A Butlers Symphony

Chapters

1) Our story begins
2) Hello there
3) What are you?
4) Getting to know you
5) First day
6) Stranger in the night
7) Time to relax
8) Day at the beach
9) A fake smile
10) The dream realm
11) Spike part one
12) Spike part two
13) Targets
14) Calls from father
15) Finding Zerlinda
16) The escape
17) The flashbacks
18) Stating the obvious
Ending early

1) Our story begins

Twilight Sparkle, prized student of Princess Celestia, Princess of Friendship, defender of Equestria and bearer of the Element of Magic. She had lived through so much in the past few years of her life, defeated a spirit of chaos, befriended said spirit of chaos, helped stop an invasion of creatures that feed off of love, destroyed a tyrant that had kept an entire empire as slaves, battled a giant centaur that had power comparable to a God, freed a village from a mare that was blinded by her view of what friendship was, battled said mare and traveled to various different timelines in the process, befriended said mare and restored the balance of harmony in Equestria.

Yet after living through all of this, she couldn't even put on a fake smile for what was happening. The day had arrived, the day she had dreaded for years. Her adoptive brother and number one assistant, Spike the Dragon, was moving out. Spike was no longer the small drake that Twilight had grown up with, he was now taller than her, matured in a way, more independent.

Spike had come of age, ready to marry the mare he had fallen in love with, Rarity Belle. As he had proposed Twilight had secretly wished that she would turn him down, but she didn't. Rarity said yes and they were to be wed in a few months from the present time.

Twilight sat idly packing boxes with her magic, not taking more than a glance at each item to avoid reliving memories in her head. With her blocking out the world she failed to notice her new housemate walked in the gold plated door. Starlight Glimmer watched with a worried look as Twilight sulked. "Twilight?" She got no answer. "Twilight?" She walked over and sat beside her friend before shaking her slightly. "Twilight!"

Twilight snapped out of her depressed trance and looked to Starlight. "Yes Starlight?"

"Why don't you let me do this? It's obviously too much for you, why don't you just go see Spike before he leaves?" Starlight suggested. "Twilight, it's not like you're never gonna see him again, he's literally right down the road and you can visit each other at anytime." Twilight looked at her with saddened eyes. "I let myself fall from the thought of never seeing my friend again, don't you make the same mistake."

Twilight managed a sad smile. "Don't worry Starlight, I won't let this take over me, I promise."

"Pinkie promise?" Starlight asked with a raised brow.

Twilight sighed and began the ridiculous movements. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Good, now get going before you fall into a funk again."

Twilight did as instructed and slowly walked out of the room, leaving her friend to sort through the items in the boxes.

Spike stood outside the castle of friendship, loading a few boxes of his stuff onto a cart. A golden ring rested on one of his claws, something he wore with pride and love. As he was about to reach for another it was coated in a lavender aura and floated into the cart. Looking up the crystal steps he spotted Twilight walking out with a sad smile. "Hey Spike."

"Hey Twilight." The two looked away from each other slightly, Spike rubbing the back of his head while Twilight ruffled her wings. "So..."

"This is actually happening."

The two remained silent before bringing each other into a meaningful hug. "I'm sorry about this Twi, but I've got to start living my life, I can't be your little assistant forever."

"I know...it's just, gonna be hard for me to get used to not having you by my side."

"Come on Twilight, I'll visit as much as I can, and we'll see each other everyday anyways."

These words helped to calm Twilight, making her feel more comfortable with the situation. "Still, I need someone by my side to help me."

"What about Starlight?" Spike asked, pulling away from the hug and looking down at his adoptive sister.

Twilight shook her head. "Spike, she does her own research and studies, we help each other on occasion but when we have our own projects to work on we're alone."

Spike paused for a moment, thinking over what she had said. The two mares did get together a lot for Twilight to teach Starlight more about friendship and magic, but beyond that they were housemates, friends, not assistants. What Spike was about to say was hard for him to even peak the words, he knew that Twilight needed someone with her to keep her straight and to remind her of what's important when she got caught up in something and was blinded by determination. "Twilight, I know this will be hard for you to hear but, maybe you should look into finding my...replacement."

Twilights eyes widened. "Replacement?! Spike, you aren't just something I keep for a few years and once it breaks I get a new one, you're my friend, my brother. I can't replace you, no one can ever replace you." Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Spikes neck and held him tightly.

"I know Twilight, and no one could ever replace you in my life either, but times have changed. You need someone by your side, to help you organise, to keep you company." Spike pulled Twilight off of him and looked her in the eye. "Promise me, Pinkie promise me, that you'll look into a new assistant."

Twilight closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Performing the promise she looked up at Spike with saddened eyes. "I'll miss you Spike."

"I'll miss you too Twilight." As the last box was loaded into the cart by Starlight who had walked out with the remaining items in her magic, Spike walked up front and grabbed the two wooden poles. Taking one last look at Twilight he flashed her a sad smiled before turning around and began walking towards his new home at the Carousel Boutique.

As Twilight sat on the crystal steps and watched him walk away Starlight sat beside her and rubbed her back to reassure her. "Hey, it's alright Twilight. You'll manage without him, right?"

"That's the thing Starlight, I've had someone helping me for so long that I don't know if I'll ever get used to not having that help." She sighed and looked up at the sky. "Where am I gonna find an assistant as good as Spike?"

Little did Twilight know, there was someone listening to the conversation. A being that had sensed her distress, came to analyse what had caused this negativity in her. This being sat on a small white circular platform in a black void, watching Twilight through a magic screen.

The being heard the sound of a door opening from the opposite end of the platform, echoed footsteps approaching him. "So son, have you decided on which world you would like to be stationed in?" The figure behind him asked.

"Yes father, I believe I have." The being returned to watching the screen as he heard the echoed steps fade and the sound of a door closing. "This world will do just fine."

2) Hello there

A few days later

Twilight lay on her side, staring at the crystal wall as she thought about her situation. Not about Spike leaving, just her current situation. She needed someone to help keep her organised, Starlight couldn't do it because she was busy with her own research and any other time apart from studies was either training with Twilight or having some down time with a good romance novel and a tub of ice cream.

Sighing she got up from her bed and began walking towards the door. She had held auditions for another assistant, but none of the ponies who tried out could handle the amount of work or put up with Twilight for more than a few hours. She had given up on the idea of auditions the day before, and was now trying to form a plan in her head. "Maybe a walk through the Everfree will clear my head." She nodded and began her journey to the pacified forest of thorns.

???

The mysterious being watched Twilight exit the castle from the screen in the void. After a few minutes of contemplating what may happen if he were to reveal himself to an Equestria that had no contact with any parallel universe. On one hand it would give him an opportunity to give a friendly introduction of the inhabitants of the multiverse, maybe even allow some to settle in that Equestria that were looking for a home. On the other hand he could end up scarring the populace and stopping any chances of allowing anyone to settle down in that world, and then have to look for another one suitable to his needs.

Soon he deactivated the screen, having made up his mind. He walked to the other side of the white platform where a door seeming to only lead off the edge of the circular foothold stood. He placed his hand on the doorknob and twisted. As he opened the door a long hallway of various other doors could be seen through the door frame. Closing the door behind him he began to walk down the hallway.

He looked to his current appearance, nothing but a black silhouette with his eyes being all white save for two reptilian slits that acted as pupils but having no irises. He stopped as he reached a bookshelf filled with various books with photos of different outfits listed in a section. He picked one out and began flipping through the pages, stopping as he came to one photo that caught his eye. A tux, that would be perfect for him, for both the situation and his line of work.

Setting the book down he began to change. His plain black body growing his article of clothing of which he choose. Soon he was wearing a black tailcoat with dresspants and leather shoes. He also wore a white shirt underneath with a neat bow tie. His black skin became peach, revealing the face of a young twelve year old boy with slick black hair. His eyes were the only thing that stayed the same, his hair had grown a little to where the back with reaching just past his neck. "There we go, this will do just fine."

"Finally on your appearance then son?" A male voice spike from behind. The figure looked back to see a man that looked about nineteen standing there with long white hair and piercing purple eyes and a small buzz of a white beard on the bottom of his face. He was wearing a grey trencoat which he wore open to show a purple t-shirt underneath,mas well as his grey jeans and purple boots. You may be thinking why a nineteen year old has a twelve year old kid, well they are actually ageless and the child was not born naturally, he was created.

"Yes father, I've decided that this is the form I shall take while helping the people of the multiverse, as well I have decided that now is the time to start my own journey as you did in your early years, but by following my own path." The boy replied.

"A wise choice, I would prefer if you did not follow the path I took in my first Equestria, I ended up in more trouble than I could handle. You do whatever you need to do, and...good luck, Symph." With that the man disappeared. Symph looked at the spot his father was previously in and nodded, making his way to the door leading into the Equestria of his choice.

"EQ 509, EQ 510, EQ 511...ah, here it is, Equestria 512." He said as he reached his door, turning the knob and opening the entrance, revealing a portal instead of a room. "Alright, here I go." With that he jumped in, the door shutting behind him.

Equestria

Twilight walked through the now peaceful Everfree Forest, the magic from the Tree of Harmony having dealt with the chaos of this once cursed forest, now the only threats were a few Timberwolves that stayed in the deepest parts of the forest and the thorns in the trees. The sounds of nature helped to calm Twilight, allowing her to escape from her troubles for a while.

Everything seemed so distant, so meaningless and so senseless while she was in this relaxed state. The years of dealing with the stress of Ponyville had forced her to learn relaxation techniques that would calm her quickly in situations where she needed to keep a cool head.

As she was about to turn back she head a crackling sound, sounding like wild bolts of electricity. Cautiously following the sound she saw what appeared to be a portal closing, but whatever had created the portal was nowhere in sight. Shaking herself she turned back and began heading for home, thinking it was just her imagination running wild with her clear head...that is until a voice spoke, causing her to jump.

"Hello there." A friendly voice said from the treeline. "No need to worry, I am a friend, I only seek to help you."

Twilight regained her composure and looked around cautiously,maher horn charged at the ready. "Who's there? What do you want?"

"Now now, there is no reason for violence Miss Sparkle, I am a peaceful fellow. I only wish to help you with your problems." It replied.

"Then show yourself!"

"Ok, I'm coming out, no need to shout." With that Twilight heard the rustling of leaves and watched as Symph walked out from behind a tree with a smile on his face, although her expression was one of fear and confusion. "hello."

3) What are you?

Twilight just stared at Symph in shock, fear and confusion. He had done his best to pick a form that would appear friendly, but it was hard to seem friendly when your eyes are black slits and you have slightly sharp teeth. Twilight just stood there frozen, wondering what to do next.

"Oh come on I'm not that scary am I?" Symph asked with a raised brow. As he looked to her waiting for a response he sighed and looked at her with a frown. "It's rude to stare you know?"

Twilight snapped out of her trance and shook herself before looking at the boy cautiously. "What...are you? Who are you?"

Symph just smiled warmly and gave a polite bow. "My name is Symph Shattered, I am what's known as a symbiote, although I have taken on the appearance of a human for now and possibly for a long time."

Twilight just looked at him confused. "What's a symbiote, I know about humans but I've never heard of symbiotes before?"

"That Miss Sparkle will be hard to explain in full, so I'll give you the short version. My body is made up of a liquid-like material with a consciousness, I can merge with other living beings to either control their bodies, rest and regain energy or grant the individual with greater power." Symph explained with a kind smile.

"C-Control their bodies?" She asked with fear.

"Do not worry Miss Sparkle I have never done such a thing and I do not plan on doing anything of the sort without the willingness of the individual." He stated while putting a hand on his chest. "Now, I can assure you that there is nothing to fear, as I have said before I only wish to help you with your problems."

Twilight looked at him with a raised brow. "What problems?"

"You are in need of a new assistant am I correct?" He recieved a reluctant bod in response. "Well I am here to offer my services."

Twilights eyes just widened in shock. "What? How do you even know about this anyway?"

"I may tell you sometime in the future, for now can we please focus on the matter at hand...er, hoof?"

Twilight sighed and sat down in front of him. "I'm listening."

Symph smiled softly and cleared his throat. "Well, my sole purpose is to serve someone that has a kind heart and good judgement, while I was created with this by accident I have a drive to assist those that need a helping hoof, that includes your little predicament." He explained as he pointed to her. "My abilities can be of great use to you, and do not worry, it would not be like I'd obey you like a slave but as a friend, I would help you grasp the understanding of what you do not know, I would not follow a request if I find it questionable unless I know the full details and I happen to be a pretty good cook." He said with a smirk. "I do however have my limitations but that can be discussed later."

Twilight looked to the ground and began to think. Should she give this strange creature a chance? Should she just say no and get on with her day? These were just a few questions that bubbled in her mind. "Alright, I don't see the harm in at least giving you a chance." She said with a sigh while looking up to him.

"Thank you Miss Sparkle, I'll do my best to ease your worries about this situation, that I promise." Symph said happily. As Twilight nodded she suddenly started feeling sleepy, the many interviews during the day had left her exhausted. As she was about to fall face first into the dirt path Symph dashed forward and gently caught her before she fell. "Poor thing, her conflicted thoughts were distracting her from her exhaustion. Let's get you back to your bed shall we?" He picked her up in his arms and began slowly walking towards Ponyville with a satisfied smile.

The next morning

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, surprised to find herself in her bed back at the Castle of Friendship. Confused looked around with half lidded eyes, still trying to waken herself up. 'Was it all a dream?' She thought as she climbed out of her place of slumber.

As she opened the golden doors of her bedroom she slowly walked down the long hallway. She smelled a faint scent coming from down the hallway from the kitchen where the door had been left open slightly. It was a sweet, delicious scent that managed to wake her up a bit.

'Is Starlight making pancakes for breakfast?'

As she approached the door to the kitchen she could hear someone humming a catchy tune, but it wasn't Starlight. Looking in through the gap in the double doors she spotted Symph by the crystal stove with a frying pan in his hand, he flipped a half cooked pancake from the pan and it landed perfectly on its uncooked side back into the pan.

'So it wasn't a dream.'

Suddenly the door was opened up by a strange black appendage that grew out from Symph's back, it was like one of his hands but all black and was stretched over to the door until it retracted into his body. "Good morning Miss Sparkle, I trust you slept well last night?"

She just stared at him in shock before returning to reality. "Well...good morning to you too Symph."

"Why don't you go sit in the dining room, Miss Glimmer is there and there is a cup of coffee waiting for you, I'll bring in your breakfast shortly." He said as he placed the fresh pancake on a plate and bean to make another.

"Oh...uh ok, thank you." Twilight turned around and began walking towards the dining room where Starlight was waiting.

As he was now out of her vision Symph grew multiple black tendrils out of his back, each of them forming hands at the tips. Three of them picked up frying pans while the rest managed the ingredients and began placing some strawberries carefully and neatly around the already made pancakes. "Ahhhh, this is much more efficient. I'd best keep use of this ability to a minimum around the ponies as to not scare them off."

Meanwhile Twilight and Starlight idly sipped at their coffee. It would take awhile for Twilight to become fully comfortable with Symph and his strange abilities, even longer to actually trust him, but she was willing to give him a chance to prove himself.

4) Getting to know you

"Sooooo...you gonna explain the well mannered creature in the kitchen?" Starlight asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

Twilight just rubbed her face with her hooves. "I found him in the Evefree and he followed me home..." She replied jokingly but tiredly.

Starlight rolled her eyes and turned to the door as she heard footsteps approaching. Symph walked in with two plates of fresh pancakes in his hands. He set them down in front of the mares and smiled. "Enjoy, if you need me just speak my name and I'll be there, I'll go find something to do in the meantime."

As he was about to walk away he felt a hoof being placed on his shoulder. Turning his head he saw that Twilight had stopped him. "Actually, I was wondering if you'd answer a few questions."

Symph smiled warmly. "Alright." He took a seat across from Twilight and poured himself a cup of tea. "What do you want to know about me?" He asked politely.

Twilight took a sip of her coffee before turning to face him. "Ok, first off, where are you from? Are there more of your kind waiting for people that need assistance or something?"

Symph just chuckled. "No there's just me, I'm not part of a big civilisation. I'm from a place known as the void, essentially the place between realities or universes."

"Wait, a place between realities? You mean multiverse theory is true?!" Twilight asked in excitement.

"Yes, it is. There are multiple versions of Equestria. There are a few where you two are stallions." Symph stated causing the two mares to look at each other. "There are also realities where Celestia is a tyrannical xenophobic overlord hell bent on proving pony supremacy."

Twilight just looked at the symbiote wide eyed, shocked that a version of her mentor even existed. Meanwhile Starlight couldn't help but laugh at the fact that there were such universes. "N-Next question." Twilight said in a panic, desperate to change the subject. "How old are you exactly?"

Symph just shrugged. "Technically I'm ageless, but my body right now is that of a twelve year old human boy. However, my actual age is...a few months."

Twilight remained silent. "What?!" Until she yelled.

"I wasn't born naturally, I was created in a lab by my father who was researching symbiotes and their creation." Symph said simply, taking a sip of his tea while waiting for the mare to respond.

"O-Oh...I-I'm sorry." Twilight apologised.

"Why are you apologising? You haven't said anything to offend me, I'm completely comfortable with how I was created and so is my father. You did nothing wrong." He reassured her with a small smile.

She nodded and wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Ok then. What are your hobbies?"

"Hmm, I'd say relaxing on a cloud watching the sky would be one, maybe read a bit here and there and just helping out. It may not seem like a normal hobby to some but I still get enjoyment out of aiding people." He replied happily. "And a walk in the woods or just being around nature."

Twilight smiled at the happier topic. "Ok, what are your abilities?"

Symph stopped as he was about to take a sip of his tea. "That's complicated to answer Twilight."

"Ok, just list some of your abilities you use regularly." She suggested.

Symph nodded and closed his eyes. "I can grow multiple other limbs from any part of my body, mostly hands or tendrils. I can read minds by looking into someone's magical aura and I can fuse with any magical being and give them a power boost or create a new being, a fusion."

"What do you mean, a new being?" Starlight asked.

"In some cases with symbiotes, if the two fuse regularly and are close enough, their fusion will be its own separate entity but will not be able to physically exist outside the fused state. While the two that fuse are apart the fusion will stay in a sort of waiting lobby and can see what the two are doing and even talk to them in their minds. Such is the case with my aunt and uncle, they fuse so often that one of their fusions can fuse them without their consent but is still bound to what they say in a few ways but can still disobey them." Symph explained in the simplest way he could without confusing the mares.

"So, if we were close enough, and we fused regularly, we could end up making another being?" Twilight asked with interest.

"Yes, but both my aunt and uncle are symbiotes so they can do it naturally, I'm not really sure what would happen if the same conditions were met with an organic being in the fusion process." Symph scratched his chin in thought. "It's something to look into. Right then, anymore questions?"

Twilight nodded. "What is your kinds main diet?"

"I don't really need to eat, I can sustain myself on the unused energy of others. My diet isn't limited, I can pretty much eat anything that can be eaten." He explained while taking a sip of his tea. "And as long as I think it tastes nice of course." He added with a smile.

"Favourite food?"

"Ramen noodles."

"Favourite colour?"

"Purple."

"Least favourite colour?"

"Amber."

"Favourite flower?"

"Water lilys."

"Favourite animal?"

"Raven."

"Favourite time of day?"

"Nighttime."

Twilight continued to flash his questions, some to do with just him as a person and others about what he was, her scientific curiosity driving her to ask more and more to learn more and more. Twilight and Starlight had finished their breakfast and Symph had grabbed the plates to clean in the kitchen before beginning to work around the castle.

As Twilight walked towards the entrance of the castle to go out and visit her friends her thoughts went back to her conversation with the symbiote. Now knowing a few things about him and seeing how openly he answered personal questions allowed her to trust him, not completely but still there was a level of trust building.

5) First day