What Comes Next

"Heya sis! What'cha doin' here?"

Applejack took a step backward, of all the places to run into her little sister, she did not expect Twilight's library. "Ah just need ta talk ta Twi. Ya know if she's here?"

Apple Bloom pointed towards the stairs, "She went upstairs just after we got here. Said somethin' 'bout a headache." She leaned closer and whispered, "Granny said ah'm not s'posed ta talk ta you or Lyra till she gets back. Ah'm worried sis, what's goin on?"

"It's complicated. Granny is upset at me right now, but it'll be alright. Don't worry yer pretty lil head. Besides, ya get ta spend tha whole weekend with Sweetie Belle. You get a fun vacation, ah'm a lil jealous." Applejack said with a smile. "But if Granny said not ta talk ta me, ah reckon ya should do as she says. Ah don't wanna ya gettin in trouble."

Apple Bloom stomped a hoof. "This ain't fair, ah know somethin's wrong, stop treatin me like ah'm a baby. This ain't no vacation, ah'm bein' shoved outta tha way cause y'all are afraid ta tell me what's goin on!"

Applejack sighed, why did her sister have to be such a smart little filly? "Yer right AB. But there's a lot goin on right now that ain't exactly fair. Ah can't talk about it right now, an if Granny forbid us ta talk then we shouldn't talk. Now ah really have ta talk ta Twilight, ah'm sorry sis." Applejack quietly stepped around Apple Bloom, heading towards the staircase.

Apple Bloom turned around, shouting, "Just cause everypony else is bein' unfair doesn't mean you have ta be!" Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lyra, casually thumbing through a rather large textbook. She mumbled to herself, "Ah'm gonna find out one way or another."

There was a knock at the bedroom door. Twilight rolled her eyes. She had left Spike in charge of the library for the time being. She had another headache and the prospect of dealing with the crusaders today was not helping it. "Come in."

The door opened with a creak and Applejack stepped through. "Hey Twi, ah got a pretty big favor ta ask. Ya got a minute?"

Twilight sighed in relief, "Anything for you Applejack. I can't deal with those girls today. You won't believe what happened after you left yesterday."

"Heh, ah'd say 'try me' but knowin' you… Anyway, me an Lyra need a place ta stay for a few days. There's some, uh, stuff goin on at home." Applejack smiled nervously.

Twilight shifted on her hooves. "Oh, I uh, I dunno Applejack. What with everything that happened after the party… It's just that Spike… well…. Wait, you and Lyra?"

"It's a long story, but don worry 'bout it Twi, we're still lookin around."

"Is something going on? I'm confused."

Applejack began, "Long story short, Lyra an Bonbon broke up so ah offered ta keep her for a bit, Granny got the wrong idea an kicked us out so now we both got no place ta stay."

Twilight thought for a moment. She turned towards her nightstand where her crown sat atop a small decorative pillow. "I might have a solution."

Lyra tried to step backwards, bumping into the large shelf behind her. A small book fell off the top shelf, landing beside her and causing all four ponies to jump slightly.

"Girls, I know you're curious, but this is a private matter. I really can't talk about it."

The three fillies took a step forward. "Well it affects us too, Granny won't let us go to our clubhouse and ah can't even see mah family till whatever this is gets taken care of." Apple Bloom said, an accusing tone in her voice. "Whatever this 'private matter' is, it's bigger than just you two."

Sweetie Belle looked down, staring at her hooves. Remembering her conversation with Rarity she turned to Apple Bloom. "Maybe we should leave her alone for a bit. Her and Applejack are probably really, uh, busy. This doesn't feel right."

"Sweetie Belle! This is mah family were talkin 'bout! An maybe even tha future of tha Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom shouted, a wild look in her eyes. Her voice cracked with anger. "Everypony treats us like babies an were s'posed ta just say alright an accept it. We're bein' punished fer somethin' somepony else is doin' an ah don't even know what it is! How is any of that 'right'?"

"I'm with Sweetie Belle…" Scootaloo chimed in, "…I agree that it's not fair, but Lyra is nice. I don't think it's her fault. Besides, we can go back to the clubhouse on Tuesday, right? That's just two days."

"Ah heard what Granny Smith told Rarity! She said that Applejack is tha reason ah can't go home, an since tha only thing she's done recently was bring Lyra home, then she must know what's going on!" Apple Bloom was still shouting. She pointed her hoof at Lyra. "If'n Applejack won't tell me, then she has to."

A burst of green light severed her train of thought. Turning around, the three fillies saw Spike, arms crossed, with a frown on his face. "Sorry for the fire, but I've been shouting your name and you didn't even notice. This is a library, it's supposed to be quiet. No arguing allowed. If you don't stop I'm gonna have to get Twilight."

"This is important Spike! Ah'm bein' kept outta mah own home an nopony will tell me why! Lyra knows an she's gonna tell me!"

"Apple Bloom, you need to stop yelling and calm down, or else you need to leave." Spike said pointing at the front door, barely visible from where they were standing in the back of the library. "I'm only warning you once."

Taking a step towards Spike, Apple Bloom gritted her teeth, "Ah ain't leavin till ah get answers. Ya best turn round an leave us alone." She pointed an accusative hoof at the tiny dragon.

"I told you to stop, now you need to go." Spike's voice was stern, he stood up as straight as he could, trying to look imposing. He grabbed Apple Bloom's hoof in an attempt to pull her to the exit.

Sweetie Belle gasped, immediately squeezing her eyes closed her face twisted into a harsh grimace. As she bore down, a feeble glow surrounded her horn.

Apple Bloom jerked her hoof away, pulling Spike off balance. She lunged forward, slamming into him with all her might and knocking him to the ground. Standing over Spike, she raised her hoof and cried, "YOU AIN'T GONNA KEEP ME FROM MAH FAMILY!" She brought her hoof down, smashing the frightened dragon across the face. Spike screamed.

Rearing back again, Apple Bloom's eyes glistened. Attempting to swing again she felt herself lifted into the air by her upraised hoof. She swung her legs uselessly in the air, flailing about and screaming.

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes, the glow of her horn faltering as she lost concentration. She looked up at Apple Bloom who was trying in vain to free herself from the golden glow that held her aloft. "Oh good. Thanks Lyra." she said, releasing a held breath, and collapsed on the floor.

Lyra, still lifting the squirming Apple Bloom, floated Spike over and laid him across her back. Holding the two, she trotted quickly as she could to the stairs and began hollering for Twilight.

Scootaloo leaned down to whisper into Sweetie Belle's ear, "I know magic takes concentration, but you could at least say 'excuse me'."

Sweetie's cheeks turned a bright red, she giggled, "I didn't think anypony noticed."

Upon seeing Spike laid across Lyra's back, Twilight's eyes grew wide. She ushered Lyra upstairs and ran to retrieve the dragon anatomy book she had on loan from the Canterlot library.

Apple Bloom was still in a rage so, against her better judgment, Twilight had used a spell to send her to sleep while they tended to Spike. Lyra agreed to watch the counter till they were done.

"Um, Twilight, ah hesitate ta ask, but, why do you know all these um, brain spells? Applejack asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Brain spells?" Twilight responded, mirroring her friend's quizzical expression. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the sleeping spell, that one spell you cast on your doll that made everypony love it, all those memory spells, that kinda stuff. If ah remember correctly, ya even mind controlled a bird once." Applejack fiddled with her hat. "It jus' seems like ya know a lot of spells that mess with ponies minds."

Twilight smiled, "I'm studying all kinds of magic." Tapping a hoof on her chin, she continued, "I'll admit, some spells kinda fall in a moral grey area, but magic isn't good or evil, it's all in how you use it."

Applejack chuckled, "Ah'm just sayin, an don't take this tha wrong way, but you know all kinds of mind control spells, got a kinda obsessive personality, got super powerful magic, always doin' weird experiments in yer basement, an for that matter, ya got a science lab in yer basement. Yer an evil laugh away from bein' a supervillian."

Twilight giggled, "I guess you're right." she cleared her throat, "MU~HU~HA~HA~HA!"

Applejack shook her head, "That was just sad."

Spike began to stir, sitting up he said, "What happened?"

"You don't remember? That's not good, you could have a concussion."

"No, my memory is fine. I mean what happened after you put me to sleep?" Spike hopped out of the bed.

"Oh, nothing much, I gave you an examination to make sure you were alright, looks like you'll have a black eye, but other than that you're fine." Twilight leaned down as Spike hopped up onto her back. "You should have just come to get me. You were doing really well handling the problem, up till you grabbed her." She motioned to Applejack, who picked up her sister, and all four headed downstairs.

"I'm sorry Twilight, I said I was going to get you if they kept going, I dunno why I didn't." Spike was poking at his swollen eye, it was tender and warm to the touch.

"I know Spike, Lyra told me everything. I'm proud of you, but in the future, don't touch anypony, just come get me, okay?" Twilight looked back at Spike, smiling. Not looking where she was going she nearly missed a step.

Lyra looked up from the textbook lying open on the counter. She waved at Twilight and Applejack as they entered the room. "How'd it go? Is Spike okay?"

Spike hopped down, waddling over to the counter, he gave Lyra a hug. "I'm fine, thanks for coming to my rescue."

"No problem Spike." She gave a wide grin and giggled. "And don't worry, I won't tell anypony you lost to a girl."

Spike blushed.

"Twi, ya sure ya can handle these three?" Applejack asked, motioning at Apple Bloom, still sleeping on her back.

"I'm sure, and I'll make sure she knows that she's in trouble when Granny Smith gets back." Twilight said. Motioning to Lyra, she continued, "Applejack explained things to me, I've got you covered for a few days. I'm sure she'll explain everything to you on your way."

"Thanks for everything Twilight, I'll be sure to repay the favor." Lyra bowed her head.

"I already have that set up. It's less of a favor and… I'll let Applejack explain, I've got to get back to work. Thanks for dropping by. Oh, and I extended your due dates for a week, you have enough to worry about right now."

After saying their goodbyes and setting Apple Bloom down in the back, Applejack and Lyra left. They had a new destination across town.

Examining the street signs Lyra tried to guess where they were going. "I haven't been down this road for a while. Ever since I moved in with Bonbon. My old apartment is down this way."

"Really? It isn't at this address is it?" Applejack asked, removing a small slip of paper from her hat.

"No, but that's really close, I think it's owned by the same mare." Lyra said, as she squinted at the tightly written words. "Is that where we're going?"

"Yeah, Twi said that it's kept for official royal business. We can stay there for a week or so, but we'll be actin as representatives of the Ponyville Agricultural Office. Should be easy since the Apple family already controls the majority of the food production." Applejack shoved the paper back into her hat. She looked around her admiring the intricately trimmed bushes and trees lining the road. "You have any trouble runnin tha library while me an Twilight were tendin ta Spike?"

"A little..."