situation with his droopy, sleepy eyes, not being able to see much as he glanced over the room and located his wife by her colors. ''Oh, hey sweetie. When'd you get back?''

Everypony stopped dead in their tracks.

“What do we do?” Cadence harshly whispered, seeing Twilight’s face contort into mild confusion.

“U-Uh, panic?” Spike chuckled, not really wanting to answer the question.

“Panic about what?” Shining asked, wiping the crust out of his eyes as he tried to get up, only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie covering his eyes with her hooves. “What the?-“

“-It’s fine, you don’t need to look at Cadence! She’s uh, uh. . .got a huge pimple!”

Shining whinnied. “What does that have to do with anything, Pinkie Pie? She’s my wife, so I need to-“

“-It’s fine, really!” Twilight shouted back, hoping to egg on the situation for more than what it was. If it meant that Shining wasn’t going to find out about the spell, then that was all that mattered. “It’s a pretty decently sized one; it has pus and it’s yellow and-“

“Did she really have to say all that?” Cadence whispered to Spike, who chose to roll with the punches as they came. If it had been up to him, he would have settled for something else more. . .off the wall, if he could even think of something. The pair listened to Twi and Pinkie basically subvert Shining with their less than planned explanation of events.

“If it’s contagious, then why are you guys around her? Can’t it spread?”

Pinkie racked her brain as Shining attempted to move her hooves from his eyes, to no avail.

“Well, we already knew about it when Cadence came to Ponyville, so we took the proper precaution to make sure we wouldn’t get infected.” Twilight said, hoping that her brother, who was less than bright some of the time would buy the ruse.

“Hmmmm,” Shining wanted to argue the point. “I can’t even see her?”

“No, no! It’s too hideous! Downright awful and scary looking! I’m sure it would even make Princess Celestia not want cake for a week if she saw it!” Pinkie thought of the first thing to come to her mind, which sounded better in her head the longer she thought about versus out loud. “We wouldn’t want to get scared.”

“Oh my goodness,” Cadence groaned into mock pain, hating every second of this, her voice muffled by her claws.

“Don’t feel too bad, you’re not actually in your body,” Spike whispered back, also wondering just how far this farce would go and if there was indeed anything they could do to help remedy the lie.

“Well, I at least want to hear it from her, and what about Flurry Heart? Won’t she get infected, too?” Flurry babbled at the sound of her name, worrying Twilight and Cadence.

“Uh, she’s not by Cadence right now, so she should be fine, but I’ll even have her taken to the medical center to checked out, just to make sure.” Twilight motioned for the pair to start walking away and out into the hall. “Sound good?”

Shining pursed his lips and thought long and hard about the whole ordeal, and it did make sense the more that he thought about it, except not being able to at least see his wife with his own two eyes. As long as she and Flurry were ok, that was all that mattered, but he needed vocal confirmation. “I still want to hear it from her. Honey, is everything ok?”

Cadence held her foot in the air as she cursed herself. Shining always was a hardheaded pony. Clearing her throat and trying to sound a bit chipper without being overly so, she responded. “Yes, dear; I’m fine. Just need to take care of this pimple, is all.”

“How did this happen for it to be contagious? Didn’t it ruin your day in Ponyville?”

Cadance really wanted to take a swig of that cider right about now with all of these questions going on.

“U-Um, no. It happened. . .kinda on the way to Ponyville, I didn’t think much of it at, but it just. . .got so big that I didn’t know what to do.” Cadence chuckled nervously.

“Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I could help pop it, and-“

“-N-No, it’s fine sweetie. Plus you should know you shouldn’t pop pimples if you can help it; I just need to take some medicine and relax is all, no big deal.”

Shining’s form sunk as he wanted to help, but couldn’t. “How long do you think you’ll have to be like this?

“Hopefully not long,” Twilight whispered.

“I’m not sure, but I know I need to get away from you and Flurry to keep you guys safe,” Cadence frowned when she looked at her baby on Spike’s back, wanting this whole nightmare to be over so she could cuddle and her love her.

In her own body.

“Well, I’ll be here if there’s anything that I can do, babe. I love you, Candy Cad.” Shining said, his voice going all mushy and baby like. “You sure wittle ol’ me can’t get a kissums kissums?” Spike froze in fear as Shining puckered his lips, causing Pinkie to dry heave along with him. When Cadence looked to Spike, he all but bolted out of the room.

“Sorry, rather not risk it,” Cadence apologized. “And we have guests here, you know no lovey dovey names.”

“Rather not risk it, what?” Shining asked, his raised tone making it appear as if she had to answer, or else he would continue with his questions.

“Ugh. . .rather not risk it. . .Shining Whiny.”

“Love you too, babe!” Shining responded dumbly, sounding like a lovestruck puppy.

“No, Flurry you have to go with Shining,” Twilight cooed to her niece, who frowned and blew a small raspberry.

“So, Shining Whiny, huh?” Spike joked as the pair walked down the hall, wanting to get away from Shining.

“Oh, shut up, Candy Cad,” Cadence ignored her brother’s pokes at her.

“Guys, guys!” Twilight caught to the pair, wanting to use this chance to help the two of them due to her own. . .folly. “I think I figured out what I can do reverse this.”

“Well, stop keeping us waiting; what do we have to do?” Spike asked, the look of mild hesitation on Twilight’s face telling him that there was some kind of angle attached.

“We have to go to the Mirror Pond. . .and I’m sure that this won’t go the way any of us will want it to go.”

For A Few Turns More

View Online

''So,'' Twilight turned her head to Cadence asking her about their present predicament. ''Remind me why exactly you think this will work, and what's the chances of it going even more awry if the smallest thing isn't accounted for?''

Huh, that was indeed a good question. With all of the ripping and running that she did, along with Pinkie Pie for a portion of it, Twilight should have taken more care to double-check her numbers to just have a better, more tangible idea of the risk versus that of the spoken word. The Mirror Pond was mysterious in of itself, but there had to be a loophole of sorts to adapt this to Spike and Cadence's personal situation.

Due to her own negligence.

''Well, when Pinkie Pie made the mistake of coming here and doing. . .what she did; we almost lost her if it wasn't for the bond with her friends to help her concentrate and tell us without actually saying it that she was the real Pinkie Pie all along.''

''I remember, Twilight,'' Spike sounded as he sat on his haunches, remembering the fiasco in its entirety, all the way to the growing of different body parts that should not have existed along with facial features that scared more than just him on that day. ''But I don't see what that does for us getting changed back to normal, or why something like was even allowed to happen in the first place.''

''Twilight's. . .Twilight-ness, remember?'' Cadence nudged her brother, causing him to realize a second later as Twilight all but hissed at the pair to stop stating the obvious, as she was attempting to fix the issue so this whole thing would be talked about at the next Hearthswarming party as a happy accident that almost caused two of her most important friend to be stuck in each other's bodies with no possible way to get out because her own thirst for knowledge and want to appease her teacher that she holds in so high regard so to the point where she worships the very ground she canters upon because she's been exposed to so many different concepts at birth and failed to construct a personality until very late to the point where she became an awkward bookworm with borderline OCD and therefore goes overboard with almost everything and often doesn't realize her wrongdoings until the last second because she thinks too highly of herself to take a second look at the bigger picture.

But Twilight was sure that could have been anypony else. Right?

''Putting that aside, we managed to save Pinkie from making a big mistake when it came to messing with something that she had next to no idea about, and only heard second hoof accounts of its properties,'' Twilight said, inspecting the water to ensure nothing would pop out at them when she would attempt to switch the two of them back.

Cadence tilted her head, pointing a claw to her as she watched on. ''So basically what you're trying to undo, right?''

Twilight snorted, taking her attention off of the water to shoot a narrowed eye to her. ''Anyways; what we need to do will require all three of us to focus if we want this to go right, and without any problems.''

''And what do we have to do exactly? And why does it sound like something we're not going to like?'' Spike asked, watching Twilight poof up a book that she read through and began to trace some symbols on the ground in front of her, giving Spike a sideye that did little to reassure him. ''Twilight?''

''Shuush! Got to focus on this; we'll only get one chance.'' Twilight said as Cadence and Spike failed to share Twilight's interpretation of the matter. Whatever idea Twilight pulled from wherever certainly could only go from what they to possibly the worst, which would be. . .well; worse. ''So what we need to do is have the two of you be completely still while I make sure the spell is ready when we transfer the. . .effects of the spell backfiring onto two different templates.''

Spike and Cadence looked to be all but surprised when Twilight mentioned using the effects of the spell being used. The effects of the spell being revealed to anypony else besides the three of them were too risky to attempt without a baseline of sorts to go on.

''But the spell would only make a copy of each of us, and I don't think that they would be willing to deal with the effects,'' Spike pondered further what could happen; they could end up changing into a different species, not be able to talk, or worse!

Twilight shook her head, knowing the explanation of what she had in mind would more than likely go over both of their heads and would only result in her having to essentially 'dumb it down', as she had been repeatedly been told. The way the spell explained a possible loophole if done correctly involved invoking the consequences early by introducing an unsuspected variable to trigger the counterspell. Having the copies deal with the brunt of the spell was an option that did seem. . .unbecoming of somepony like Twilight, or anypony really.

Should they really be approaching the problem from this direction?

''Uh, Twi,'' Spike got up and walked over, laying a hoof on her shoulder, trying to find the right words to say to not make what he attempted to say to sound too mean. ''I don't want to be the one to tell you how to do science stuff, but I think I can speak for us when I say this idea may not be something we want, and the fact that you are seriously considering this kinda worries me.''

Twilight slowly thought about what Spike told her, and while it did seem to come out in a way that explained the deeper nuances behind what they were doing. So, if they were unable to use the Mirror Pond, then what were they going to do?

''Then, did you have any other bright ideas that we could use? Because of the way that it is looking, it seems like the best option we had will just be-''

''-Wasn't there a spell you could use to counter this? Wasn't it a spell that Celestia tried to show you?'' Cadence said, making Twilight pause in her thought.

''Do you think using that spell will cancel out the effects of this one? What if the countermand interrupts that?'' Cadence asked, unsure if this particular course of action would be one that is wise but still done in a way that will not cause any further headache.

''It's either we try this, or Spike has to pretend to be in love with your 'Shiny Whiny', euugh.~'' Twilight shuddered, looking at Spike lock up in complete and utter shock as he gagged and began to think about what that entailed.

''We're doing whatever else Twilight has in mind.'' Spike simply said, his tone final and unwavering.

''Spike, it can't be that bad. Shiny is. . .just loving, I don't doubt that he would be all that enamored with you like you're thinking,'' Cadence waved off her brother, not buying the claim that Shining Armour was not as love-struck as everypony else around the pair made him out to be. Sure, being Captain of the Royal Guard and sister to the student of Princess Celestia, as well as part of a pretty respectable family and parents who often had him and his sister pitted against one another in a friendly competition to foster a competitive nature that she was sure did not manifest a side effect of him being overly attached the pony that he fell in love with and becomes basically a pile of stallion mush when her name was even thought of, or mentioned. . .or any other medium. ''Ok, I may see where you might not want that.''

''Oh! You don't say?'' Spike questioned, shaking his head in disbelief. Twilight merely sat at the edge of the pond with her own thoughts about possibly utilizing the spell. Having the copies they would make take on the brunt of the negative effect of the spell was certainly something that she failed to properly take into account on the basis that the effect could be disastrous. ''Twilight, please tell me you managed to find something we can use to make this a little bit easier on us.''

Twilight nervously chuckled at the statement, not wanting to outright tell him something that she herself was not sure of, but she also did not want to tell them something she knew would not outright work either.

For the first time in a good while, Twilight was. . .kinda lying to herself on how certain she was of any of this. She didn't know how far it would go, to what extent she would have to delve into the secrets of magic, and even what would be the lasting effects after the fact when the issue was all said and done.

Plan B, and Plan D

View Online

Twilight, Spike, and Cadence all began their long trek back to Ponyville to hopefully come up with a valid idea of what could actually be done to reverse the spell and get rid of the myriad of feeling the pair were no doubt feeling from every second they stayed in each other's bodies, along with their respective duties made for a stressful, but memorable time together.

''I've almost never seen her like this, have you?'' Spike asked, whispering to Cadence who looked upon Twilight trot with her head hung as low as it would physically go before it began to hurt, her eye as wide as dinner plates, and her magic sputtering in and out as she attempted to try to think of ding something that could possibly helo, only for her mind to barely snap her back to reality to stop before she made things worse than they already were. ''She seems so-'' Cadence interrupted the drake-mind swapped Alicorn as she also began to rack her brain on any other time that may have come close to Twilight have this. . .meltdown.

''-Detached; oh, Spike. I don't think we may be able to get out of this as easy as any of us thought, at least not without something close to a miracle to 'magically' make this go away.'' Cadence said, laying her head on the back of Spike's neck, which was also her neck as he walked behind Twilight on her walk of shame back home where if the two of them collectively knew about Twilight would be that she would end up throwing an aptly named 'refit', which was a research fit before she would end up literally taking said rage out on doing advanced math only to realize her original problem and loop back around until somepony brought her back to her senses. ''I would have never expected Twilight to do something quite like this.''

Spike chuckled under his breath. Of course, nopony ever expected something to happen until it actually did. But something he did have a knack for understanding would be that most things in the wide, wide world of Equestria seemed to happen with a reason to eventually resolve itself, and he would soon think that his current situation would be no different.

Hopefully.

''What are we going to now? Have we considered anything that Twilight may not have thought of? Celestia could be a consult on this since she gave Twilight the spell, or. . .maybe Discord! He doesn't conform to the laws of the world, so maybe we could try writing a letter to him,'' Cadence figured, trying to think of something that could help make the situation anymore better than what the pair was going through, so whatever shred of hope that had would have to be enough for the moment.

''I wonder where he is, by the way,'' Spike said, walking with a small amount of interest in his voice as the thought of the spirit of disharmony was, and to what end something he would be able to do to help with the spell.

''Yo, Discord! You get back in the game, or what?'' Discord heard the sound of one of his gaming partners trying to get him back into his intense game of high-stakes poker, to which he was currently in the lead, though the other 3 partners had no idea of his advantage over them. Looking at his cards and smirking, Discord thought off the feeling that washed over him. Was. . .somepony calling for him?

''Yes, yes, apologies. I thought I felt something a moment ago.''

Twilight sat back at her table where it all began, looking back at the parchment that her teacher sent her, and she had wished that the entire debacle was something that was a bad dream, but no matter what she tried to tell herself, the same conclusion came to her mind; this was something that occurred due to her thirst for knowledge. She attempted to try and look up who exactly came up with the spell; or more importantly, the last known usage besides this one would be of some help in ascertaining what exactly happened to cause the spell to be used in the manner that Twilight did.

''Where did it all go so wrong? The spell was designed to allow you to hear the thoughts of others because the creator defined it for reconnaissance, so maybe the language for the spell was altered by somepony as it transferred down and transcribed. . .'' Twilight muttered, desperately trying to cross-reference the last-known user of the spell. ''You would think this would be something that would have more care put into it if you wanted to hear anypony's thoughts.''

The quiet of the library was the only peace that Twilight managed to have as Spike and Cadence spent their time by themselves, doing whatever they could do to try and make their situation anymore better than the impending fate that would undoubtedly befall them if anything had occurred. ''Huh?'' Twilight looked over to the center of the room, where the noise that almost had sounded, making her ears flick back and a small light to come as a spark before a violent torrent of wind threw around all the parchment, papers, and anything else that wasn't heavily weighed down enough for it to join the maelstrom.

''What's going on?'' Twilight backed away, seeing the bright light slowly dissipate before a shape walked out of it, the language seeming non-threatening, but failing to fully assure her. Slowly, Twilight looked to see. . .herself? ''Uh. . .''

This Twilight seemed a tiny bit different, evident by her frazzled mane and tail that, while not cut up as her last future self, it was notably rearranged along with the presence of her eye color being. . .green? If this was anything like the last time, then Twilight wanted next to nothing to do with-

''-Twilight, please just listen to me!'' Twilight heard her time-traveling self with the different eye color frantically attempt to explain why she was doing what she was before she would end up shutting herself down. This was important, this was the thing that she needed to do if the future had any hope of becoming stable-ish. ''This isn't what you think!''

''Uh, yeah, right. The last we. . .I mean, me; well the me that was did something like this, it ended up being a literal pony chase to tell myself not to worry just because I didn't actually think about a disaster that never happened,'' Twilight said, turning around and waving herself off essentially as she knew that anything that would have to be said would no doubt be a hindrance where she would like it to be a-

''-It involves Spike and Cadence.''

Okay. That may have changed things.

''Well, what are you waiting for? Tell me what I have to do to get them back to normal! The sooner, the better for all of us, and for Spike to stop and trying to eat gems without breaking a tooth and me having to do a repair spell. . .again.'' Twilight saw the other Twilight take something out of her saddlebag and give it to her, her eyes glossing over what was in front of her.

''I can't tell you; you know time travel rules and all, but I can show you.'' Twilight heard the almost hesitance in her voice. There was something else going on. ''And I know it seems like it'll be counter-intuitive in a way, but they're gonna have to these things in order if they want to have any chance of normality.''

The present Twilight wanted to disagree. Spike and Cadence had the unfortunate, and really the only option to try and get back to any amount of normal would be to. . .use relics from the past?

A Stone By Any Other Name

View Online

Spike was the first one out of the group assembled in the library to want so badly to throw Twilight out of the closest window. It wouldn't be crazy to do something like that, not with everything else that's happened recently.

Wouldn't it?

''So, once we have all of the things that me. . .or future me gave us,'' Twilight rolled her eyes at the time-traveling antics of herself, and essentially any version of her that already have, or will have done this. ''We should be able to reverse this, and according to the notes, it seems that we have little time to do this before we lose this chance.''

Cadance half-listened, more preoccupied with the thought of Flurry Heart and Shining Armour to want to do anything to contribute to the conversation. It had been some time since the 'event' that took place back home, and Cadance would be lying to herself if she did not say that she still felt hesitance with every step she and Spike took in each other's bodies.

It took all of her willpower to not want to cry.

''Can we be sure this time? You know-'' Spike started to bring light to the previous 'situation' with Twilight that was about as scary as Angel Bunny having a voice.

''-Yes, yes, I know, Spike. But this time there is a big difference in comparison to last time.'' Twilight said, hoping to deflect some of the anger from Spike to somewhere else.

''And what is that?''

Twilight simply smiled. ''It's not me actually causing the trouble this time directly.''

Spike's left eye ticked, the underlying vein nearly bursting from the amount of stress; ever since his mind got switched with Cadance's, the entire process made the idea of ever achieving some form of higher understanding of why this happened to seem almost impossible. ''Great; we're doomed.''

''. . .What if we have to keep this up longer?'' Cadance's thought came out of her mouth, though it was too late. ''We could be like this forever.''

Twilight chuckled a bit but reassured her sister that everything would be fine if nothing else got thrown in the works to make the situation the two were in worse than anypony could imagine. Though Cadance bought the schtick of Twilight for the moment, the quest, so to speak that she and Spike would need to embark on would be an entirely different beast to tackle. ''If what I said held any kind of weight-''

''-And it may not,'' Spike quipped back annoyed, the glint in Twilight's eyes giving him more than enough reason to be quiet for the moment after he spoke his piece. ''How sure are you about this?''

''Mmm. . .about 97%,'' Twilight mused, looking over the notes that were given to her by. . .well, herself. As soon as she came, Twilight's other self left, only leaving a small list of things that would hopefully be the key to undoing the predicament. ''Luckily one of the items we already have, but the other two may prove to be the true test of whether or not the two of you will have to stay this way or not.''

Spike huffed, letting his body slowly drop to the floor as his feathers ruffled, a spark of magic half-igniting from his horn. The wood of the library floor was a bit comforting and mildly warm as opposed to standing. Small rhythmic thrums caused his head to faintly turn left and right. Thump. Thump. Thump.

''Spike?'' Twilight called, the word throwing him for more of a loop as he snorted, standing to hear a scraping of the floor come from Twilight's hoof in what looked to be almost hesitation. Each second dragged on longer than the next as Spike's mind began to wander. ''I'm. . .sorry.''

Sorry?

''. . .Sorry? That's what you have to say; Twilight? Sorry? 'Oh, pardon me, Spike and Cadence for doing one of the few things that could inconvenience anypony's life and so much more!' Where are my manners?'' Spike's haughty laugh was only outweighed by the grand sweep of a hoof in front of the fantasy section. ''And it's ironic if you think about it for a second; fantasy would be the wildest dream ever until it actually happens.''

''S-Spike,'' Twilight stammered, inching closer as Cadence still looked downtrodden at the prospect of the other Twilight's plan to fix this not going according to plan. No kisses from Flurry Heart, none from her Shining Whiny, no longer being an Alicorn, and worst of all. . .

Not being able to spread the love around Equestria.

The thought alone nearly made her want to faint the longer she thought about it if she already hadn't and chose not to pay the thought any mind at all. The crushing pressure, the bitter air that sapped her sense of reason by the second, and the wave of tears pulled from her face and onto the ground as Cadance wept silently while Spike gave more of his mind to Twilight as all other sound began to cancel out.

A sea of sounds came to Cadance before anything else. Had Spike or Twilight managed to do something again? A rumbling came, Cadance's mind began to swim with thoughts that none of them were good enough to give her any relief.

''Cadance? Are you awake?'' Spike's voice called out to her as Cadance rubbed her eyes with her claws, opening her eyes to gaze at herself looking rather drained of life, from the sunken eyes all the way to the dull tinge of pink that paraded her coat. She. . .rather, Spike looked to be at his wit's end. ''We have to go,'' Spike said, his voice sounding rather hoarse.

''Huh? Where to? D-Did something happen again?'' Cadance asked. And why did she feel so. . .strange?

Spike huffed, only being able to shake his head for the moment; unsure of what they would need to do next unless it would be the defining moment in making sure that the two of them could return to their normal lives. This shouldn't be happening to the two of them.

But fate had different plans for them.

''We're changing, and I think it's going to get worse.''

Of Far And Few

View Online

“Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, Cadence stop panicking!” Spike hoped his wings wouldn’t seize up from all of the sudden movements.

He was calm. Twilight even told him so before he flew out of the nearest window in the library at full speed with Cadence in his mouth.

“Spike, do you even know what direction you’re going?!” Cadence gripped her own body a bit hard as Spike took off with reckless abandon in the general direction of the Dragon Lands. When Twilight told them of the items they would need to be put back to normal, it never crossed her mind that it would take different cultural artifacts, some of which she was sure to be lost to time, or plain destroyed. ''We can't just fly blindly into the face of the unknown!''

Without missing a beat, Spike willed his body to fly faster, the world nearly appearing to be a blur for the dragon-turned-Alicorn as he merely had the goal of getting to the Dragon Lands as quickly as possible, and nopony would deny him the chance to make things right after what Twilight put the two of them through. Not only was this particular instance the one to take the cake, but it was also the one that had to blur the line between reality and whatever else stood on the other side of the madness, and he was friends with the literal Spirit of Disharmony. ''I am not being anywhere near Shining Armour in this body for another second if I can help it, and you should know that by now!''

Well, she was able to see where he was coming from, however little an amount that was. ''Do you even know who would even have the Bloodstone Staff?!''

''Scepter, and I actually do!'' Spike craned his head back to face his sister-in-law briefly, the crazed, but determined look in his eyes made Cadence wonder if Twilight had rubbed off on the drake a bit too much when it came to accomplishing certain things and if any long-term effects came up. ''Ember should if she hasn't thrown it away or used it as something she shouldn't! And there's no way she can tell me no! I'm like her best friend!''

Ducking her head from hitting the brush that quickly approached as Spike continued in a straight line, letting nothing stop his advance.

FWISSH! POP! POP! DUNNNNN! CRASH! WHISTLE!

Apparently, not even the face of a small mountain.

''Don't worry, I'll be fine, as long as we get to where we're going!'' Spike laughed manically for a moment, the small chunk of rock stuck through his horn to the base that Cadence was pretty sure that it obstructed half of his vision made her wonder the exact thought process going through his and her mind. (more specifically, Spike's mind inside her own body). ''We'll get the Bloodstone Scepter!'' Spike cheered to himself as he began to spy the Dragon Lands in the distance, the air soon turning hotter, and the ground charring.

''Yea, can't give you the Bloodstone Septer,'' Ember said, giving a half-hearted shrug and leveling with the pair who displayed a different range of emotion than the other, well the little she was able to see from the face masks they wore. Weren't they hot wearing those? It was hard enough to hear them with all the commotion in the background, now she had to contend with pieces of cloth? From what she could make out, 'Spike-Cadence', as Ember came to a conclusion after being explained 3 times, held a slack jaw and ever-persistent twitching eye while 'Cadence-Spike' held her claws in her head, muttering something Ember was sure was confirmation of something they must have discussed before they came here.

''Whaddya mean?! We need it; we explained what'll we do with it, and then you'll get it back. What's so hard that you can't look out for a friend?'' Spike asked, hoping he could get through to her. . .standoffish attitude. If anything, it seemed that him that she did care, but she needed something more than his word that nothing bad would come about her doing something like this. ''Have I ever lied to you?''

''A few times, actually, yes. Which is why you should see why I kinda don't want to do this.'' Ember replied, not letting the conversation sway from her point. ''I forgave you, and even understood, but that doesn't make it ok to lie to your friends. It's that much harder to trust something you'd say you'd do or want to say.'' Ember said, paying little mind to what she was sure was changes where there shouldn't be. Since when did Spike start to turn pink in some areas and grow a pony's tail instead of his own? And then there was his friend, who started to look more and more like a youngling dragon with those claws and almost bright red eyes. It looked very much out of place, but Ember wasn't one to judge really, after all, she was a dragon.

So there wasn't much room to work with.

''But this is serious!'' Cadence chimed in, the blue dragon looking at her a bit more confusion than Spike, well, Spike-Spike, versus. . .ugh forget it. ''Twilight told us that one of the things that we would need to go back to normal, and one of the first things she said we would need is-''

''-Twilight, or Starlight? I keep getting those two confused.'' Amber said, her mind in the realm of how the two of them, and by extension, all ponies looked pretty close to the same and even had almost the same name, and she was put on the spot for not being able to tell the difference when they couldn't do it themselves.

''Yes!'' the both of them shouted, Ember shrugging even further. She didn't get paid enough for this; let alone at all.

''Regardless, do you even really know why you need the scepter? How convenient is it that you need it on the one day that I call all of the Dragons here to do something very important where I'll need the scepter? Can you explain that?'' Ember had the uncanny feeling that Spike was trying to pull a fast one on her.

Again.

''Bad timing?'' Cadence threw the idea out in the open, hoping it would land. Ember narrowed her eyes. ''Will of the universe?''

''Mmm, nope; not buying it.'' Ember shrugged again, causing Spike's mental state to get worse the longer the conversation went on. ''Sorry, this whole 'situation' is confusing as is, and you two coming here just doesn't make it any better, so I gotta turn you guys away.''

''B-But we'd be quick about it,'' Spike said his growing realization that his days with Shining Armour may be the highlight of his questionable life, and for him, that would mean. . .

''Well, what's this major event that you have going on today? Is it something that can wait, or maybe we could help streamline it?'' Cadence asked, seeing the Dragon Lord contemplate the question for quite a while, paying no mind to the chaos of the other dragons in the background escaping from the former Dragon Lord when he came by to do his weekly visits, to help assist his daughter in making sure the dummies didn't do too much damage to the sacred land; even though Ember could not tell that he was just looking for an excuse to be more active in her life following his change of heart and position. ''And are you sure that it's today?''

''Am I,'' Ember started, a glint of indifference in her eyes as she looked at her friend, and Twilight's friend by extension with equal looks of shock and timidity. ''the newest Dragon Lord of my lands, sure that I planned an event just for today with the Bloodstone Scepter that I need? Yeeeeeeeahhhh; prettty sure.'' Ember clicked her tongue before leaning against her throne, motioning for the two to follow her to a nearby lava pit as she watched her subjects triaspe about under the rage Former Dragon Lord Torch. ''Try some other time.'' Ember twirled the scepter in question around a few times before burying the hilt in the ground a tad, a small amount of heat cascading from it as Spike's eyes began to bog out of his soon-to-be permanent body.

''So, when you said this would be easy, did you mean easy to come here and get turned down, or for the fact to settle in that we may be this way and the little bit of our social lives are pretty much gone?'' Cadence fumed to herself, the small splotches of pink fur and oddly enough, what looked to be precious metals decorating her small frame as Spike's body began to sprout scales and hoof-claws? ''Did I get that right, or were you having another panic attack?''

Bringing a shaky, claw-laden hoof to his face, Spike's mind. . .in the realm of understanding did the only that he knew would get results.

And that was action.

Taking his time to hoist Cadence on his back as Ember conversated with a pair of dragons who had a burning question that just could not wait provided Spike with just the opportunity he needed as his friend's back was turned, and conveniently, next to a rather deep-looking lava pit.

Dragons were fireproof, and besides; it would be like a bath, just a really long one that she had no time to think about taking. Ember could be mad later, this was something Spike had to do, if he was ever going to hear the end of this story someday.

SPLASH!

''BLEUGH! SPIKE!~'' Ember called out in suprise, feeling herself being pushed into the scorching hot pit and her scepter snatched from her grip as she heard the flapping of wing as she fought to get up.

''SORRY!~'' Spike nervosuly chucked, feeling his voice change as well, only it got. . .higher in pitch? ''I can explain later!''

In Retrospect

View Online

Following the accident in the Dragon Lands, Cadence came to the oddly understanding conclusion that the entire situation with having their bodies switched due to Twilight's incompetence affected Spike more than she thought. She figured that all of the crazy adventures, and near-Equestria-ending scenarios that he experienced with Twilight and her friends would only serve to make him more resilient against anything less tame.

This, however, was not the case on account of Spike possibly making an enemy of the ruler of The Dragon Lands in the span of about 3 seconds.

''Did we get turned around at that last crossing? I'm sure I remember there being a pineapple-shaped rock on our right when we first came this way.'' Spike said frantically, Cadence's mind working into overdrive to get her brother to calm down and understand that their present situation was not, in fact, bad. ''Hopefully, we can get what we need and be done with this whole thing.''

Cadence seconded the idea, only she failed to vocalize it on account of her thoughts about a separate issue of her own coming to her mind after Spike 'acquired' the Bloodstone Scepter, and looking back on the entirety of their. . .experience since becoming the other was just that.

They were becoming the other, in some ways. Spike had yet to notice it, but his suddenly growing pair of dragon-ish teeth and his feathers becoming scalier were cause for concern. On her side of the problem, she only noticed her wings changing and her claws thickening and elongating a tad, seeming to move towards the shape of a hoof.

Whatever pony had the brilliant idea to create such a specific spell, for a specific occasion, with even more specific conditions seemed all too. . . easy. Almost Discord levels of play.

''At this point, your guess is as good as mine, but I think we should slow down and think about the situation for a second!'' Cadance yelled, more than sure that her pleas were unheard, which left her no choice. ''This'll hurt me more than it's going to hurt you!'' Cadance had a moment to let her words sink in. ''W-Wait; wouldn't you hurt more than me? I mean, you are in my body, so wouldn't it be it's going to hurt you and me more than. . .me?''

As you can see, the pair were indeed, not in the right headspace to do much of anything.

CRASH!

Except for crashing, of course.

''U-Ugh. W-Why does everything always hurt?'' Spike asked with his face neatly in the dirt. ''Cadance, you ok?''

Barely managing to lift a claw in response, Cadance slowly raised her head so she could get a better look at where their combined stupidity landed them. The Castle of The Two Sisters.

''W-What. . .how? W-We?'' Cadance asked, wiping her eyes to lay her eyes on something that she would not have thought possible. ''Did you fly that fast, or are we just that-''

''-Probably the second thing,'' Spike mumbled. Slowly raising his head, Spike suddenly felt a nagging feeling that Twilight might not have the same idea. ''Oh, now I see what you meant. Well, to be fair, this is just the place we need.''

''Is that because of that time Rarity 'improved' Ponyville because of a book that you gave her?'' Cadance annoyingly asked, her memories flooding back to that particular day that involved the purging of a lot. . .and a lot of dark magic. Princess Celestia had a field day with that report. ''Please don't tell me that you're thinking of going in there to find something that could make this worse?''

''Honestly, 50/50.'' Spike said.

''Spike!''

''Ok, fine, then what do you think we should do? We're down an artifact that we need to change the two of us back to normal, and-''

''-And Twilight herself couldn't bother to come here since she was closer versus having us fly like maniacs just to get back here?'' Cadance asked, walking over to the entrance of the castle, noting the weathered structure that managed to stand the test of time. Even though she never had the pleasure to walk these halls in their heydays, she was able to tell the amount of history, love. . and mistakes that were present. ''And yes, I do know she's busy preparing things on her side, I just want this to end.''

''I know, sis. Me too,'' Spike agreed, rubbing his tense jaw. No matter how much closer the pair came to an answer, the universe always seemed to have a counter ready and waiting for them. He wondered if the constant climb up the proverbial mountain would ever stop. ''Well, it's no harm in taking a look to see if anything can help us.''

Cadance shook her head as she walked inside, maneuvering around fallen stones and holes in the ground to proceed toward the throne room. ''Famous last words, I just hope Twilight is doing better than use at this point.''

Ponyville. . .

Twilight walked back into the library, her mind doing donuts. She became convinced she would have grey hairs in her mane before she got to the actual age where it was all but certain. Even though all appeared to be going well, on the inside was Twilight panicking. She never meant for things to get as out of hoof as they have; everything done was all to push the concept of magic further.

What rotten luck.

Two out of the three artifacts were needed to put the entire crazy situation behind everypony, and then. . .Twilight didn't know. On one hoof, two of her family members would be back to normal, and the crazy story of this bad spell would be over. However, on the other, there was a small part of her that also, strangely became kind of numb to the world-ending problems.

That wasn't wrong, right?

From time to time, Princess Celestia did allude to her more or less thriving when the chips were down; from dealing with Nightmare Moon, to Discord, to Queen Chrysalis, to Parasprites, Dragons, and so on and so forth. While in the beginning, a nervous wreck, Twilight always came around when her friends or Equestria were in danger. This would be no different.

''Spike, Cadance, I'm sorry. . .'' Twilight muttered to herself, resolving to herself that she would take more precautions in the future so that nothing like this would happen again under her watch. On her end, everything was done, the only thing that needed to be done was to meet up with Spike and Cadance and to close the chapter on this unfortunate, albeit, a bit silly of a story.

Part Dragon, Part Princess

by Ultimus Pendragon

Fix This!

Breathe Pink Fire

Draconic Authority

Turn It Around?

Here Goes Nothing

On Two Fronts

Use Or Lose

For A Few Turns More

Plan B, and Plan D

A Stone By Any Other Name

Of Far And Few

In Retrospect