They Never Knew

Chapters

The Fools and the Assassin
Twilight Learns a New Spell
Spike's Employment
Bringing Her Home
The "Calm" Before the Storm
Love and The Following
Dreamscapes and a Return
Awake, the Next Day
Pink Temptation 1
Finding the Unfound
Pink Temptation 2
Silliness and Dinner
A Night in, and a Day Out
A Show Worth Missing
The Preparation
Cold Winds
The Heart of the Matter
The Begining

The Fools and the Assassin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She looked me in the eye and said, “I’ve ended too many nations already, I’ve no desire to kill any more governments.”

Thinking back to all my time in the egg, I could remember one or two times that I’d heard Equestria go into a war, and most of those times the war lasted only a week or two after we’d entered. Only once had anyone attacked us directly to my knowledge, and I remembered that only lasting two days.

“Are we so surrounded by enemies? I’d assumed that the ones surrounding us had learned better over the past ages.” Celestia shook her head and sipped her tea. She frowned at her cup and stood up, gesturing me to walk behind her.

“We are surrounded by countries and fractures of old foes, tenuous ties keeping us out of war but our nation’s prosperity keeping it a close prospect. I don’t know how ‘awake’ you’ve been the last few weeks, but the assassination attempts have gotten bolder for some reason.”

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

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

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

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

Elliot took a breath, walked over to a shelf on the other side of the kitchen, and grabbed a jar from it. He turned and walked over to the princess’s side, pulling out a drawer and taking a small spoon from it. He held both out to the princess, who took it and smiled, glancing at me and the guards. One of them sighed, and the other elbowed me gently in the side.

“Thank you so very much for your assistance,” she said, staring straight into Elliot’s eyes. I could see his ears burning red, and heard the guards on either side chuckle. She put her hand on his head and started to muss his hair, then the smile dropped from her face.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The burning on my back was getting worse, and I was starting to smell charred flesh. “Your skin is too thick for this spell to get through,” the princess was explaining as I felt her poke the wand into several places around my back, avoiding the burning area. “The magic just clung to you instead, creating a residue of the spell that’s now eating through your back.”

The princess then stabbed the wand into the middle of the burning area, and I gasped and grabbed the counter I was sitting near. The area began to get smaller and more concentrated, burning like fire that was slowly being extinguished from the outside to the in. Just as it became unbearable, the last drop was erased and I collapsed, gasping for air from having held my breath.

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

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

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

“From what I could see, he sent a changeling spell at you,” said Morris, the remaining guard. “Which, in my mind makes it extremely unlikely that they’re behind this.” His voice had dropped its accent-less quality, and now sounded very northern. “I’d have to think it’s someone who wants you to do their dirty work for them, get rid of the changelings.”

“I thought the changeling were a myth?” I looked at Morris inquisitively. “And I thought all dragons extinct,” he said shortly, then flinched at Celestia’s look. “Sorry,” he said to me. “My grandmother was killed by a dragon; my father raised me to hate them.”

“I can understand,” I said. “I’m more concerned with the changelings, truthfully.”

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

Celestia sighed and nodded, leaning back against her chair and drinking out of her own bottle of water.

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

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

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

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

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

Morris was the first out the door, looking everywhere he could before he stepped out the door. He waved me over, and grabbed my shoulder, bringing me close. “Stay behind her, stay close, stay watchful. Our life for the princess, boy.” I nodded, and he tore one of the badges off of his right shoulder and stuck it to my left sleeve, attaching it with a quick word and his wand. “You’re now an honorary member of the Royal Guard. Act with honor and hold yourself with pride.”

He turned and left the building, heading down the side of a brightly lit street heading towards the castle. Celestia followed close after him, and I after her. It was a tense few minutes, but we arrived quickly and unmolested. The door was already open, and Allain stood at the side, ready to close it. It slammed as soon as I was clear of it, and I heard many leavers and gears inside the gate turning and closing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twilight Learns a New Spell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What coronation?” I asked, surprised.

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

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

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

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

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

helpmealongandIFOUNDONEandit’shelpedmesomuchI’VELEARNEDSOMANYNEW…”

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

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

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

We walked slowly out of the library, Twilight refusing all help that didn’t come from me, and walked to the nearest dining room, which happened to be the guard’s dining room. I flashed Morris’s badge at the guard near the door as he started over to us, then sat Twilight down at the nearest chair. “My friend over did it with a new spell, she needs some food.”

The guard smiled and nodded. “I think we all know how that feels. Tell the chef over there and he’ll set you right.” I nodded, thanking him, and as I headed over to the kitchen I heard him ask, “So what spell was it, sweetie?” She muttered, “I don’t know, one to help me read faster is all I know…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He frowned unhappily, but still repeated what I’d said into his wand-tip. He held it to his ear and waited for the confirmation, then nodded to me. “It’s done.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Celestia sat on a blanket in the middle of the garden, sipping out of a cup. All around her were different kinds of flowers, multicolored and healthy. There was a small stream that ran through the middle, and several different species of trees grew on the other side. Celestia turned and smiled at us, looking much less tired than she had when I’d left her last night.

We joined her, and she motioned to the blanket. “Please, join me.” Twilight sat immediately, blushing lightly and staring intently at the stream that passed the flowers and wound gently to the wall. I sat next to her, on the grass. She looked at me and said, “Plenty of blanket free, Spike.”

“He’s never felt the grass before honey, let him enjoy it,” Celestia said, smiling and patting her on the shoulder. Twilight flushed a bit, then took off her own shoes and ran her feet through the grass. Celestia laughed out loud, then copied her, tossing her plain white flats on the grass. We all sat there, comfortably silent and enjoying the cool feeling on our feet.

“Twilight almost got herself into some trouble this morning,” I told Celestia, looking up into a deep blue sky, sun hiding behind a patch of clouds that stayed conveniently still.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spike's Employment

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

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

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

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

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

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

I immediately spat it onto the plate in front of me, grabbing my teacup and emptying the entire thing into my mouth as Twilight laughed, trying to cover her mouth with her hands. “By Celestia’s braid, how on Equestria can you eat something so sugary! It’s almost gritty there’s so much sugar…” I poured another glass of tea and swigged that one down too.

Celestia reached out and grabbed a different bit of food from the platter and held it out to me. “These two are meant to be eaten together,” she said, stifling her laughter. I tossed it into my mouth and the sweetness disappeared almost completely. I sighed and drank some more of my third cup of tea, washing the last of the sugar out of my mouth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I looked back up to the man, who smiled and spoke quietly, “Pass.” I can never remember what his voice sounds like, only that I am always overjoyed to hear him. He reached out to me, and I used his help to regain my feet. When we were both standing again, he bowed to me and took the crystal ball back from the woman, who turned to me smiled, offering her hand.

“Glorious to meet you, Spike.” She had a rich voice that sounded much younger than her face looked, and her handshake was warm and firm. “I am Dawnbreak’s companion, Shadowfall. We make up the stealth and reconnaissance branch of her majesty’s secret guard.” She glanced over at the princess, who was talking to Allain and Spitfire, the latter with a dark bottle in her hand. Celestia stopped talking and looked over to us. She nodded at Shadowfall, then turned back to her group and began speaking again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Morris grinned and patted my shoulder, saying, “No boy, I don’t think it would be.” I shrugged and started back over to where I had been, making sure to keep a safe distance from Silent. Shadowfall was looking at me worriedly, but Dawnbreak only smiled at me. I smiled back at both of them, and looked back over to Silent. “How much longer us she going to take?”

Dawnbreak shrugged, and Shadowfall said, “No real way of knowing. Seeing as how rare that bit of info probably is? Gonna be awhile. We might as well go meet the rest of the crew, ask Celestia who your main teachers are going be.”

I grinned. “I thought you were all gonna be my teachers, I was worried for a second.” Shadowfall grinned back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s long enough, let’s see it.” I held out my hand and opened it, revealing the stone. It had turned a translucent gold, with an opalescent sheen. It had a large vein of brilliant cobalt running through it; it was hard to look at anything else.

Dawnbreak studied the stone for a second, then took the paper and charcoal from the princess and began sketching on it. “I’ll need a Rune Smith majesty. A good one.” Celestia looked startled. “For a wand?” Dawnbreak nodded, still sketching. “Also a good amount of steel, a little gold, and wood from the Hawthorn and Willow trees.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thank you both so much,” I said to Graphite and Dawnbreak, bowing to both. “If there’s anything I can do, for either of you, ever…” Dawnbreak grinned and bowed back, and Graphite looked away and mumbled, “I’ve already been paid…”

I straightened, then looked at Celestia, who was smiling. “What’re we going to tell Twilight about the sword?” Her smile dropped a little, then got even bigger. “Time for you to learn your first spell.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bringing Her Home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I nodded, understanding how they felt.

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

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

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

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

“Only an hour or so, Celestia.”

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

She smiled and sipped at the tea, then made a face. “Why does my tea taste like soot, Spike?”

I grimaced and smiled awkwardly. “I’m self-taught on this, I’m not really even sure what it is I’m doing.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The "Calm" Before the Storm

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was the week of the summer solstice, a couple of days before the main event was scheduled. Twilight and I were flying to the small town in a royal carriage, towed behind two horses enchanted with Pegasi wings. With the open back, we had decided that we felt safer with a piece of rope tying us to the handles of the open-backed chariot.

“I can’t believe Celestia sent me to check on this festival thing. She knows how much I dislike leaving Canterlot…”

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

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

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

Twilight had been proven right by three other professors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Then don’t,” I offered, shrugging.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Until sunrise silly. Everybody is going to be awake anyway, may as well party the night away!” Pinkie shot both of her hands into the air with this declaration, celery dripping ranch into her hair. She quickly wiped it away with a napkin from the table.

Twilight nodded, her face puckered in a frown that suggested she had suspected as much. “Well, I’m pretty tired. You’re welcome to use the library of course, but I think I’ll opt out. Coming Spike?”

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

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

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

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

I motioned towards her with my drink. “Who’s she?” I asked Pinkie.

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

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

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

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

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

I walked up the short staircase and to Twilight’s bed, sitting down near her feet. “Having a good welcome party, Twi?”

She waved at me and grumbled something, and I smiled and left her room. On my way out I locked her door, and I descended the stairs back into the crowd.

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

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

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

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

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

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

She looked into my face and laughed. “I can see your mind trying to puzzle me out. You won’t ever get it, though.”

She handed a scroll of papyrus over and I was surprised to see stats and columns of information about me. At the bottom was a seal in black ink: a lightning bolt with wings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“No, not really,” she said, grinning. “Mostly she just told me about you; told me to make sure you knew you had help here.”

I looked the girl up and down. “Just you then?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love and The Following

Love and The End

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

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

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

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

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

I leaned in as well, lowering my voice to match hers. “Is what true?”

“Twilight’s a grumpy old dragon?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I looked down to Ditzy and she was looking back up at me, smiling slightly. Thankfully, her back was to the group of romancers. I pulled my arm from between us slowly, and wrapped it around her as she snuggled up beside me. She was warm and soft, softer than I knew a person could be. I gently laid my chin on top of her head, gently smelling her warm hair.

Rarity looked like she was doing a little cheer; Rainbow and vinyl were pretending to throw up, and Fluttershy was only smiling and nodding. I closed my eyes and let myself get lost in the feeling of the woman touching me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh?” mocked Allain. “And you are?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Let’s begin.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

……………………………………

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

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

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

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

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

…………….……………………

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

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

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

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

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

“Magic.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I held up a hand and stopped her, grinning. I’m glad you’re having fun princess, but I have an important question.”

Her face drew in and she asked, “One or both of you?”

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

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

“And books,” chimed Celestia.

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

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

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

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

Dreamscapes and a Return

Epilogue

WARNING SAD FEELS AHEAD

If you're happy with the way the last chapter ended, please do not read this epilogue. It is needlessly depressing, and there will be other adventures for Spike to follow. Considered yourself warned.

Meals quickly became a family affair, with all four of us sitting around the table in the kitchen. Usually it would be Dinky talking about what she’d learned about in school, Ditzy telling stories about some of the weirder clients she had delivered to and some of the stranger packages she’d delivered. Twilight usually had some new spells or unusual books she’d found at a garage sale or antiques store, and I had tales of whatever it was the rest of the Darklighters were up to or what I’d had to help them with.

Dawnbreak and Shadowfall were up to their usual, fighting griffons for enchanted shoes or something. Silent Scroll had gone on what equated to a personal crusade to rescue some rare set of tomes from a bunch of diamond dogs, which Twilight had requested copies of. Morris and Allain complained of their old bones and about having to retire in a few years.

Spitfire we heard enough about whenever Rainbow Dash came over, which was at least every Saturday. The six of them had dedicated that day to each other unless something else was pressing. Even then, they all still gathered Saturday night for dinner. We’d had a longer table built to seat all of us, plus room for anyone who happened to drop by.

Nearly once a month or so, Celestia and Luna also dropped by and discussed the letters Twilight and her friends had me send to her. Luna quickly grew into her true stature, becoming Celestia’s height and gaining her… body structure. Her features were a bit more angular, and her skin a bit paler with hair much darker. Luna filled the role of Celestia’s opposite very well.

The years melted by. A few ancient evils resurfaced, only to be put down by the Elements of Harmony and myself. In the first years Ditzy and I got married and moved into her house. We even had a child, with Celestia’s magics. The income I received from Darklighter jobs kept us very comfortable.

Dinky excelled with her studies. She studied at Canterlot University, with many of the scholars Twilight herself studied with. She became a teacher, taking over Cherilee’s position when she retired.

Ditzy continued to work through the post office until we had our little girl. After that she was content to stay home and take care of our Cassia Luna.

My daughter grew into a fine young woman, half dragon apparently still being enough to be able to use all of my tricks. I taught her everything I knew from the Darklighters and from Celestia, and made sure she had the best education she could get. I made Twilight tutor her personally.

I lived for too long, though. I kissed my wife goodbye as she passed away, illness getting the better of her old body. Morris and Allain grew old and chose to go out fighting instead of in their sleep, perishing in a battle with the diamond dogs when they tried to invade. Most of the Elements of Harmony passed while I felt young still.

I grateful to Celestia for making Twilight a princess; it substantially lengthened her lifespan. Celestia still cried on my shoulder when an assassination attempt finally pulled through, and I razed the north ice fields with fire in return for the Changeling’s mistake.

I comforted Dawnbreak when Shadowfall passed, quietly in her sleep. He still looked as young as ever, even with his face wrinkled in depression. I’d discovered he was Celestia’s son some time ago, born of a man long dead.

I found some comfort in Luna’s arms, growing attached to her in a way that Ditzy’s short lifespan hadn’t allowed. We married, with my daughter’s blessing.

She’s lying in the bed near me as I write this. I still love Ditzy, but I would go insane without Luna’s companionship, and I love her with the heart not saved for my dear Cassia. She’s growing old herself, my daughter is. Half-dragon only goes so far I suppose. I fear the day I have to watch my daughter die. I feel so old, yet look no older than a man of twenty. I once asked Luna how old she and her sister was, and she only shook her head and wiped tears from her eyes.

I fear my own immortality. I may have gotten a bit more reckless in battle, but no one has said anything of it, and I cannot judge it myself. My skin is too thick for blades to pierce me, and my blood too hot for any poison to survive. I fear that I shall be like this forever.

I’ve just finished kissing my wife awake. Maybe I can keep living like this, if for a bit longer. Goodbye journal. I’m sure someone will find you useful, even is just for a bit of a read.