Entry One: A Botched Bewitchment
"Alright, Spike, we need to get going, this spell cannot work without you." The purple unicorn nervously trotted over to the front door of her treehouse.
"I'm coming Twi, but all these things are hard to carry with such small claws!" said the dragon, almost tripping over the wagon full of alchemical equipment.
"Oh, come on, Spike. You have grown so much over the years, you aren't the baby dragon you used to be."
20 years had passed since the Elements of Harmony had defeated Discord and turned him to stone. From that time, Spike came to be a teenage dragon, about the size he was just after he became greedy on his birthday those many years ago. Twilight Sparkle had aged just as all the other ponies had. They had, on numerous occasions since defeating Discord, used the Elements of Harmony to beat many other foes, some even more dangerous than him, but the years were catching up to each of the mane six. Some of them had even left the town of Ponyville to pursue other careers and endeavors. Rarity had moved to Trottinghem to get into the growing fashion scene there, and she just knew her latest capes would steal the show. Rainbow Dash had joined the Wonderbolts after so many years of waiting, and Applejack had moved the Apple family to Appleoosa for some time to help the Appleoosans with yet another land dispute with the buffalo. But, now most of Ponyville was quiet, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had all earned their cutie marks and moved on to do what made them unique, and not very many ponies moved in to the town recently.
"Twilight, I know you are feeling nostalgic, but come on, do you really have to do this? I mean, you may get more than you bargained for..." Spike's voice trailed off.
"It's not even like that Spike, I just need to do some research regarding the Elements of Harmony for the memoir I am composing. If I were feeling nostalgic I would just cast a spell that would take me back...in...time...." Twilight began to concentrate very hard, trying to remember if she had any spells that would do just that. She, in fact, was feeling highly nostalgic, and with her age increasing, she had less and less to do, meaning she had more time to reminisce on her past. She did plan to write a memoir, but that was just her telling herself that she should do it as an academic pursuit.
"Hmph, well, can we get this over with? Rarity wanted me to go to Trottinghem to see her this weekend, and I have to pack." Spike began to hurriedly take the alchemy equipment from the wagon. Altogether, there was about 200 pounds of equipment, and it took Spike a few minutes to get it arranged. Twilight flipped through her magic book to find the necessary ingredients for the potion. "Why did we even have to come all the way out here with the equipment? We could have just brought all the junk back."
"Spike! It's not junk, it's important! And we need to mix up the brew just after we pick these plants, otherwise it won't be perfect." Twilight began to search for the required plants for the potion.
"Well, good thing it's a dreaming spell...that way I can pack and you won't be able to bother me." Spike said. The two gathered the ingredients; ragweed, cattails, rainbow juice, sunflower seeds, and crab apples. Twilight hooked up all the alchemy equipment and began to add in the ingredients. As she added the ragweed, the mixture turned purple, and began to bubble. After that, she put in the sunflower seeds and cattails, then the crab apples. Finally, she added the rainbow juice. The brew began to glow, and then the alchemy equipment started to shake. The liquid went throught the various tubes and flasks, and finally began to drip out into a small bottle. The bottle filled up to about halfway and Twilight looked at the brew, rather pleased with her work. She carefully used magic to put a cork into the top of the container, and put it safely in her saddlebag. She then began to clean the alchemy equipment, motioning with her hoof for Spike to assist her. When the duo completed the cleaning and returned the equipment to the cart, they began to walk back to Twilight's home.
"So, how long is this supposed to knock you out for Twi?" Said Spike.
"Well, that's the thing about it, Spike. The spell will wear off whenever I want it to. There are several reasons this is a good thing, one being that I can spend as much or as little time in my memories as I want, and I can evaluate each one of them and take notes. But, there are also reasons why it could turn out in a negative way.." Twilight stopped trotting and began to look up at the sky thoughtfully.
"Like what Twilight?"
"Well, my brain could, in theory, take over my memories and trap my subconscious inside of them, but the chances of that happening are little to none." Twilight said, a hint of reluctance in her voice.
"Well then maybe I shouldn't go to Trottinghem...I would feel awful if that were to happen while I was gone!" Spike said worriedly. The two began to walk towards the tree-house once again.
"Spike, I can assure you there's nothing to worry about, as I said, In Theory!"
"Well, okay, if you really think it is going to be okay...oh look, we are here." Spike began to unload the cart and put the alchemy equipment away. "Oops..."
"Spike? What did you do?!" Twilight rushed over to him. He had dropped one of the spare test tubes from the potion, and it was splattered all over the grass near the tree house. "Why didn't you wait until we got into the house to start unloading? You are so impatient Spike...." She began to clean up the mess with a rag from the cart. When she had cleaned up the splatter, she began to unload the cart, carefully this time, and brought the equipment into the tree-house. The sun began to slowly dip below the horizon....
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"Alright, Spike, I am going to go under now. You cannot disturb me during this process, and I will try to be done before you leave for Trottinghem. The good thing is, time doesn't pass the same way in the memories as it does in the real world. According to this book, the memory to world time-ratio is 5 hours to every 10 minutes. So, if you are leaving tomorrow morning, that gives me, according to my calculations, about-"
"Sorry Twi, but I don't really care for the whole numbers thing, I am just gonna get to packing..." Spike walked down the stairs, exiting the loft to grab his bags.
"Oh..right..." Twilight trotted over to her nightstand and picked up the small bottle using her magic. The purple liquid within the bottle shook about as it floated slowly over to Twilight. She removed the cork, and moved the bottle closer to her lips. The cold glass touched her mouth, and immediately, she jumped back, causing some of the liquid to hop out of the bottle. "SPIKE!" Twilight yelled frantically. The dragon hurried upstairs, wondering what could have been the matter.
"What's wrong Twilight?"
"Spike, how much ragweed did the recipe call for?"
"It said about 3 sprigs, I don't know..why does it matter?"
"Spike, a mistake could have severely altered the potion's effects!"
"I think you are over reacting...." Spike walked over to the unicorn and put a claw on her shoulder to comfort her. He could feel her heart pounding all the way over in her shoulder. He hugged Twilight to try to calm her down.
"Thanks, Spike..." Her heart rate immediately slowed, the presence of the dragon close to her had made her feel much more reassured. "I think it'll all be fine."
"Okay, good." Spike retreated from the embrace, and began to move down the steps. "I'll be downstairs if you need me again." Twilight waited until she heard a door downstairs close, and she began the procedure again.
"Spike said it will be fine...but...he's been wrong before..." Twilight said, beginning to doubt her closest companion. "No, it'll be fine, I measured everything correctly." With that, she put the bottle to her lips and threw it back. The purple liquid was warm on her lips, and felt warm all the way down her throat. The potion was supposed to take effect in about 5 minutes. Twilight laid on her bed, and closed her eyes. Ten minutes later, the pony was down and out, ready to do research on her memories and experiences. The moon had risen and was shining directly through the window, illuminating the pony's body, and creating a shadow that danced on the floor every time she moved.....
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