And then there were two...

Raritys, Sweetie Belles and Twilights journey back to Carousel Boutique was uneventful, except for the many townponies approaching the two sisters to offer their condolences. Having spent all afternoon with some of their closest friends, the pair suddenly felt rather exposed at everypony in town knowing and expressing their grief. Of course Rarity thanked the ponies as elegantly as she could, knowing that they were genuinely trying to be kind.

What made the situation even worse was that everypony wanted to express their heartache to Sweetie Belle feeling extra devastated for the filly, but the young pony was getting a bit overwhelmed at the situation and just wanted to hide away. Rarity and Twilight sensed this and flanked the filly, using their bodies almost as a shield from the other ponies, which she found rather comforting.

Arriving at her home, Rarity quickly gathered up the few essentials she would need for that night, flitting between her bedroom and bathroom. She knew that worrying about her usual beauty regime wasn’t her biggest priority right now, but hoped that keeping some sense of normality would be good for both herself and her sister.

Meanwhile Twilight and Sweetie Belle waited downstairs in the main showroom, an awkward silence falling over the pair. The elder pony had nothing left to say to the younger pony, whilst Sweetie Belle just couldn’t think of a subject suitable to talk to a princess about. With nothing to do, the filly’s eyes wondered around the store until the fixed upon a picture. Noticing Sweeties stare, Twilight looked over and saw what the young pony had saw, and moved next to the filly just in time to comfort her as she started crying.

Twilight levitated the picture over to them, and holding it in her hooves spoke softly “When was this taken, you look a lot younger?”

Sweetie sniffed a few times to “It was the last trip we took as a complete family, to Baltimare. It must have been three summers ago…it was a wonderful holiday” and the unicorn started crying again, Twilight comforting her as much as possible.

Rarity heard her sister crying and having finished packing her overnight bag, rushed downstairs to see what the matter was. She saw Twilight holding the picture in her hooves, and Rarity picked the picture up and placed it in her bag “We’ll take this with us I think…” before wistfully adding “…happy memories.” She levitated Opalescence’s carrier onto her back and the trio left the shop.

Applejack and Spike made there way through the town mostly in silence, both of them thinking about the day’s events. Slowly the signs of the Ursa Minor’s rampage in their quaint town became evident. It started with just a few knocked over ornaments and trampled gardens from where ponies had run away, but soon they spotted the first evidence of a real accident became more evident, a splatter of blood on the ground. They both slowed when they saw it and the pair just glanced at each other – despite the many adventures that the bearers of the elements had been on, none of their enemies had ever drawn blood.

They reached a clearing with a fountain in the middle, it was obvious this was where Twilight had stopped the Ursa for whilst behind them the buildings were intact, the buildings on the other side of the square showed signs of damage. As they crossed the square, Spike stopped at four burn marks, in the shape of hooves in the ground. He just stared at them for a moment and traced the outline with a claw.

Her interest piqued, Applejack took a few steps back to look at them alongside the dragon “Spike, what’s that?”

“Their Twilights burn marks from casting spells…they happen when she uses all her magic!”

Applejack looked at the ground, and noticed how the burn marks looked more intense then any other burns she had ever seen “Woo-wee, they look mighty fierce; she must have really been pushing herself!”

The pair started walking again, entering the part of town that had the most damage. Ponies were already sweeping up some of the mess, but the buildings that were damaged would take longer to fix. Some looked like they were back to being occupied by their residences, whilst others were more damaged and had warning signs to stay out.

As they walked through, the dragon asked the earth pony “Do you know any other unicorn that can teleport?”

“Actually partner, no I don’t”

“Twilight is the only known pony alive that can do it, not even Celestia, Luna or Cadence can. She teleported that massive beast right out of town and back to the Everfree Forest! She is so powerful, and yet…” Spike paused for a second “…so vulnerable”

Applejack smiled at the whelp “Well, nopony is perfect sugar-cube, but why do you say that?”

Spike turned and spoke with a soft voice “I think this is going to hit her hard. Given how much she loves Ponyville, she thinks of it as hers to protect now. She’s going to see this as a personal failure…and that doesn’t bode well.”

“Didn’t she save the rest of the town?”

“You know Twilight…you know that’s not going to be enough. I hope by helping out Rarity and Sweetie Belle, she’ll find some form of closure, but I still worry for her!”

The pair continued in silence for a few moments, until they found themselves at their destination. The Belle family home actually remained mostly unscathed from the attack, just a bit of damage to the thatched room which somepony had already covered with plastic sheeting. However, that was not the first thing anypony would notice.

Outside the front door there were already a couple of dozen wreaths and bouquets, and someponies had also lit candles around the edge. The pair just stopped and looked at the ad-hoc memorial, taking a minute to capture the moment in their minds. Applejack then saw the mayor across the street, and waved to the earth mare to get her attention.

She trotted over with a sad look on her face, her aides looking the same. “Hello Applejack, Spike,” The Mayor looked over the display “What a terrible day in Ponyville’s history…” the brown pony trailed off for a moment, thinking back to other memories.

“Well howdy Mayor, we’re here to pick some things for Sweetie Belle, is it okay if we go in?”

“Oh my, of course! Poor little filly, is she staying at Carousel Boutique with Rarity?”

“They’ll both be staying with Twilight for a few days first”

“The Princess is taking them in?” the mayor replied with some shock.

“Yeah, we all thought it best for the pair of them not to be alone t’night…and Golden Oaks seemed the best place to be.”

“Of course” the mayor nodded “If there’s anything I can do to help, of course come and find me or my aides. I think Princess Twilight has more connections than I do, but do let them know my door will always be open for them.”

“Thank ya kindly Mayor Mare, I will do that,” Applejack replied, giving a slight bow of respect, before indicating to Spike to go inside. The dragon led the way but as Applejack approached the threshold she took of her hat, muttered a short prayer under her breath, and then entered. Spike thought about asking about the prayer, but decided another day would be a better idea.

Inside, the pair went upstairs and split up. Applejack went in the bathroom and picked up Sweetie Belle’s toothbrush, manebrush and other assorted products. Spike went into Sweetie Belles room and picked up a few belongings she had asked for – a novel she was halfway through reading and a soft toy hidden in a special place. Spike found Sweeties favourite saddle bag and put her items in one side, and Applejack put the items she was carrying in the other side.

Once done, Applejack took a quick look around the house to make sure everything was fine and turned off the utilities. Their task complete, the pair left the house and started the walk back to the Library. The path took them through some of the worst hit areas of the town, and surveying the damage it dawned on the pair just how lucky that only three ponies died that day, as it could have easily been much worse.

They passed Cloudy and Daisy home, which was in a bit of a state and clearly would have to be demolished. But just like at the Belle house, outside of the safety perimeter set up were flowers and candles, and a hooffull of peagssi were sat outside praying together. Spike turned to his companion with a bit of a unsure look in his eyes “Applejack, shouldn’t we go and get some flowers or something?”

Applejack smiled at the dragon whelp, knowing this could be the first time the youngster may have actually dealt with death “It’s getting late so best I get you home, Spike. You can come back tomorrow after the market opens – I’m sure Twilight will give you some bits to do so.”

Twilight and the Belle sisters approached Golden Oaks Library, but noticed Pinkie Pie sitting quietly and still outside, a basket next to her. Seeing her friends arrival, the pink pony stood up and gave a soft smile at the trio. “I brought over some fresh bread for your dinner and four cupcakes for desert” the pony spoke in a chirpy, but still reserved, tone.

“Thank you Pinkie, would you like to come in and join us for dinner?”

“No thank you Twilight, I best get back and help the Cake’s with the twins bedtime. Besides, here’s Spike and Applejack.” She turned to Rarity “I’ll pop round tomorrow if that’s okay?”

“Yes darling, I would love that!”

As Applejack and Spike arrived, Twilight picked up the basket with her magic and took it inside, followed by Spike. The pair of earth ponies bid their friends farewell and walked away, leaving the sisters to enter their temporary home. As they walked Applejack turned to Pinkie “Mind if I come with you to Sugarcube corner and pick up a couple of treats for breakfast? I’ve got a feeling me and Applebloom are going to have a bad night!”

“Of course, I’m sure we have some of Applebloom’s favourite muffins baked today”

Spike immediately got to work getting dinner ready for the Princess and her guests, a salad as it was quick to prepare. Rarity tried to insist in helping, but Twilight explained the Spike took cooking for her very seriously since her ascension and it was best not to argue. Twilight took the pair on a tour of the more private areas of the library, as although Rarity had stayed over before this was new to Sweetie Belle.

The ground floor of the library was the largest, and was the only part available to the public. There were two stairwells that led down below the ground – a short one that led to the kitchen area, and the other which led to the underground lab (The trio didn’t go in there and only Pinkie, Spike and Rainbow Dash had ever seen it).

From the ground floor there was ornate stairs that curled up to the private living area Twilight and Spike shared. It was half the size of the ground floor and all the walls were covered in bookcases like in the main library. However, it also contained Twilight writing desk, a number of pillows for ponies to lie on, Owlowiscious’s perch and a few photos. Generally, it was a little more homely than the public areas but still undoubtedly a library!

Off of this room was the bathroom, and up led two sets of stairs to  the sleeping balcony and the outside balcony which had Twilights telescope set up. Rarity and Sweetie Belle had carried their bags with them on the tour and placed their items in the bathroom or bedroom as appropriate, and let Opalescence out of the carrier. The cat did what cats do when confronted with change, ignored everything else going on and lazily curled up on one of the cushions.

Spike called up that the salad was ready, and the trio came down to find Spike had laid out a large dinner on the table. Spike had prepared a salad with most of the vegetables they had, and had sliced and buttered all the bread Pinkie had brought. He had also prepared a salad dressing using most of the herbs they had in stock.

It was a good thing that dinner was so large as none of them had eaten yet that day, and at the sight of food three pony stomachs rumbled in unison, causing the two elder ponies to blush whilst Sweetie Belle shrugged it off like young ponies do. The four ate in silence, only just realising how hungry they were when they started eating, and between them they soon finished the feast in front of them.

Spike immediately got up and went to the kitchen to make tea, returning with a tray of drinks and the cupcakes. The three ponies retired the various chairs dotted around the main library to have desert in a comfortable silence of satisfied stomachs, whilst Spike did the clearing and washing up.

Once the dragon returned to the library, he found the ponies reading various books, and so started tidying up the books lying around on the floor. Twilight noticed this and lowered her novel for a second “Spike, there’s no need to do that now. Why don’t you just rest and read your comics or something?”

“I’ve read them all and the next subscriptions won’t be delivered until next week…and with dinner cleared away I might as well organise the place.”

Rarity lowered her book “Speaking of dinner Spikey Wikey, I must say that the salad was one of the most delicious I had for a long time.”

“Thank you Rarity” Spike replied, without the usual dreamy look he had when speaking to his secret crush “I’m glad you liked it.”

“That dressing was simply divine, what was in it?”

Twilight giggled a little “He won’t tell you…it’s his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices!”

Spike nodded as she spoke “Saying that, I’ll go and get some more when I go and restock the kitchen tomorrow. We’re out of…well…pretty much everything!”

“Wait, we’ve eaten everything you had?” Rarity asked a little shocked “I’m sorry!”

“It was market day tomorrow anyway, see shopping’s on tomorrows checklist” the dragon replied and Twilight levitated tomorrows list over to Rarity.

“Oh, okay then, but I insist on giving a few bits to pay for what we ate!”

Twilight laughed “Oh Rarity, but speak nonsense, you’re a guest here and you will be treated as such for as long as you stay!”

The rest of the evening was a leisurely affair with Twilight and Sweetie Belle reading their novels, whilst Rarity caught up with the fashion magazines she had brought over with her. As Luna’s moon started it arc through the sky, the younger sister started to stifle yawns and this didn’t go unnoticed by her new guardian.

Rarity folded the page of her magazine over. “Hmmm, it must be you bedtime young filly” and as she finished she let out a yawn of her own.

Sweetie Belle got sleepily onto her hooves “It must be yours as well then” she replied a little sarcastically, earning her a bit of a scowl from her sister.

“Actually, I think I could do with an early night” Twilight added, and Rarity reluctantly nodded in agreement.

The trio of ponies went upstairs to find Spike had been busy preparing for their guests and the two beds in the sleeping area had been made. Spike pointed to the spare bed “I made the bed with two blankets…Twilight told me about last time you stayed over Rarity” the dragon advised.

Twilight came over and gave her friend a nuzzle “Thank you very much Spike, I can always rely on my number one assistant!”

“Aww shucks” Spike blushed, and then picked up his basket and started towards the stairs

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked in surprise.

“I thought I’d go sleep downstairs, you know, give you girls some privacy!”

Privacy? Twilight thought to herself He’s never worried about that before but Twilight knew better then push the issue right now “Of course Spike, goodnight”

As the dragon picked up his bed again, Sweetie Belle noticed something and couldn’t help herself from asking “You still sleep in a basket? Isn’t that, well, what pet’s sleep in?”

Rarity’s mouth practically hit the floor at her sister’s question, but the younger pony wasn’t finished yet “I mean, I know you turned into a dog when you went to that other universe, but why don’t you sleep in a bed?”

Rarity rushed over and frowned at her sister “Sweetie Belle! Don’t be so rude! Apologise to Spike!”

Before the unicorn filly had a chance to speak, the sound of dragon laughter filled the air, and the two unicorns turned to see Spike laughing and Twilight suppressing a smile. The dragon stopped laughing and smiled warmly at the filly “Don’t worry, it’s fine and actually a good question. Twilight can tell you the story better than I can!”

Spike put his basket on his back, wished the ladies a pleasant night, and left the upstairs to the ponies. The three of them took turns brushing their teeth in the bathroom, before the three went to bed – Twilight in her usual bed, and the Belle sisters sharing the spare one, falling asleep in each other hooves.

Spike was sleeping downstairs in the library when a sound woke him and looking up from his bed he suspected to see either Opalescence or Owlowiscious moving around in the night. However, he instead noticed it came from a white pony that was lying on one of the sofas, crying.

Groggily, the dragon lifted himself and spoke quietly “Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?”

The unicorn squeaked in surprise and pushed her hooves over her mouth to stifle the noise. Catching her breath, she looked over to the dragon who was stretching out his limbs “Spike, you scared me!” she whispered back.

“Sorry!” the dragon slowly walked over to the unicorn “Are you okay? I heard you crying...” and looking at the unicorn she saw she was looking at the picture of her family.

Sweetie scooted over a bit and Spike sat next to her “Yeah, I had a bad dream…about my parents.”

Meanwhile upstairs, Rarity had subconsciously noticed the filly missing from her arms and woke up. Looking around, she heard voices coming from downstairs and got out of bed, waking Twilight up with her movements. Noticing that Sweetie was missing and hearing the same voice as her guest, the pair crept downstairs and stood quietly on the stairs, listening in.

Spike put an arm around Sweetie which had started sniffing again “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really…I can’t remember it anyway. I…just needed to see the picture…is that silly?” the filly looked over to her friend.

Spike thought for a second, then got up and walked over to Twilights desk. He pulled open one of the drawers and returning with what looked like a broken bit of china. He offered it to Sweetie Belle who took it gingerly in her hooves. “I’ll let you into a secret, so don’t tell anypony. This is a bit of my egg shell, which Celestia kept for me.”

Sweetie stared at the piece of purple dotted shell, and after a few moments the dragon took it back, and stroked it “It’s the only link I have to my parents…my dragon parents. Sometimes I just hold it for a while to have that connection…” he paused for a second and then turned to the filly “So I don’t think that looking at a picture is silly in any way!”

Spike went back and placed the shell back in the draw, and then returned to lie next to the filly “Obviously Twilight was the best mother I could have hoped for, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t think about the past…there’s nothing silly in keeping a real memory alive when I’m keeping an imaginary memory in my head!”

Twilight nearly let out a bit of sniff but managed to stay quiet, but Rarity noticed Twilight’s eyes watering, and the pair held hooves for each other. Sweetie shuffled around a bit on the couch until Spike found the filly had nestled up into his body – he had never been the big spoon before, but found the position oddly comforting. “Spike, tell me a story… why do you sleep in a basket”

“Well, Twilight tells it better, but since you asked. When I was hatched by Twilight, it came as a bit of a surprise to everypony…”

“Why?”

“Erm, that’s another story for another day” the dragon replied “But Celestia took me back to the palace to look after me. All was fine to start with, but when I started to grow I started to cry whenever it was time to sleep or nap. Apparently, I would only stop whenever Celestia cuddled me, so I was put in her quarters so I would at least I got a good nights sleep. However, it wound Celestia’s helpers up with me crying all day, and no matter what they did they could not get me to sleep in my new crib.”

Sweetie Belle snuggled up further into Spike and after stroking her mane a few times he continued “Now, after a few weeks Twilight moved into the Castle so she could spend time as possible with Celestia after classes. On the first day Celestia brought Twilight to her quarters to introduce me to her, being the pony that had hatched me afterall. Celestia was called away on business but Twilight stayed behind to ‘study’ me” Spike pronounced the words in a Twilight-sque voice which made Sweetie giggle slightly “But I think she just wanted to be near me…which she denied at the time of course.”

“When it came to nap time, obviously I started crying as usual. Twilight picked me up in her aura and apparently I stopped crying and we just looked at each other. She carried me out of the room and started trotting through the castle until she came across a storeroom. She placed me in a couple of different discarded boxes until she found one that I barely fitted in, and I calmly fell to sleep”

Spike giggled a little before continued “Celestia returned and apparently was somewhat initially shocked to see an old dirty box in her immaculate bedroom, but then noticed that I was sound asleep. Twilight explained what she did and it dawned on Celestia the box made me naturally curl up to sleep. I had only started crying once I had left my small bassinet and put in a bigger bed.”

“So Twilight knew you needed to curl up to sleep?”

“No, nopony had made the link between a dragon curling up around it’s hoard and sleep until Twilight had done it. But that’s the thing about ponies that love and care about you, even if Twilight had no logical reason to do what she did, she just knew she had to do something to sooth me...that I needed her!”

Sweetie let out a yawn, and the dragon stroked her mane as he continued “Celestia wanted to get me a fancy basket for me to sleep in but Twilight insisted on just using a regular box. To be fair, Twilight always took the most restrained options for herself too. As I grew, we eventually decided a more sturdy bed was required, but together we chose a dog basket rather then anything fancy…and I’ve slept in them every since.”

“Regardless of anything else, my humble basket reminds me of the one pony that, even as a small filly, took it upon herself to make me happy…and Twilight hasn’t stopped caring for me ever since!”

Sweetie Belle sighed contently as the story finished, thoughts about happy times where her sister had looked after her as a foal floating around her head and she quickly fell asleep. Spike curled himself as much as possible around the pony, and lay his head down on the couch, immediately falling asleep himself.

The pair of elder ponies noted the youngsters had fallen asleep, and Twilight carefully levitated Spike’s blanket over the pair, before returning upstairs with Rarity, and eventually falling back to sleep.