Raising Spike

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

How did things get this complicated?

Spike asked himself that as he struggled in his chains. He floated right behind Twilight and Nightmare Moon, who was casually blasting any Timberwolf that tried to attack the small group.

The walk was mostly in silence, so the clinking of his restraints could be heard. The Queen of the Night shot a look back at her, and he stilled himself in fear.

“Don’t worry, Spike, we’ll be there soon.”

“Tamed a dragon, I see,” Nightmare Moon said. “You are quite the mare.”

“I didn’t tame him, I hatched him.”

That actually got Nightmare Moon to misstep a bit. She looked at Twilight with renewed curiosity. “Hatched him, you say? With magic?” When Twilight nodded, she went on. “You’re a rare find, Twilight Sparkle. Maybe I’ll make you a Princess. I could use an heir.”

Twilight didn’t respond. She just kept her eyes on her objective.

“Nothing to say, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Were you expecting this to be a social walk? I’d hate to disappoint, but you’re nothing but a means to an end to me. I just want to get my baby dragon back.”

Nightmare Moon looked caught off guard by Twilight’s bluntness. However, she only chuckled at the remarks. “You have quite the spine. Most are too afraid to stand up to me, even as much as that. So, is he your child? Does he call you ‘mother’?”

Twilight actually stopped walking at that, if only for a moment. She looked at Spike, and the small dragon saw an uncertain look in her face.

“I... well, I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Never thought about it? You said you hatched him, and he looks like he’s been through at least a decade.” Nightmare Moon actually seemed somewhat amused by all this. “I’m willing to bet you’d still make a better mother than mine. Fool doted on my older sister...”

Spike didn’t hear the rest of the mad queen’s ramblings. She just looked back at Twilight, who was still watching him with an unreadable look. However, slowly a smile crossed her face.

Spike blinked. Was she...

Spike loved Twilight, he knew that much. But he had never really thought about how. Twilight was Twilight, a constant in his life. The one who fed him and sheltered him, the one who changed his diapers as an infant, the one who taught him to read and write. She had fought dragons to keep him safe, loved him after he had been a rampaging beast, who had guided him through hard times.

He had been her assistant, doing hard work for no clear pay. Oh, Twilight bought him whatever he wanted, at least before that disastrous birthday had put him on a strict gift limit, but he received all the comics he wanted and gems he could eat, even if no salary was attached. His greatest pay was Twilight’s happiness. Every affectionate rub to the head or kiss on the forehead was a badge of honor.

“Is this it?”

Both of them were brought out of their pondering by Nightmare Moon’s question. They were indeed at what remained of Twilight’s castle, the Friendship Map, sitting among the expanded Everfree’s wild foliage.

“That’s it,” Twilight said.

“Excellent. Then show me how it work...”

It all happened so quick, Spike could barely follow. A large blast of magic came first. It was synthetic sunlight, a spell taught to Twilight by Princess Celestia. Nightmare Moon screamed in surprise and pain, and her guards were blinded by the intense light. So was Spike, but almost immediately he felt his chains loosen and himself being floated through the air, before landing belly-first on soft pony fur. Then he heard Nightmare Moon speak.

“Foal!”

In a flash, the sunlight was gone.

Twilight summoned the spell. The time vortex opened again.

“No!”

Twilight was pulled up.

Nightmare Moon’s spell struck her right in the stomach.

Spike felt Twilight’s body convulse, but he tried to tell himself everything was okay. There was no way that spell did anything to Twilight. She was too powerful.

Twilight landed on the clouds with a thump, Spike tumbling off of her. He silently thanked Twilight for having the foresight to cast a cloud-walking spell on him as he ran over to the Alicorn’s body.

“Twilight? Twilight?” He pulled on Twilight’s shoulder, pulling her over on her back.

The sight made him sick. The burn, so strong it covered her entire stomach, was the foulest thing Spike had ever seen. Remembering his first aid training, he checked her pulse. As he placed her fingers on her neck, trying not to look into those lifeless eyes.

No pulse.

“T-Twilight? Twilight, please wake up.”

No answer.

“Twilight? Twilight? ...M-mom?”

No answer.

“Well, well, up for another...”

Starlight’s voice stopped dead. Spike looked up to see the Unicorn who had caused all this. She was stunned, her eyes and mouth open, whether in shock or horror Spike couldn’t say.

“W-well, looks like Little Miss Friendship g-got what she deserved,” she said, although it was clear the gusto wasn’t there anymore.

Spike glared at her. “You... you...”

“Well, it l-looks like I win.” Starlight’s gaze lingered on the fallen Alicorn before turning back to where a young Rainbow Dash was flying. “All it will take now is one well-placed shot.”

Spike felt something he hadn’t felt since his disastrous first birthday in Ponyville. A strong feeling, overwhelming all others. It grew. His vision reddened. Starlight. It was her fault. Her fault. Nightmare Moon might have dealt the blow, but Starlight allowed her to. She had caused it. Twilight was dead because of her. Because of her. Twilight dead... Twilight dead... her fault.... Starlight... get Starlight.

He leapt, tackling the Unicorn just before he fired the shot. They tumbled through the air, Spike’s massive claws wrapped around Starlight’s neck. Massive... bigger than usual. Why? Who cares. Starlight. Her fault.

They landed behind some buildings. Spike punched her twice. Her face was swollen. Teeth flew out.

Her horn lit up. Spike grabbed it and bent it a full 45 degrees.

It was the fact that the swelling was around her mouth so badly that stopped Starlight’s screams from carrying. Spike placed a massive claw over her face and picked her up. She turned to the building and smashed the back of her head into it. And again. And again.

He threw her body to the ground. He kicked. The body went rolling.

Starlight guttered out something. Probable a scream for help. She began dragging her broken body over to the edge of the cloud. Spike understood. She’d fall. A fall meant death. A death meant an escape from him. No. Wouldn’t allow. Twilight dead. Starlight... her fault... her fault... her fault... must be punished. She would suffer... Suffer...

He ran up to her and hit her. Again. Again. Again.

A flash of rainbow light. He didn’t care. Again. Again. Again.

The sound of the portal opening up. Again. Again. Again.

It was only after he felt himself floating upwards did he stop. What was happening? He looked up. He saw the portal.

He stared at it, trying to get his thoughts clear until he was sucked through.

Three figures hit the ground, and only one of them was moving.

Spike stood still and blinked. He was home again, in the castle. That was good. But it seemed so much smaller. Smaller... or was he bigger?

He brought an arm in front of himself and looked. It was longer, and more muscular. Sharp claws. There was red on them.

Red. And purple fur. Why...

He looked around and saw two unicorns just lying there. One was badly beaten. She was just barely breathing, but it came out in weak garbles.

The other was Twilight. She looked fine. Her back was to him. But... no... no...

Spike barely noticed himself shrink back to his regular size as he dashed toward Twilight. He pushed her onto her back.

“Mom? Mom! Please, say something? Please! tell me I read your pulse wrong, please!” The tears came. He couldn’t see anything through them.

The door opened. He didn’t turn to look.

“Twilight, are you in SWEET CELESTIA!”

Spike slowly turned. Rarity wasn’t the only one there. Every other member of the Friendship Council was there, their mouth’s hanging open and their eyes wide. All were staring at Starlight’s mangled body.

Then Rainbow Dash turned and saw Spike next to a fallen Twilight.

“Spike wh... Twilight!”

That got everypony to run over to them. In a flash they were all babbling at once, crying Twilight’s name and desperately trying to think of anything they could do.

“Mom...”

The small word cut through the noise. Everypony looked at him, stunned.

“Starlight... killed her... M-Mom...” And the tears started again. Pinkie had her forelegs around him in an instant.

Rarity spoke up. “Rainbow Dash, run and get the doctors! Fluttershy, get the medical supplies, Twilight keeps an emergency kit over there! Applejack, go help Starlight. Don’t give me that look, just do it!”

The ponies all scrambled as Rarity checked for a pulse.

Spike barely noticed. He didn’t even see. The tears were too great. All there was to him was warm pink comfort.

Twilight was gone. His mother was gone.

Starlight was likely going to die... it would be his fault.

He blacked out.

Author's Note

Well, here's the start.

First off, if the violence turns you off, don't worry. I plan for it to be a one chapter thing. The Gore tag was a precautionary measure, and I kept it as clean as I could while still hammering in that she got beaten.

Secondly, using Starlight as the villain had nothing to do with my personal feelings on the character. The only other two I could think that would be able to kill Twilight are Chrysalis and Tirek, and I couldn't think of anyway to use them without there being a big fight scene at the beginning. Spike's retribution isn't meant to be seen as correct or justified, simply an understandable reaction from an enraged dragon who lost his mother.

And Starlight still lives. She has a role to play.

Chapter 2

Spike’s eyes opened, his sight returning just a step ahead of his hearing. It took him a moment to realize where he was.

A hospital.

Princess Celestia was in a conversation with the rest of the Friendship Council, but he didn’t hear the words. Alarmed, he looked at his body. To his relief, there were no needles in his arms, just a few sensors on his chest, reading his vitals into the nearby machine.

Then he remembered what had happened. He looked at his claws. They were clean. Purple, not red. Red...

“Was it a dream?”

He hadn’t realized he had spoken out loud until six faces turned to look at them. The five mortals’ faces were bloodshot and red. They had been crying.

It had been no dream.

Pinkie was by his bed in a shot, wrapping her forelegs around him. He wasn’t crying this time. He wasn’t mad. He was... not empty. It was more like his brain couldn’t process what had happened. It was trapped trying to comprehend this fact so emotions could be attached to it.

Fluttershy nuzzled him. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity looked at him with concern.

“It... it weren’t a dream, Spike,” Applejack said. “We... we pulled the memory outta ya. We saw what happened.”

Spike blinked. What? But... He looked at his claws. They were free of blood, but now he felt it again. The sign of what he had done.

“...Starlight...”

“She’s okay,” Pinkie said. “The doctors say she’ll get better.”

“Unfortunately,” Rainbow Dash said, so bitterly that nopony dared challenged her opinion.

“...Her horn...”

“She’s not using magic any time soon,” the cyan Pegasus said. “Or ever.” Pain was clear in her voice. There was anger. There was a desire to cause pain.

Spike’s claws sat in his vision. Bloody, even when clean.

And the dam opened. He cried, and cried, burying his face in Pinkie’s mane.

“Mom... Mom...”

He cried. How long, he didn’t know. But at some point, he heard his sobs in sync with others.

They were all crying.

He didn’t want to see it. He buried his face deeper. Twilight was dead. There’d be no more writing so much he got a wrist cramp, no more reshelving days, no more of her esoteric organization system. There’d be no more stargazing with her and having her point out all the different constellations. There’d be no more opening presents the night before Hearth’s Warming. There’d be no more leaning on her side and reading comic books while she worked. There’d be no more riding on her back while she trotted down the street or flew through the sky.

There’d be no more climbing into her bed after having a nightmare, like the week after the Crystal Empire when Sombra’s spell projected his worst fear, or when he was feeling down on himself like after his rampage through town or the Royal Wedding, or just when he wanted to not be alone, like he had done multiple times.

Starlight was alive, but damaged, thanks to him. She should be dead. He had wanted her dead, even if it was just for a moment. Did he still want her to? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to think. He wanted to cry. He wanted Twilight. Not Pinkie, Twilight. He wanted his mother.

He couldn’t have his mother. Never again. He cried.

“It’s true then,” a new voice said.

Spike tensed up. He recognized that voice, and he looked up just long enough to register the speaker before burying himself into Pinkie again. This was the last one Spike wanted to deal with.

“Discord...” Celestia warned.

“Hey, I’m not here to make remarks,” Discord said. He actually sounded defensive. “Twilight...”

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly sounding very happy. “Discord, you can bring Twilight back to life, can’t you? I’ve seen you bring several things to life!”

Spike suddenly shot out and looked at Discord. Hope welled in his chest. He hadn’t thought about that.

Then his heart sunk. He saw Discord float there, folding his mismatched limbs behind his back and looking awkward.

“Well... no.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash was in his face. “I know you can, I’ve seen you! You have to! You...”

A muzzle poofed up on Rainbow Dash’s muzzle with a snap of Discord’s talons, effectively silencing her. The Pegasus stopped in shock. Then, in a rage, she flew at Discord. Another snap of the fingers and she was suddenly in a chair, her legs clamped down.

“I can’t give life. You’ve seen me make things move, repeat patterns, do preprogrammed things. But not give life. I could make Twilight’s body move, but it would be nothing more than a puppet to my magic, not the real thing.”

There was an uneasy silence. Seeing that Rainbow Dash stopped struggling, Discord released her.

“Wait, the time travel spell!” Applejack said, perking up. “Can’t we just use it to go back and stop Starlight from travelin’ into the past in the first place?”

“Hey, yeah!” Rainbow Dash said, perking up. “We just need to...”

“If it were that simple I would have already done so.”

All eyes turned on Celestia. She looked calm, collected.

“Did it strike you as odd that every timeline we saw in that flashback got progressively worse? That there was no outcome but a horrible one? That was no coincidence.”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“She means Time is a stickler for not having His work changed,” Discord said. “He always makes sure to punish everyone who tries by making the world they come to worse than they left. If we save Twilight, He’ll make things worse.”

Celestia went on. “Didn’t you find it a little odd that Starlight managed to alter such an advanced spell? The truth is Starswirl did most of the hard work. Anyone with an understanding of magic could unweave the safety measures and failsafes he had installed into it. He meant for it to be merely an observational tool, not an altering one.”

“It’s that dangerous?” Rarity asked. “And Twilight simply cast the spell when she first found it?”

“It was written in the official Equestrian format for spells, and in official records. Twilight cast it while following all instructions, she had every reason to trust it.”

Rainbow Dash spoke again. “Then why don’t we go talk to this Time guy and...”

“Please,” Discord said. “He’s beyond Celestia and Luna’s power to reach, and me... well, he doesn’t like me too much. I could try to go talk to him, but I doubt he’ll even give me the time of day.”

Fluttershy was in front of him with surprising speed. “Please, Discord, please try. I... I want my friend back. Please!”

Fluttershy was crying. So was Spike, again he realized.

“...Okay. But don’t get your hopes up. I seriously doubt I’ll even get in to see him.” Discord disappeared with a snap of his claw.

There was silence in the room. Spike buried his face in Pinkie’s mane again. He wanted to believe Discord would succeed, that any second now a perfectly okay Twilight would walk through the door and ask how he was.

But that look Discord had. He wasn’t playing around and making strange things happen. He was in genuine shock. That wasn’t an easy mood to get him in.

And the tears started anew.

Clocks everywhere. Oh, how original, Discord couldn’t help but think as he floated through the corridor, the constant ticking started to wear on him already. Still, he bore it, walking through to the large core room Time sat in.

He was an Alicorn... of course, most Spirits were unoriginal enough to take that form, and Time was nothing if not a Spirit with something rather large shoved up His rear. He looked like He might be related to Starswirl: same beard, and blue fur. His black hood and cloak covered Him, obscuring whatever cutie mark He had given Himself. He was on his stomach, looking through several monitors of whatever.

You didn’t knock, his voice said in Discord’s head, causing him to roll his eyes. Always with the ominous tone with this guy.

“I take it you know why I’m here?”

I take it you’ll know I’ll refuse, Time said.

“She died trying to fix your timeline,” Discord pointed out.

And? A mortal in a sea of trillions. Just another face gone in the blink. What meaning is it to me?

Discord felt anger well up in him. “Just a... you fool. You Creator-damned fool. You have no clue, do you?”

Discord felt Time’s laughter in his head. He actually was laughing. Oh Discord, you pathetic fool. It was sad enough when you were running around the mortal realms, playing childish games. Now you’ve actually let the very mortals who were your playthings collar you with their ideals. Hard to believe you’re really a spirit.

Discord clenched both of his mismatched fists together. He opened his mouth...

No Time said. And then Discord was gone.

Spike had stopped crying, but only because there were no more tears. He clinged to Pinkie as if she would disappear at any moment. Pinkie held him close.

The others watched silently. All except Celestia, who was talking to her aide.

“Have you started looking for a lawyer for Starlight? We'll find one. Offer them enough to retire if that’s what it takes. I will not make a mockery of the court system, even in this case. Any word on any previous contacts of hers? Well, bring it by Twilight’s castle. I’ll be staying tonight. Have everypony keep a lid on this. The hospital staff has signed non-disclosure agreements? Good. We’ll reveal it soon. No need to cause a panic before we can get the full story out.”

She then floated up a sheet of paper and turned to the group. “One of you needs to sign this.”

They all looked at her. All except Spike, still clinging to Pinkie.

“What is it?” Applejack asked.

“Temporary custody of Spike,” Celestia explained. “Twilight was his legal caregiver, and he’s too young to be on his own. Will one of you take him until more permanent plans can be made?”

They all gave each other a glance, a quick, private conversation playing out among the five of them. It was decided.

“I’ll take ‘im fer right now,” Applejack said, moving to grab a pen. “Sweet Apple Acres is more than big enough.”

As Applejack moved to sign, Rainbow Dash spoke. “I thought you’d take him,” she told Celestia. “Or Shining Armor. Or Twilight’s parents.”

“Perhaps after we can really work out everything. But none of Twilight’s family even knows yet. This can’t wait.” She floated the now signed form to her assistant and waved him off. “And I think the five of you will do him some good. And vice-versa.”

They all looked at the baby dragon again. He just moaned occasionally now.

“Take care of him. I must... I must attend to something.”

Celestia left.

She walked out of the hospital and flew. Shooting through the skies of Ponyville, it wasn’t long until she landed in Twilight’s castle.

She cast her spell. A shield went up around it. Nice and soundproof. Modified to let Spike or the other members of the Friendship Council in.

She walked through the halls until she found Twilight’s room.

Once inside, she closed the door. She was alone. Far from the eyes of the subjects who worshipped her. Far from the ponies and dragon that needed her to be strong.

As she walked to the bed, her regalia fell off, piece by piece. Even her crown fell haphazardly, rolling across the floor.

She collapsed on the bed.

And she wailed. Her sobs would have carried across Equestria if not for the shield. She cried, and cried, and cried.

A hand on her. She snapped up.

Discord.

“He said no,” he said flatly.

At that moment, it didn’t matter that she had faced Discord and seen him do horrible things. Her forelegs went around him, her face burying into his chest. His arms went around her.

“She’s gone. She’s gone! Oh, Twilight! My shining star! Oh Twilight...”

The Spirit of Chaos and the Princess of the Sun held each other throughout that first painful night.

Author's Note

If you're disappointed I didn't go into the Mane Six reactions just yet, don't worry, they'll be more soon.

Yeah, this chapter. Have to close any possibilities that Twilight could just come back. Downside to using the villain that can time travel. Good news is, I can get on with the emotional stuff now.

Chapter 3

Applejack trudged through the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, carrying a sleeping Spike on her back. She was trying to stay strong until she got home. Then she could put Spike to bed in the guest room and tell the Apple Family they had lost an honorary member.

She wished the others could be there. Rarity had to start making the dress Twilight would be buried in. Pinkie was making a list for who to invite to the funeral. Fluttershy had gone off sobbing, and Rainbow Dash had followed to comfort her.

Every step meant she was closer to having to break the news to her family. It was both something she dreaded and something she just wanted to get over with.

When she entered the farmhouse, she was greeted by a happy and bouncing Apple Bloom. “Applejack! Applejack! IgotmahCutieMark!”

Applejack blinked. “Wha?”

Then she saw it. On her sister’s flank, there was a picture of a cauldron, brewing up a strange liquid.

“Y-yer Cutie Mark?”

“For potion brewin’! Twilight and Zecora’s lessons paid off!”

“That’s great!” For a few brief moments, her misery was forgotten. Her sister had finally become a mare. She wrapped her forelegs around her sister, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, Mom and Dad would be so proud!”

Big Mac and Granny Smith walked up, beaming as well. The littlest Apple’s cheer was contagious, it seemed.

“We gotta plan a cuteceañera, gotta get the kin together...” Granny Smith started to ramble. “Ain’t every day a filly gets her mark.”

“Eeyup,” Mac said.

Apple Bloom broke away from her older sister. “Where’s Twilight? I wanna show her and thank her for...”

A choked sob stopped Apple Bloom cold. Every other Apple looked at Applejack, their joy replaced first with worry, then with fear.

“A-Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Twi’s gone!”

Silence.

“Wh-wha?” Apple Bloom asked.

“That Starlight gal we told you about. She came back... sh-she killed her.”

There was more silence as the other ponies just looked at her, their brains still trying to catch up to what the eldest daughter had said.

“N-no...” Apple Bloom’s tears were falling. “No...”

Granny Smith swallowed. “Gone? That filly?”

Applejack nodded.

“But...” Granny Smith was speechless.

“W-We have to take Spike fer a while,” Applejack said. Her brother and grandmother were both getting tears in their eyes. “He don’t have anypony to look after him now. I offered to let him stay here until...”

“No!”

Apple Bloom latched onto Applejack’s leg and began crying. Applejack hooked her free leg around her. The other Apples joined in, their tears falling silently.

“It ain’t fair! It ain’t fair!” the youngest Apple shrieked.

Applejack stroked her little sister’s hair. “Twi’s in Paradise, sugarcube. She’s at peace.”

“But she was so cool! She was an Alicorn! Alicorns don’t die!”

“They can, sugar.”

“It’s not fair!” She cried again.

Spike moaned. “Wha...” He slowly came out of unconsciousness and began searching the room around him. “Where are...”

“Yer at mah home, Spike,” Applejack said, twisting her head to look at him. At the same time, she pushed her little sister away. Having heard Spike, Apple Bloom complied. “And it’s yer home too, least for a while. We’re gonna look after yah a bit.”

Spike moaned and nuzzled into Applejack.

“You feeling better?”

“...No,” he said.

Granny Smith spoke up. “Would ya like somethin’ ta eat? Maybe some pie?”

“...I just want to sleep.”

Applejack took a deep breath. “Come on, I’ll take you to yer room. I’ll let you rest a while, but come tomorrow mornin’, yer eatin’ somethin’.”

Spike said nothing but a moan, which the cowpony took to mean yes.

Applejack went upstairs, and to her surprise, Apple Bloom following beside her, still crying, though it has subsided to little sobs. When they reached the last room, she placed Spike on the bed, gently pulling the covers over him.

Apple Bloom almost immediately climbed on top of the sheets and placed a hoof on his shoulder. Spike looked at her a moment, then shot out his arms, wrapping them around her. The filly was a bit surprised as the dragon nuzzled her close, but she settled in. If anyone needed comfort at all this, it was him.

Applejack watched this scene. Apple Bloom, now in Spike’s embrace, was crying at her hardest again. She had prioritized comforting Spike, but her own grief had come forward.

“Spike... I’m really sorry...”

“Just be there fer him,” Applejack said. Apple Bloom turned one bloodshot eye to her, and she went on. “Just offerin’ sympathy sounds hollow. Be there instead. He needs somepony with him fer a while.”

Apple Bloom nodded, turning back to Spike. Applejack turned to leave.

“Applejack?”

She stopped. She turned to Spike, who was looking at her.

“Yes?”

“Does it ever stop hurting?”

It only took a moment for Applejack to understand. “I still miss ‘em.” She walked over to the bed and placed a hoof on Spike’s claw. “So does Big Mac... Apple Bloom’s too young to really remember them, but the older Apples do. Mom and Dad were wonderful ponies. It hurt to lose ‘em, and I still wish they could be here. But the pain does fade, Spike. Instead of mopin’ about the fact that they’re no longer here, I can be grateful I had ‘em at all.”

Spike said nothing.

“Spike... nopony can ever replace her for you... for anypony. No matter how much they love you, they’ll never be Twilight... but I’d like to do mah best. We all would. Me, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy... we’ll be there for you.”

Spike said nothing.

“Do ya want me to stay here till ya fall asleep?”

Spike said nothing, but gave a little nod.

Applejack climbed onto the bed and let Spike nuzzle up to her. For a bit the three just lay there. Apple Bloom was the only one with tears yet to spill.

Starlight found herself in a strange place. The first thing she noticed was the stars, strewn everywhere in a celestial decoration. The second thing she noticed was that all her injuries were gone.

“Where am I?”

“In my realm. The realm of dreams.”

Starlight turned, and her eyes widened further than she ever thought possible. Princess Luna was standing there, giving her a look that froze the blood in her veins.

“You...”

“I want you to know that you are, without a doubt, the single most foalish pony I have ever met.”

Starlight looked at her. Her usual fire had been greatly diminished by everything. Witnessing Twilight’s death, her beating and defeat, the painful moments she woke up in surgery, realizing she had no more magic, it was all too much to bear. And now the unexpected way the Princess of the Night was speaking to her. The statement was so blunt, and so... unprincess-like that for a moment Starlight wasn’t sure she heard it.

“What?”

“You realize Prince Blueblood is going to be the one presiding over your trial? Do you know why? It’s because we require a member of the royal family to preside over all treason cases, and he’s the highest that didn’t have a loving connection to Twilight. He’s the only pony that can give you a fair trial.”

Starlight’s face scrunched up. “Oh spare me,” she spat. “Perfect little Twilight Sparkle is soooo great, just because she got lucky and got to go to Celestia’s special...”

”FOOL!”

Starlight went from sneering to cowering in a flash.

“Twilight was great because she was more than you could ever hope to be. This is not even discussing her expertise in magic.” Luna summoned a screen in front of her. “Let’s start with the obvious. She was a loving daughter.”

Twilight Velvet and Night Light were a bit surprised at the sudden summons, and even more surprised when it wasn’t to the throne room, but to Luna’s private sitting room. The Princess of the Night did not offer them any tea, but moved right to the point.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m going to tell you quickly and cleanly.” Luna took a deep breath. “Your daughter has fallen.”

The two ponies looked at her. “What do you mean?” Velvet asked.

“A pony named Starlight Glimmer is responsible. She murdered your daughter. She’s gone.”

There was a full ten seconds before they understood the words. There was another full minute before they could even begin to accept them.

That gave Luna plenty of time to get a pail ready when she realized Velvet was about to lose her lunch.

Then the crying started. Night Light’s was more subdued, merely standing in one place and blubbering. Velvet wailed, pounding on Luna’s barrel and demanding to be told it wasn’t true, that their daughter was alive and healthy. Eventually the couple buried themselves in each other’s embrace, while Luna wrapped her wings around them. She was crying too.

“A daughter to more than just them.”

She summoned another image. This one was of Celestia, crying in Discord’s embrace.

“Ah, and Discord. She was one of his saviors. Yes, Fluttershy did the lion’s share of the work, but it was Twilight showing Friendship that I feel firmly set him on the right path. And he was not the only one.”

More images appeared. Zecora being led into town, for the first time not feared. Trixie after being freed of the Alicorn Amulet. Sunset being pulled from the crater after the Fall Formal. Luna herself on Nightmare Night, with Twilight helping her fit in. Discord walking down the halls of Twilight’s new castle, humbled and ready to truly learn friendship. The Hooffields and the McColts, now friends once again.

“She’s touched so many lives, shown so many the proper way.”

Chrysalis. Sombra. Tirek. The Sirens. All failing in their wicked plans, and in every case Twilight played her part.

“And those she couldn’t couldn’t help, she stopped from hurting others.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders at Twilight Time. Princess Cadance performing the secret hoofshake. Standing as the Best Mare at Shining Armor’s wedding.

“She was a sister, in ways that a mere blood relation cannot bring.”

Applejack. Rarity. Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy. There were two versions of each, one pony, the other in a strange, bipedal form.

“A devoted friend.”

Then, of Twilight tucking Spike into bed, kissing him on the forehead.

“And though I don’t think she realized it... a loving mother.”

The images vanished.

“And you killed her. You took her from this world, and for what? Petty revenge?”

Starlight felt her anger flare up. “There was nothing petty about it. Everypony was happy with my ideas!”

“Then why did you try and force The Bearers into it, instead of convincing them peacefully? Why were you so desperate to silence any dissenters? Why did you resort to brainwashing? Why did everypony turn on you so quickly once your lies were exposed?”

Starlight’s eyes widened at the barrage. “T-Twilight would have made me stop!”

“Why? If you were truly doing nothing wrong, then on what authority? There was no law against having cutie marks removed.”

“Sh-she was getting everypony to question everything...”

“All she did was show up with her friends and be herself. If your town was so great, why was it so easy to cause doubt?”

Starlight opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tried desperately to come up with a justification, anything.

“She... she must have cast some sort of spell.”

The excuse was so weak Starlight herself blushed at it.

Luna shook her head. “You philosophy was self-defeating as it was. What would have happened if the Changelings invaded? Or if dragons attacked? Or literally any other race besides the Zebras? You couldn’t equalize them.”

“I-I had plans!” she spluttered. “I was devising a plan. We would have made tactics...”

“Who could have made them? Everypony who could would have had their talents removed. Who would make your weapons? Your materials?”

“Everypony would have! We all did our part...”

And as a result, everything in your village was of shoddy quality. Even if, by some miracle, you managed to come up with a decent plan, you’d lack the resources to pull it off. The first army would have bowled you over in minutes.”

“I... you can’t be sure...”

“And that’s not even getting into how Celestia and I would have moved the Sun and Moon, or how Pegasi could control the weather. Your ideology has no legs to stand on, and Twilight had to die for it.”

Tears formed in Starlight’s eyes. “I didn’t mean it! I wasn’t the one who killed her!”

“You put her in that situation, knowingly and willingly. A pony who drive a carriage drunk and runs over a pony is no more innocent than one who runs one over sober. It doesn’t mean you're innocent.”

Starlight broke down. “I... you can’t blame me! You... you don’t know what I’ve been through!”

Luna gave her a flat stare. “Oh... I do.”

“You better believe she does.”

Starlight tensed up. Coming from behind Luna was the last pony she expected. It was like a kick to the stomach, the very last pony she had wanted to see her like this.

“S-Sunburst...”

Luna spoke up. “After Twilight’s first encounter with you, she did her research. We’ve known for quite some time. He wanted to talk to you as soon as you were captured. A quick link with his mind allowed him to be here. You see, he was quite a bit to say to you.”

Starlight looked at her childhood friend. It hadn’t been the first time she saw him as a full grown stallion. He had been spied on as well during those long months when she stalked Princess Twilight. But she had never seen this look on him. This look of utter hatred.

“Sunburst...”

“You didn’t learn a thing, did you?” His tone was so flat that Starlight flinched. But she gathered her strength.

“Oh, I learned plenty,” Starlight said, trying to recover some of her bravado. “I learned that cutie marks ruin everything.”

“You still think it was the cutie mark that ruined everything?”

“Yes!” The tears were flowing again. “You abandoned me! You went off to that magic school and left me!”

“...You really believe that, don’t you? Sweet Celestia, you're delusional.”

And just like that, a new image appeared. They were in a new memory, one of Starlight Glimmer crying at her bedside. Sunburst rushed in, smiling happily.

Hey, hey Starlight! Guess what? My parents are sending me to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns! They’re actually sending me!”

“So you’re leaving?” She turned, and Sunburst stopped when he saw the tears in her eyes. “You’re just going to abandon me?”

“What? No, I’ll still visit on holidays and during the summer, and I’ll write every week.”

“But you’ll leave! You won’t be here!”

Sunburst swallowed. “Look, it’s not going to be forever. This is a good opportunity for me...”

“But it’s a bad opportunity for me!” she yelled, her shrieks actually causing Sunburst to cover his ears.

“Starlight, you’re good at magic too. I bet you could get into the school if I ask the proctors...”

“And what if they say no?”

“Well, we can work something out...”

“Oh, I’ve got something worked out: you stay here!”

Sunburst blinked, processing the words. “What?”

“Don’t go to that school! If you really cared about me, you’ll stay here with me!”

Sunburst’s mouth hung open. “Starlight... I do care about you, really, but I could do great things if I...”

“If you go, then we won’t be friends anymore!”

“What? Starlight, that’s not fair...”

“It’s the school or me. Which is it?”

There was a tense silence as the pair just stared at each other. Starlight had tears in her eyes and an angry glare, Sunburst looked scared and close to crying himself.

“I... I can’t pass this up, Starlight. But you’ll be in...”

Starlight’s hoof hit him before he could get anything else out. He fell to the ground, his jaw sore from the strike.

“GET OUT! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!”

Scared, Sunburst ran from the room, and Starlight collapsed into a miserable little bubble.

Starlight gaped at the memory. She had played this conversation in her head over and over again, and it had always seemed different. But seeing it played out right in front of her...

“I didn’t leave you because of a cutie mark. I left because you threw a tantrum. A tantrum you’ve been throwing for the past twelve years.” Sunburst took a deep breath. “And do you know what the saddest thing of all is? If you hadn’t been so obsessed with being miserable, you could have gotten into the school. You could have been anything you wanted to be with your talent. You’ve come up with spells to alter time and remove cutie marks, you’re a prodigy! And you just wasted it on an insane campaign that was doomed right from the start.”

“It was not!” But Starlight’s fire was gone.

Luna didn’t bother to repeat her points. “There’s a filly in Ponyville named Apple Bloom. Twilight mentioned her in that lecture you attended the other day. She had a friend named Twist. When Twist...”

“I know the story!” Starlight snapped, mustering the last bit of her pride. “Twist abandoned her once she got her cutie mark. She would have turned out just like me if those other two hadn’t show up...”

“DON’T YOU DARE CLAIM THAT!” Luna yelled, her Royal Canterlot Voice back in full force. Starlight backed away in fear.

“Apple Bloom’s first instinct to losing her friend? It was to try and get her own cutie mark, and find her own place. Her response to tragedy was to make herself better, not to attempt to try and drag everypony down with her.”

“And I wasn’t your only friend,” Sunburst said. “There were plenty of other foals who were nice to you. You could have found your own group easily. Face it, Starlight: thousands of ponies had lost friends, and they’ve all managed to move on. You’re alone.”

Starlight shrunk back, unable to speak. Her ego had finally broken into pieces. All her arguments and excuses had been torn asunder.

“You know what the sad thing is?” Luna said. “Twilight would have forgiven you, even after everything you had done. You could have gotten a second chance. My sister never denied Twilight anything after Tirek’s defeat. If she had said you deserved a pardon, you would have gotten one. I doubt anypony will be merciful now. Anypony that would is mourning the loss of Twilight Sparkle.”

Luna sighed. “It’s a shame. Luckily for you the death penalty has been abolished, but you never know. Blueblood might be a twit, but he can get creative with his sentencing.”

Starlight woke up in her hospital room, all the pain flooding back to her. Her mouth, body, the spot in her forehead where her horn used to be, all ached with pain.

She was so focused on it that she didn’t notice the Unicorn standing at her table. He wore a business suit with coattails that covered his cutie mark, only black fur showed. His green eyes hid behind a pair of half-moon glasses.

“Starlight Glimmer?”

Starlight looked at him. She tried to say something, but the swelling was still too much.

“I’m your lawyer, Nocturn. And boy, have you ever given me the hardest case in Equestria. Treason, ponyslaughter, and since your stunt would have wiped Spike the Dragon out of existence, attempted murder.”

Starlight moaned in response.

“But there’s a way out.” He reached out with his hoof and tapped the broken horn. “An unfortunate accident. One we can fix.”

That stopped Starlight dead. She looked at him with a curious expression.

“You could be of use to us, Miss Glimmer. If you play along...”

Author's Note

I hope this goes without saying, but Starlight here =/= Starlight in Integration. That Starlight is meant to be sympathetic in her backstory, this one isn't. Still, she'll have her sympathetic moments.

There'll be more of Spike next chapter, I swear. I just wanted Starlight's backstory told before the season premiere.

Chapter 4

Spike moaned as her felt his consciousness return to him. For a few brief moments, he entertained the idea that the whole thing had been nothing but a dream. He felt the warmth. Had it all been a nightmare?

Then he opened his eyes. It was Apple Bloom. He wasn’t home.

No... he was home now. Applejack had taken him. This was home now. The castle... he couldn’t stay there. At least not right now.

Spike expected himself to start crying again, but he didn’t. Had he finally just gotten used to this horrible feeling? Or was it because Apple Bloom was sleeping in the same bed?

...He was sleeping in the same bed as a filly!

He felt his face heat up as he began scooting back. Unfortunately, that just woke Apple Bloom up.

“Spike? Spike! Oh, Spike, I’m so sorry!”

Spike stopped, his embarrassment forgotten. Apple Bloom had been crying, and was crying again.

Before he could process this any further, the filly wrapped her forelegs around him, pulling him into a hug. Spike’s face heated up again, but not for long. Apple Bloom’s sobs made quick work of any anxiety.

“Spike... I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry...”

Spike didn’t know what to do. He felt sad, angry, and even happy, all at once.

Twilight was gone, and that empty feeling was still latching onto him. It felt horrible, it was eating away at him.

Who was Apple Bloom to be sorry? All Twilight was to her was a teacher! She’s sorry? What about him? She didn’t understand...

But there she was, hugging him tightly. He had somepony to be there for him, somepony who cared about him.

Somepony who didn’t understand...

Spike clutched his head. Apple Bloom let go and looked at him. “Spike?”

“...I have a headache... and a stomachache.”

Apple Bloom leapt to her hooves. “I’ll get some medicine!” She rushed out of the room, hurrying to wherever the Apples kept their medicine.

Spike was glad. He needed a moment to think. But his thoughts eluded him, as if he was chasing something forever out of reach. He didn’t know what he was even trying to think of.

“Spike?”

He jumped. It was Applejack, looking at him with concern. He felt his headache increase. Why couldn’t she go away.

“I’ve been through what you’ve been through, Spike, when I was about your age.” That got any of the protest he had been about to voice to stop. “I know it’s hard, Spike. I know yer feelin’s are jumbled together tighter than a knot. I know the world seems big an’ scary now that yer mom’s gone. But ya need to go on.”

He looked at her.

“Let me guess. Yer belly an’ head are hurtin’?”

He nodded.

“I’ll bet it’s because you haven’t had anythin’ ta ear or drink in... well, nearly a day now. Those memories we pulled out of ya said the last thing ya had to eat was a snack before you boarded the train back to Canterlot. Ya need to eat, and drink.”

Spike absorbed all the words. He realized that she was right, he hadn’t eaten in a long time. And now that Applejack mentioned it, he was hungry. Or at least, he was aware he needed food.

“So come downstairs fer breakfast, and yer gonna eat yer fill. I mean it, Spike. I ain’t gonna let you ruin yerself after the Princess trusted me with you.”

Spike nodded.

He was surprised when that seemed to distress Applejack. The cowpony crossed the room and wrapped her forelegs around him.

“You know I love you, Spike. Don’t ya?”

Spike nodded.

“Don’t ya?”

“...Yes.” Spike almost didn’t recognize his own voice, it sounded so cracked. Still, he pushed forward. “I’m...” What? What was he?

Applejack didn’t ask for an answer, she just rubbed the top of his head to soothe him. “I know it’s hard figurin’ things out. Eat first, think later.” She pulled apart. “Let’s get some food in that belly, then we can talk.”

Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were having their morning breakfast in their private chambers, the only discomfort being their unborn foal’s occasional kick, when the messenger from Canterlot entered.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Princess Luna ordered this high priority.”

“Well, let’s hear it, then,” Shining Armor said, a little annoyed that what little private time he had with his wife was being interrupted.

The messenger shuffled a little. Shining Armor was about to chastise him for the breach in discipline when he spoke. “Princess Twilight Sparkle has been killed.” A long silence hung over the table as the pair looked at him like they were trying to figure out whether they heard him right. He went on. “From what I understand, the traitor Starlight Glimmer is to blame. The details are classified.”

There was more silence. Cadance’s look slowly turned to one of horror. She opened her mouth to speak, but Shining Armor beat her to it.

“You really should pay more attention to what is said to you.”

The messenger was startled. “E-excuse me.”

“You had to have misheard the Princess. My sister is not dead.”

“No, I’m sure that’s right. I was told personally...”

“No, you weren’t.” Shining Armor’s front hooves slammed onto the table, causing every piece of tableware to jump, as well as the other two ponies to recoil back. “Don’t tell me that again. Twiley is just fine. You misheard.”

“But...”

“I’m sure her being dead is a cover story for one of Celestia’s plans, probably something to catch Starlight,” Shining Armor said.

At that, Cadance brightened, hope entering her face. “Yes...”

“We’ll depart for Canterlot immediately,” Shining Armor said, “and we’ll get this straightened out.”

He dragged himself down to breakfast with Applejack by his side. They were only stopped by Apple Bloom, who had the medicine but was stopped by Applejack, who instructed her to wait and see if a good meal would solve the problem.

Once he arrived, it was clear the Apple Family had gone all out on breakfast. Chocolate-chip pancakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, there was nothing they couldn’t cook that wasn’t at the table. It was a transparent attempt to cheer him up, or at least get him to eat.

He sat as Granny Smith slid him a plate with everything on it. “You eat every bite, hear?”

Spike nodded, picking up a fork. He placed it in something on the plate, tore it off, and put it in his mouth. He hardly saw what he was eating, he simply followed instructions and emptied his plate.

The Apples sat down and started eating as well. It was Apple Bloom who spoke first. “So... what’s gonna happen now?

“I don’t rightly know, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Princess Celestia’s gonna announce to everypony in the kingdom what happened today, an’ go from there. Spike’s gonna stay with us fer a while, but I figure either Twi’s parents, or Shinin’ Armor will take him before too long.”

“And what about Starlight? What are they gonna do to her?” Apple Bloom asked.

Granny Smith scoffed. “I hope they lock her up good. No way somepony that killed Twi should be roamin’ free.”

“Now, Granny,” Applejack said, “I don’t think Twi would approve...”

“Maybe not, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true. That gal had a good head on her, but if she would honestly say that Starlight should still be runnin’ around...”

“Granny...”

“Can you honestly say you disagree with me?”

“Uh, well... look, I think this ain’t appropriate for right now...”

“Have you heard anything?”

The entire family stopped talking and looked at Spike. He had stopped eating on hearing Twilight’s name and had listened to the next few words closely.

“Spike, you should be eatin’ right...”

“Did you hear anything?” he repeared.

Applejack shuffled a bit before she spoke. “When Big Mac went and got your stuff last night, he heard that they found a lawyer to represent Starlight. They still haven’t set a court date yet, but...”

A loud snap caused the Apples to jump. Spike had split his fork in his grip and had barely realized it. His look was murderous. “They... she...”

“Spike, Spike,” Applejack said quickly, coming around the table and putting her forelegs around him. “Spike, I know you’re angry right now, but you have nothin’ to fret. No matter how good her lawyer is, Starlight’s not gettin’ outta this without serious consequences. She’s gettin’ either locked up or banished, and no matter what she’s never usin’ magic again.”

There was a pause, and to her great relief Spike calmed down. She went on.

“The way this works is everypony needs a lawyer. It doesn’t mean Starlight’s gonna get off, I promise.”

There was a pause. Nothing happened. Slowly, she pulled away and looked Spike dead in the eye. The dragon still had anger in his eyes, but there were the other emotions too. Sadness, loss... he was back to feeling like a jumbled mess.

“Keep eatin’, Spike. Once yer belly’s full, we can talk some more.”

Applejack backed away, then turned and retrieved another for for Spike, offering it to him. After some silence, the dragon took it and went back to eating.

The rest of the meal passed in silence, a rare occasion in the Apple household. While it was the simple matter of not wanting to risk angering Spike again with a careless comment, for Applejack it was something else.

She remembered back to the memory pulled from Spike’s head. The one that showed him decimating Starlight. Even not seeing all of Spike from that perspective, it was clear his body had undergone a radical change through anger. Those large fists that beat the rogue Unicorn were too big to be his.

She remembered that ill-fated birthday, years ago, when Spike had grown to a horrifying size due to his greed. He could do the same for anger, apparently...

And with that, it weighed in on her. She had agreed to take care of someone that she had no clue how to. She had no clue about dragon biology, or their needs, or anything.

What if she couldn’t care for Spike? What if nopony could?

She felt fear rise up in her chest. What was going to happen to Spike when he got older? She knew dragons lived a lot longer than ponies. Would he be provided for after she was gone? Well, the Apples always looked after their kin, and Spike was as good as family... but what if he got too big? What if he couldn’t live in pony society forever?

It suddenly occurred to her that these were questions Twilight had to have been asking herself for years.

In a way, that soothed some of her doubts. Twilight was... had been, she reminded herself with a twinge of sadness... a smart pony, and an organized one. She probably had a guide or a plan for caring for Spike somewhere. She just had to go back to the castle and look.

A knock at the door interrupted any further thoughts. Before any other Apple could respond, Applejack was on her hooves. “I’ll get that,” she said, walking to the front door.

She collected herself a bit, making sure she looked presentable. She put on a welcoming smale before opening the door.

Her smile faded as she saw who it was. Prince Blueblood himself, flanked by two royal guards.

“Hello, my lady, is this Sweet Apple Acres?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said flatly.

“And are you Applejack?”

“I am.”

“You’re currently in loco parentis for Spike?”

Applejack crossed eyes. “I’m in what now?”

Blueblood sighed. “You have legal custody of him?”

“Oh. Yes, I do.”

“Excellent, I’m here for three reasons concerning him. No need to invite me in, I won’t be staying long.”

Applejack decided not to tell him that she wasn’t planning on inviting him in anyway.

“I have been named the judge on Starlight Glimmer’s case,” he explained. “My first order of business is checking the evidence submitted. I understand you had a run-in with her a few months ago?”

“That’s right,” her tone got less flat. “I already let them yank a memory outta me.”

“We’re aware, we have it on file. I came here to ask if there was anything else you wished to submit for evidence.”

“Not that I can think of,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Didn’t see her again ‘til she was on the floor bleedin’.”

“Well, if you think of anything, come by Princess Twilight’s Castle. I’ll be staying there a few days. I...” his words were cut off in a yawn. “My apologies, as you can guess, I didn’t sleep a wink last night. Now, onto my second order of business.”

“Yes?” Applejack asked, truly looking at Blueblood now. She hadn’t noticed in her annoyance, but the prince did look tired. While he was still perfectly groomed, the bags under his eyes were evident.

“We have the results on the initial hearing on Spike. We’ve deemed him not at fault and see no reason to bring any criminal charges forth.”

Blueblood levitated a piece of parchment forward, but Applejack was too stunned to take it. “Wait, criminal charges? Spike?”

“It was a mere formality,” the prince explained, “but Spike still beat a pony within an inch of her life, and crippled her for life. Such an action required us to consider bringing criminal charges forward. But not to worry, after seeing the memory it only took us ten minutes to decide not to press charges.”

The words calmed Applejack down. She took the parchment, talking around it. “Well, that’s good. Wonderin’ why it even took that long, but...”

“We were mostly worried about how the public would react.”

Once again, Applejack found herself stunned. “Wh... why? Spike only beat Starlight ‘cause she killed his mama.”

“Indeed, which is why it was so quick for us to decide on a not guilty,” Blueblood nodded. “But... well, Spike still gave Starlight lasting injuries, beyond when she was already down for the count. With him connected to the royal family, we worried that he’d been seen as getting off due to connections. Not to worry, though, we’ve decided anypony who would think to accuse Spike would only succeed in making themselves look bad, especially with all the crimes Starlight committed.”

Applejack nodded, but a spike of fear still went through her as it occurred to her how easily this could have ended badly.

“And that brings me to my final order of business.”

“Yes?”

“It’s the question of his inheritance.”

“Ah. Ya mean Twilight left Spike something?”

“Oh yes. In fact, she left him just about everything, barring a few things going to other loved ones. It will be made clearer what possessions go where after the funeral, but I’m here to alert you to one thing specifically: her position.”

Applejack blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Princess Twilight might have had a new position, but it isn’t going away because she’s gone. It was to go to her child, or an heir she deemed worthy of the throne. As she had neither, there is question as to whether that means Spike gets the title.”

“Spike... like a prince?”

“Not like a prince, a prince. But that’s to be decided soon enough. Auntie Luna seems to think he should get it, and I believe Auntie Celestia does as well. But there are a few issues with it.”

“Like what?”

“Well, the very fact that he’s not a pony has people wondering if he should have a position of power at all. Adding to that the fact that there was no named successor has a lot of opportunists jumping to try and take it.”

“What? But... Spike has every right to that throne. He was as good as Twilight’s son!”

“That’s what Auntie says, but there’s still resistance. The fact that he wasn’t legally her son is one of them. And they’re already rolling out some dirty tricks. That includes his transformation when dealing with Starlight. Some are saying a prince that can’t control their anger isn’t much good.”

“What? But... he...”

Blueblood could only give her a sympathetic look. “Auntie Luna got mad at those too. She wanted me to assure you that she’d handle it. We won’t seriously consider anyone until after the funeral anyway, so you’ll be allowed your grieving time.”

“I see... thank ya kindly, you’ve been a big help.”

“I can see this is a lot to take in. I’ll be taking my leave then, just as soon as you sign this.” He floated another parchment up to her. “This will allow you access to Spike’s trust fund.”

Applejack was only shocked momentarily. Of course Twilight would be prepared for this. She looked the papers over, then signed. Blueblood handed her the bankcard.

“I understand the other Bearers will come by to visit Spike. Let them know they can testify anything extra as long as I’m in town. Three days.”

Applejack just nodded.

“You have a nice day... well, as nice as you can, under the circumstances.”

Blueblood left, leaving Applejack sitting in the front room of the Apple Family Home, to lost in worry to even move.

Eventually he looked at he parchment at her hooves. She didn’t understand half the legal mumbo-jumbo, but it was at least clear it was exactly what the prince said it was. No pressing charges... at least, not legally.

The nobles would hound him. That was stupid, Spike wouldn’t hurt a fly unless they hurt him first. He was a sweet boy. Not perfect, no, but what child didn’t make mistakes? Still, if he was getting attacked by politicians...

Sweet Celestia, she had no clue what to do.

She took a deep breath and went back into the dining room. There was so much that was going on, and for the first time ever, she didn’t feel like she could handle everything. Twilight being gone, Spike being her responsibility...

No... not my responsibility... our responsibility. The others... they’ll be with me.

The others would be by later, she was sure of it. The whole town might be by later, to check on Spike. No matter what was coming next, Spike needed to know he had support.

Chapter 5

Throughout the day, Spike didn’t leave the house. He didn’t want to go anywhere. He just wanted to cry.

He never got the chance to leave anyway. On that day, the entire population of Ponyville stopped by Sweet Apple Acres. Or at least, it certainly felt that way.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were first, arriving just minutes ahead of their older sisters. They covered Spike in sympathy, and it was no more bearable then when Apple Bloom did so alone.

Then came the rest of the Element Bearers. Fluttershy’s soothing words did nothing. The large chocolate and gemstone cake Pinkie had baked for him did nothing. Even Rarity’s comfort did nothing for him.

Then it was the Cakes, with Pound and Pumpkin in tow. Zecora, who made a beeline for the farm when she heard what happened. Mayor Mare, offering condolences in a public statement to the reporters that followed her, then more privately mourned. Even the Rich family stopped by. Spike could tell Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich’s tears were genuine, but Spoiled Rich was simply a good actor.

Berry Punch and her daughter. Cranky and Matilda. Derpy and Doctor Whooves. Miss Cheerilee. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. Snips, Snails, Featherweight, Silver Spoon, and everypony else from Cheerilee’s school. What started out as a private meeting became an improvised vigil.

Plenty brought food, so tables were set up. There was mingling, everypony recalling good times that were had with Twilight. Many came up to console Spike. Some brought gifts, though tentatively after the infamous birthday fiasco.

Discord dropped by in the midst of it and announced that Princess Celestia had returned to Canterlot to deal with a few things, but would return the next day. He also promised that Twilight’s family would be in town the next day. Prince Blueblood showed up soon after, looking even more exhausted than he had that morning, but still putting on a good front. He sent his men to buy any meal a guest requested. He announced that Starlight had been moved to a secret holding cell, and that a lawyer had been found for her. He refused to give up the identity of said lawyer, however. In fact, he announced a complete media blackout of the trial.

Despite the announcement, everypony was mingling and having fun, or at least helping each other through their grief. But Spike couldn’t join in. When he was sure nopony’s eyes were on him, he slipped into the farmhouse.

He made it halfway across the living room before Applejack and Rarity stopped him.

“Spike, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked.

“I... I don’t want to be there right now.”

“Whatever for?”

“Because you’re gettin’ tired of everypony tellin’ you they’re sorry.”

Both Rarity and Spike looked at Applejack in surprise.

“What? Applejack, what do you mean?”

“I’ve lost family, Rare, I know what it’s like.” She turned to Spike. “You’re thinkin’ that yer sick of everypony tellin’ you that they’re sorry. It isn’t makin’ you feel any better.”

Spike was silent for a moment, but nodded. “Yeah...”

“I understand Spike. If you need to lay down, I’ll let ya. But not until you get dinner.”

“But I ate breakfast...”

“That was twelve hours ago, Spike.”

The little dragon blinked, looking at the clock. He really had gone all day without eating. And now that Applejack had pointed it out, he was feeling hungry.

“I’ll go outside and get you a plate. You eat every bite, then I’ll let you get to bed, alright?”

Spike nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll get you some hayburgers, Blueblood just about bought out that shop in town. And the Cakes brought that cake for you, so I’m fixin’ you up a slice.”

Spike actually felt his mouth water.

Applejack left, and Rarity wrapped Spike in a hug. “Oh, Spike, I know this is hard, but I hope you at least appreciate having so many ponies who care for you.”

“...I do.”

Rarity kissed Spike on the forehead. Less than three days ago, this would have sent him into the atmosphere. Now he just felt numb.

“...Where’s Twilight’s family?”

Rarity blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Where’s Shining Armor? And Cadance? And her parents?”

Rarity sighed. “Twilight’s parents are still in Canterlot. Discord said Celestia would bring them here tomorrow. I can’t imagine what they’re thinking.”

Twilight’s parents had been inconsolable. They wanted to immediately leave on a train to Ponyville, but Luna had insisted they wait. Twilight’s body was being brought to Canterlot, to be buried in the Royal Cemetery, and Spike was in good hooves, leaving little reason for them to go so suddenly.

Celestia made the announcement that morning, after raising the sun. Word had spread around Ponyville on its own, but this caused it to spread throughout Canterlot. Messengers had already reached the outskirts of Equestria. By the next morning, there would be nopony in Canterlot who did not know of Twilight’s death.

Twilight Velvet and Night Light had no tears left. The entire day was spent sulking, trying to deny it was true.

Celestia finally entered the sitting room some time after 5pm. They looked at her, thinking she looked the model of her usual composure.

Inside, Twilight Velvet started fuming. What right did Celestia have to be so composed? Her daughter was dead! She opened her mouth to yell at her.

Then, in front of her eyes, Celestia became a different pony. There was no transition, it was more like someone had flipped a switch. The Immortal Princess suddenly seemed to age decades in a few moments. She slumped, her eyes filling with tears.

“Please, let me get some tea,” Celestia said. “I’m so very, very tired.”

Both ponies were stunned by the sudden vulnerableness. Celestia poured her tea, and drank. Not sipped, drank.

After a moment of silence, she spoke again. “I’m going to have to ask you not tell anypony about this. In times like this, it helps that ponies think I’m still strong.”

Celestia’s voice was wavering. Actually wavering.

Silence followed for a bit. Finally, Night Light spoke.

“One of the servants told us that Spike was signed into Applejack’s custody. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Celestia answered. She poured herself another cup and drank. “Somepony needed to watch him until we got everything straightened out. Are you going to want to take custody of him?”

Neither pony answered right away. Spike was a bit of a foreign entity to them. His birth coincided with Twilight moving into the Palace. Following that, Twilight had never lived with them again. This wasn’t to say that they stopped seeing Twilight, but as an infant Spike was left with the palace staff while Twilight was away. Dragons came into reasoning slower than ponies, a side effect of their long life spans, and by the time it happened Twilight was already a teenager, almost on her own. Friends weren’t the only side effect of Twilight’s love of books over ponies.

“I suppose we should... he was pretty much Twilight’s son, wasn’t he?”

“He called her Mom.”

Celestia’s statement caught the pair off guard. Twilight Velvet spoke. “What? We never...”

“When she died... we pulled the memory out of his head... he called her Mom... for the first time...” The tears were finally leaving Celestia’s eyes.

Velvet stood up. “We need to get to Ponyville...”

“He has the others to care for him at the moment. You should wait for your son to show up...”

As if on cue, the doors opened, and Shining Armor entered, followed by his wife.

Celestia began rising to her hooves. “Shining Armor, I’m sorry we had to meet...”

“What’s really going on?”

Celestia was stunned. Even the most aggressive foreign diplomat wouldn’t dare cut her off, let alone her well disciplined captain. “Shining Armor?”

“The messenger you sent was mistaken. He actually told me Twiley had died. Or maybe you just told him to say that to keep up the ruse. Now what’s really going on? This is a plot to catch Starlight, isn’t it?”

“Shiny...” his mother started to say. “It’s no trick.”

“Oh, you even left my parents in the dark? Come on, we can handle the truth, we can...”

“We’ve seen the body!” Twilight Velvet yelled.

The room became quiet. Shining Armor looked at her mother like what she had just said was undecipherable gibberish. He looked at his father, who only lowered his head sadly.

Cadance had seen it too. Almost immediately her legs gave way. Her retainers caught her as she began sobbing. As they moved her to the nearest cushion, trying to tell her the stress wasn’t good for her unborn foal, Shining Armor spoke.

“It has to be an illusion...”

“It is not.”

Shining Armor looked at Celestia. Tears were leaving her eyes. “Twilight is gone.”

“...Show me the body.”

“Shiny...” his father began.

“Show me the body!”

Applejack pulled the blanket over her charge, who barely registered it as he fell into much desired sleep. The Earth Pony only looked at the snoozing dragon for a bit. Finally, she leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. The dragon stirred a bit, but did not wake or change expressions.

Sighing, she turned around and left the room, leaving it in darkness. She trotted down the steps where her friends waited. Ponyville had dispersed, going home to privately mourn. Apple Bloom had gone to her room, with Sweetie and Scootaloo following her. The parents agreed to a last minute sleepover to deal with their grief. Granny Smith had gone to bed, and Big Mac, withdrawn as usual, had gone for a late night walk.

That just left her usual group of friends.

She walked in and saw the table. Whenever they had a meeting, they always sat in the same places, almost like they had been assigned. They had assumed these places as usual, which meant there were two gaps there. One for her, and one for Twilight.

She had later found out that Rainbow Dash had set the table, setting up six chairs out of habit. Once it was there, it seemed disrespectful to take it away. Applejack wondered if she was also secretly hoping Twilight would suddenly enter, having somehow recovered.

Five mugs were present, all filled with something. Applejack could tell it was alcoholic. “What is this, cider?”

Rarity shook her head. “No. It was a gift from Prince Blueblood.” It was the first time since the first Grand Galloping Gala that she spoke that name without cringing. “Apparently, a special wine is brewed up for graduates every year. This was from the year Twilight graduated and began taking all her lessons from Celestia. He thought it might make for a good toast.”

Applejack sat, then lifted her mug. Her friends did the same.

“To Twilight.”

“To Twilight,” the group repeated. They all took large swallows from their drinks. Even Rarity was foregoing her polite sips.

“So... what happens now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Are we still going to be able to use Rainbow Power? Is somepony going take over as Princess of Friendship? And is AJ going to take care of Spike from now on?”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about that first one.” She rubbed her hoof with her chin. “I reckon we should be able to. The Elements all needed to be together, but the Rainbow Power isn’t the Elements. Sides, who could represent Magic as well as Twi?”

“Moondancer!” Pinkie quipped.

“Um, Discord, maybe? He’s learned a lot.” Fluttershy shuffled.

“I would have guessed Princess Celestia would take over, or maybe Luna. Cadance, even.” Rarity guessed.

“As long as it isn’t Trixie...” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, that’s a bridge to cross later,” Applejack said. “As for a new Princess of Friendship, Blueblood visited this mornin’ an’ told me that the position is still open an’ Spike is lookin’ to inherit it. But there are some of those hoity toity ponies that want it, an’ think they deserve it more than Spike.”

“But that’s crazy!” Rainbow Dash said. “Spike has every right to it!”

“That’s what the Princesses think, an’ Prince Blueblood too. But you know the Elite. They ain’t gonna give it up without a fight.”

“That is so unfair!” Pinkie pouted.

Rarity brushed her chin. “A thought occurs to me. If Spike becomes the Prince of Friendship, could he also use the Rainbow Power?”

The other ponies brightened at that. “Hey, yeah,” Pinkie said. “He’d be a super cool hero! And he’d look real pretty!”

“He could come with us on all our adventures!” Rainbow Dash said. “Going to weird places, seeing amazing things fighting... evil...” the cyan Pegasus felt her enthusiasm diminish.

“Always getting put in danger,” Rarity said what was now on all their minds. They had always known the risks. But now there was a constant reminder of it, one that couldn’t be ignored.

“What if one of us goes next?” Rainbow Dash said. “I’d... Scoots... what would she do without me? Who’d take care of Tank?”

“Please don’t talk about death,” Rarity said. She was starting to hold back tears as well.

Applejack’s mind went racing, quite against her permission. Would the farm survive without her? Big Mac was strong, but even he couldn’t do all the heavy work alone. Would Apple Bloom be able to handle losing her after already losing her parents and Twilight? And...

“We should be talking about Spike.”

Fluttershy’s words caught them off guard, and the seven turned to look at her.

“He’s a child that lost his mother. We can’t fall apart about that now. We need to decide what to do about him first.”

They stared at Fluttershy for a moment. But as their surprise wore off, they realized she was right. They nodded. “You’re right,” Rainbow Dash said. She turned to Applejack. “Did Blueblood say anything about what was going to happen to Spike? Are you keeping him forever?”

The cowpony shook her head. “He told me what was goin’ on, an’ gave me access to his trust fund, but he didn’t say if Twi’s family were gonna take him.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious they are?” Rarity said. “If Twilight was his mother, shouldn’t Shining Armor or her parents take him?”

“I don’t know,” Applejack said. “I really don’t. We don’t know how close Spike was to the rest of Twi’s family. But fer the time bein’, I’m just gonna move forward like he’s stayin’ here. I did get access to all his stuff after all.” She took a deep breath. “But... there’s so much about raising a dragon that I don’t know. I... I suppose I am a little worried.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“You know,” Rainbow Dash said. “When Spike’s wings come in, someone is going to have to teach him to fly. It can’t be that much different for a dragon than a Pegasus. I could probably help him with that.”

“And if he’s going to be royalty, he’s going to need to learn etiquette,” Rarity said. “That happens to be my specialty.”

“And he’s going to need some cheering up!” Pinkie said. “And someone to spoil him rotten! I’ve always wanted to be an auntie!”

“Um... I could babysit sometimes... and help out in any way I could.”

“It looks like we’re all on board,” Rainbow Dash said. She lifted her still half full mug. The others did the same. “We’ll all be Spike’s family.”

Applejack smiled, raising her own mug. “Then that’s that. No matter what happens, we’ll all be there for Spike. It’s what Twilight would have wanted.”

And they all tapped their mugs together.

It took nearly ten minutes for Shining Armor to accept what he had seen. He would not allow the mortician to pull the cover back over his sister.

Twilight Velvet stepped forward. “Shiny... please...”

“Where is she?”

“...What?”

“Starlight Glimmer. Where is she?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Celestia said.

“Why not?”

“You’d kill her.”

“That’s the idea,” he roared. “Tell me where she is!”

“Shining, please, you’re going through...”

What happened next went by too quick for Twilight Velvet and Night Light to comprehend. Shining Armor moved forward, and his outbursts of anger were enough of a reason for the Royal Guards to interfere. They tackled their former captain to the ground. Shining Armor put up a fight, but it was no good. His grief made him vulnerable to the stoic guards. In moments, a dozen sleeping spells had knocked him out.

“Confine him to a suite. Hopefully, he’ll be more calm after he wakes.”

Chapter 6

Spike was learning that there were some nightmares that you never wake up from.

Everytime that he woke up, he hoped he’d be back in his bed in the Castle of Friendship, and with Twilight telling him to wake up and come down for breakfast. But it simply wasn’t happening.

No, he was still in the Apple Farmhouse. Applejack was already awake and downstairs, and any minute she would come up and tell him to come down to breakfast.

He just laid in bed until that happened. Under the sheets he could at least pretend, for a while, that everything would be better.

As he did, he found his thoughts drifting to Canterlot for the first time since the whole nightmare began. He remembered his early years, those few years where he had lived in Canterlot castle before Twilight had been given her tower. He had been an unexpected addition to Twilight’s life, and he remembered Twilight being fairly irritable in the early years. That was not to say that she wasn’t loving and caring. She always made sure to tuck him in, keep him happy, and make sure his basic needs were met. But she was someone young being thrust into the role of a parent. She had been given the support of servants, but love and support had been Twilight’s department.

She had steadily gotten more maternal. It had been a gradual process that neither had been aware of. He couldn’t truly pin down when he had started thinking of her as his mother. He only knew that he realized it too late to tell her.

Spike had thought he was alone in the room, and was thus shocked when he heard a familiar hoot. He turned and saw Owlowiscious sitting on the headboard, looking at him.

Spike blinked. He realized, with a feeling of guilt, that he had completely forgotten about Twilight’s pet. He was looking at him, and Spike could see there was a look of sadness in his eyes. He wasn’t perched at attention like he usually was. He seemed tired.

“Uh... hey, Owlowiscoius,” he said.

The owl responded by hopping off his perch and landing on the sheets. He nuzzled into Spike. It was pretty clear then that he was missing Twilight as much as anyone else.

Spike patted the bird on the head. Owlowiscious stepped back and gave a hoot. There was a lot of sadness in that one syllable.

“I miss her too.”

The door opened, and Applejack came in. She seemed surprised to see Spike awake.

“How’d you sleep?”

“...Alright,” he said. “I slept through the night. I didn’t wake up.” He looked at Owlowiscious. “Where did he come from?”

“Showed up last night. Poor thing, everypony’s been grieving so much they plumb near forgot ‘bout him. Soon as Prince Blueblood told him what had happened and where you were, he flew right here. One of the servants brought his things. Looks like the Apples got a new resident... at least, fer a while.”

Spike just nodded. Owlowiscious nipped at his fingers affectionately. It was odd, he usually wasn’t this affectionate. But Spike guessed he wanted the comfort, the same as him. The same as everyone who was mourning the death of Twilight.

“Are you hungry?” Applejack asked.

“I am,” he said.

“Well, come on down,” she said. “Breakfast is served.”

Spike obeyed. As he headed down, he realized that the pain was a little less prominent than it was yesterday. It seemed that time had already numbed it a bit. And he hated it. It felt disrespectful.

Breakfast was pancakes again. Spike ate without much enthusiasm.

Twilight’s death was announced in the paper that morning. It spread from Canterlot to all around Equestria.

In Canterlot, there was mourning in public. Twilight was a respected figure the citizens loved. Many were gloomy, fearing that the pony who had worked her way to princesshood would be forgotten.

Donut Joe had been shocked. He remembered the little filly, sitting in the booth with a large stack of books for a long study session, her little baby dragon next to her, reading picture books and coloring. He moved robotically through work that day. After he closed up, he began cooking a special batch of donuts. They were Spike’s favorite. He’d like them when he made a visit to Ponyville.

In the palace, there was a lot of scheming. Dukes and nobles started planning their moves, hoping they could manipulate Celestia while she was vulnerable. In the following weeks, Discord and Luna would help her run interference. By the end of it, six nobles with poorly thought out schemes would be in prison with maximum sentences. The remaining would wisely decide to return to their hoof-kissing attitudes, some scared away from their schemings forever.

Chancellor Neighsay, in a discussion with one of his political allies, said he was relieved that “the dragon lover” had met her end, citing how she had nearly gotten Spike into school when he was a hatchling. When he heard that Spike might inherit the position, he went on a rant about how idiotic “the Princess’s lapdog had been to allow such vile creatures near our precious foals.”

He had been unaware that Princess Luna had been right around the corner.

After a stern lecture in the Canterlot Royal Voice, Neighsay was sent packing to his quarters, utterly humiliated. He didn’t know it at the time, but that was the beginning of the end for his “Ponies First” policy, as making a personal enemy out of a princess was not a career-lengthening move.

Moondancer heard the news first out of the group of Twilight’s old friends, and she was heartbroken. She locked herself in her house and refused to come out. When the rest of her friends came around, it took them some time to get in. For a few hours, the group huddled together, crying and sobbing. After they collected themselves, Minuette suggested they pack up and head to Ponyville. They all agreed.

Across the land of Equestria, the news spread.

Flim and Flam heard about the death, and within three hours they had altered some of their merchandise to be Twilight-themed, claiming to be selling quills and books that the now-deceased princess had used. They claimed to have known her personally and that they were doing it all to honor her memory, all the while claiming they would donate a portion to the Equestria Education Administration. They met their undoing when Lyra and Bon Bon, on vacation in Manehattan, exposed them to the crowd. They had been chased clear out of town, managing to avoid the mob, but not the police that arrested them. It seemed there was still a warrant out for selling their phony tonic.

In Appleloosa, there had been a day of mourning. Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silverstar brought their people together for a feast, thought it hadn’t been the most cheerful. Twilight had returned to the town a few times as princess, speaking to the buffalo about a continued peaceful existence with the ponies. With her gone, Thunderhooves was worried. He knew that bigotry was alive in Equestria’s government, and could only hope that whoever got Twilight’s position would continue her work.

Daring Do was in her disguise at a book signing when she got the news. She immediately cancelled her upcoming book tour and began making plans to visit Ponyville and check on Rainbow Dash.

Trixie had been angry when she had discovered that nopony had shown up to her latest performance. When she heard the news, she almost didn’t believe it at first. No, Twilight, a pony almost as great and powerful as Trixie herself, could not be taken down by anypony but her. She heard the full story, then decided to head to Ponyville.

Gilda found out a few days later. She scoffed at the stupid pony affairs and went back to work. Then she remembered that she was one of Rainbow Dash’s friends. She wondered if she should feel bad. After a few hours of debate, she decided she would head to Ponyville.

Queen Chrysalis was brought the news by one of her spies. She immediately called a celebratory period where all changelings were free to engage in whatever debauchery they cared for during the next 24-hour period. Even during this celebration, she was figuring out a way to use this to her advantage. She had a plan to replace some key figures in the Equestrian government, and with Twilight out of the way, her whole plan would go off without a hitch.

Less than a week later, her plans were foiled. Discord, spending more time in the palace helping Celestia with day-to-day things, caught a spy and exposed the plan.

Cheese Sandwich headed to Ponyville, not from the news but his own innate sense that there was somepony who needed to smile. He heard the news on the way, and redoubled his efforts. Pinkie needed him.

Silver Shill had been selling things a few towns over and headed in to meet Applejack. Soarin and Spitfire heard and tried to get time off to visit Rainbow Dash. Coco Pommel heard and, after being disgusted with Flim & Flam’s antics, headed to Ponyville to see Rarity.

Our Town had been ashamed of its founding, but this was a mark against it further. A garrison of guards had been installed after Starlight’s escape, and despite some uneasy tension at first the reconstruction had gone peacefully. They thanked Princess Twilight for keeping them out of prison, since they were informed that any of them could be prosecuted for conspiracy to commit treason after helping Starlight capture Twilight. After the news dropped, the guards informed Sugar Belle, Party Favor, Night Glider, and Double Diamond that the trial would finally be held and they’d be required to testify.

Spike didn’t accomplish much that day. He had always been a busy dragon, doing some task or another, but right now he felt dull.

Prince Blueblood had brought longboxes of his comics over from the palace to him. Even more surprising, he found nearly two hundred bits of new trades, with a note from Blueblood: “I thought you could use an escape.”

This was typical of Blueblood's attempts to be nice, and he needed the escape, at least for a while, so he decided to binge his collection. He started with the Power Ponies, but every time he saw the Masked Matter-horn, he only saw Twilight. He moved onto other comics. He sometimes managed to make it through an entire page without thinking of Twilight.

Owlowiscious stayed by his side, drifting in and out of sleep. Winnona, sensing the sadness in the air, had lost her usual energy, and stayed by Spike’s side as well. It was a rather somber little pity party.

The others stopped by to offer condolences once again. Even in these times, they had work to do, but they tried to make time. Still, he was mostly alone today while the others made funeral arrangements and do the work that needed doing. Rainbow Dash.had the weather to do, Fluttershy an entire menagerie of animals to care for, and Rarity had orders to fill, something that Spike suspected she needed to do. She loved her work, so throwing herself into it was how she coped.

And Pinkie... Spike didn't know where she was.

Spike finished up another comic, then put in back in its bag. She sighed.

Pinkie nuzzled him. “There, there.”

...

Spike jumped and turned around. Pinkie was right there, laying on the floor where his cushion had been. No... Pinkie had been his cushion.

“Pinkie... have you been there all day?”

Pinkie nodded. “The Cakes gave me the day off. I thought you could use some company.”

Before he had moved to Ponyville, he might have considered such a thing impossible. But this was Pinkie he was talking about.

“I... thanks. I needed that.”

He picked up another comic. He looked at Pinkie, who was inviting him to sit back down. So he did.

Pinkie was kind and caring. She wasn’t often one to sit still, but when she was, she could be comforting.

But she wasn’t Twilight.

He remembered sleeping on her side while she pored over her studies. He remembered drawing and coloring next to her in the booth at Donut Joe’s. He remembered Nights when he was very young and insisted on sleeping in Twilight’s bed.

The others could coddle him all they wanted, but as kind as they were, it just wasn’t going to be the same.

He closed the comic. He buried himself into Pinkie. He was out of tears, but he wished he wasn’t.

He eventually went back to reading. Two hours later, the Apples came in, all dirty from their work. They made sure that Spike was okay, then went off to shower. By the time they were finished, the others had arrived. There was no real plan on what to do, but none of them felt like being apart from each other.

For an hour, things seemed almost normal. The five mares chatted on unimportant things while Spike read his comics. Owlowiscious woke up and sat there, perched and looking miserable. Fluttershy comforted him as best she could.

There was a knock on the door. Applejack went to answer.

“What can I... oh. It’s you again.”

“Yes, Miss Applejack,” Prince Blueblood’s voice carried through the house. Rarity tensed up. “Would you mind if I entered? I have something we need to discuss.”

“Well... I suppose.”

Nopony saw Rarity leave the room. After all, the pony eye could only track movement so fast.

Prince Blueblood entered, followed by his two guards. He looked around at the group. “Ah, good, you’re all here. That means I only have to make one stop.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well... I was hoping you could explain something,” he said. He motioned to one of his guards. Said guard lit up his horn. His magic opened up his saddlebag. He pulled out what looked like a book.

A glowing book. That was vibrating.

“This book is apparently receiving messages from somepony named Sunset Shimmer asking for help. Do any of you know what that’s about?”

The entire room was stunned.

Author's Note

In my defense, the show seemed to forget about Owlowliscious too.

And in case your raising eyebrows at Our Town being held legally responsible, remember it took a lot to get Patty Hearst off IRL, so I figured Our Town would at least be under some sort of legal scrutiny.

Chapter 7

The group of ponies looked at the results of the die roll. The first had resulted in a six, meaning another roll was needed. The second time, a three came up, meaning a pony had been chosen.

"Are you sure about this?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched Applejack stand in front of the mirror. "We could just send the message through the journal."

"Absolutely not," Rarity said. "We're going to let them know in person. We simply can't drop this on them through such an impersonal method."

"'Sides, Twi always said that the place was pretty safe," Applejack said. She looked like she was trying to gather her nerves.

"Sunset was trying to contact Twilight to get help with runaway magic," Rainbow Dash said.

"And she sent an all clear," Applejack said. She took a deep breath. It didn't matter how safe the new world was, getting a new body was a daunting prospect. “There should be nothin’ to worry about that isn’t in Ponyville.”

“Ponyville gets attacked once a month,” Pinkie reminded her. “That’s how I remember it’s time to pay the gas bill.”

Applejack didn’t respond. She took a deep breath. “Alright, here I go.” Before her nerves could flare up, she ran through the mirror.

It was a scary process, going through the portal. It was big and white and the transition was unlike anything she had ever felt. It also wasn’t pleasant to come out for a rough landing on the other side, even if it was on grass.

Even as she was recovering from the trip, she heard several gasps of surprise. This didn’t truly worry Applejack. Twilight had mentioned that the entire school knew the truth, so there was no need to hide it. What really got her attention was the cry of “What in tarnation?”

She stopped. That sounds like something she would say.

She turned and she saw herself. Or rather, she saw the other version of herself. She recognized the freckles, the hair, the eyes, but it was in a strange new body.

“Yer... me,” the other Applejack said, clearly unnerved by what she was seein’.”

“Yeah, I’m me,” Applejack said, trying to get her bearings together. She looked down and tried not to freak out as she saw a hand instead of a hoof. She wiggled her fingers, experimenting with the new appendages...

“Do I really sound like that?” the other Applejack said. "Is that really my voice?"

"That's really your voice," Applejack heard Rainbow Dash say.

"It really sounds like that?"

Listening to her counterpart, she frowned. "Where'd you get that accent from?"

"What accent?" the other Applejack asked.

"I told you you have an accent," the human Rainbow Dash said, laughter decorating the syllables.

Before Applejack could turn and see this new Rainbow Dash, her vision was filled with orange. A new face was looking at her.

"Applejack?"

"...Sunset Shimmer," Applejack said, dawning on her after a moment's thought.

"Not that it's not nice to meet you, but... where's Princess Twilight? Did she get that message I sent her?"

Immediately Applejack felt her grief flood back. She tried to sit up, difficult with her new body. Seeing this, Sunset offered her a hand. Applejack took it and was pulled up onto her rear. She saw the others crowd around her.

Applejack opened her mouth, but a lump caught in her throat. Having to break the news again was a fresh kind of torture. She opened her mouth again, but the sound refused to come out.

"Come on, come on, what is it?" the human Pinkie said.

"Yes, I must admit, I'm curious about my..."

When Applejack heard the voice, her blood ran cold. Even as scared as she was, her head whirled to look.

When she saw her, she let out a yell that caused the humans to jump. Applejack was on her back again, scooting away from the ghost that stood in front of her.

"What? Applejack, that's Twilight. She just transferred here."

Applejack barely heard. Her breaths were too heavy. Her lungs kept trying, and failing, to take a big breath.

Sunset Shimmer leaned in. AJ? Come on, this Twilight already knows everything. There's no need to panic..."

"She's dead! Twilight's dead!"

Silence followed that. For a full minute there wasn't a sound except the occasional bird chirping. For the humans, it was processing the news they had just been given. Each was turning it over in their mind, trying to understand.

For Applejack, it was the shock of seeing Twilight again. Even in the new body, it was her. The skin color matched the coat, the mane had the same pink stripe, her eyes were just as beautiful, even if they were behind a pair of glasses.

Her body was starting to calm, but her mind refused to. It was still trying to process the impossible.

"What?" Sunset finally managed to ask. It was the only thing that any of them had to say.

Applejack managed to tear her eyes away from the Twilight in front of her and back to Sunset. She was still looking at her with a blank expression. She still didn't understand.

Applejack took a deep breath. "A mare named Starlight Glimmer did it. She tried playin' around with some time spell. It killed her."

There was another long pause. During that time, Applejack tried not to look at the other Twilight.

There was a deflating should. The human Pinkie's hair went flat. Sunset fell to her knees, a look of horror on her face.

"Where is she?"

Everyone jumped at Rainbow Dash's question. She looked enraged.

"This Starlight... where is she? I'll kill her!" The look she was giving crushed any doubts she was exaggerating.

"You'll have to get in line," Applejack said. "Half of Equestria wants her dead."

Applejack half-expected the human Rainbow Dash to make some follow-up comment, but there was nothing.

For a long time, the group sat there in silence, tears streaming down their faces. Only the human Twilight wasn’t crying, and even she was too stunned.

It was a full three minutes before Sunset spoke. “Wh... when’s the funeral?”

“Don’t know yet,” Applejack said. “But yer all invited to it. I know Twi would want you there.”

She briefly looked at the new Twilight, but only briefly. It was far too painful. “Though, if you're going to bring your Twi, she best go in disguise.”

She looked at the ground, not wanting to look at Twilight. She was surprised when a small dog walked into her vision.

It took a few moments before Applejack realized who this must be.

“The other Spike,” she muttered, more to herself than anything.

“What about the other Spike? Is he okay?”

Applejack jumped. She had expected that question to come eventually, she just hadn’t expected it to come from Spike himself.

“Wha? How?”

“Magic,” Sunset said. It was the only word she got out before she descended into tears.

The shock had passed, and the tears were no longer silent. Sobs were escaping the throats of all the girls. Twilight was the lone silent one, even though she looked sad.

Applejack looked at the new Spike, who was still looking at her, waiting for an answer to his question.

“He’s still alive,” Applejack said. “Don’t know about ‘okay’. He’s sad an’ we can’t bring him out of his funk.”

The dog whimpered. Twilight picked him up and coddled him.

Applejack looked at the ground and waited for the humans to cry themselves out. Once they were done, she’d have to give them the messy details, then ask what was going on with the holes in reality that had been caused.

She looked at Twilight again, but only for a split second. She moved towards the statue. She better spend this time trying to stand.

Starlight was in constant agony. Spike had given her a beating that she was lucky to survive. She wished the doctors would increase her painkillers, even if it would kill her. Whatever pit in the Underworld she was sent to couldn’t be worse than this.

Her lawyer had been her only visitor. She supposed that shouldn’t surprise her. Even if Twilight hadn’t turned her followers against her, and even if Sunburst actually took responsibility for abandoning her, she didn’t think Celestia would allow visitors.

She tugged at the restraints holding her hind legs to the bed. It was the most unnecessary security ever. She could be completely free and she’d be in no condition to leave. Her front legs were in casts, and it looked like they would be for months.

She weakly looked at the steel doorway that led to the outside world. This might look like a hospital room, but it was truly a dungeon. She knew she had best get used to the idea.

A set of locks tumbled and clanked, and the door opened. Her lawyer walked in. The guard looked at the stallion suspiciously, but followed procedures and left them alone.

The stallion looked at Starlight with a smug grin. It made her furious.

“My, my, you’ve been a challenging case,” he said. “It’s like you’ve dedicated your life to getting arrested.”

He lifted a stack of papers out of his briefcase. “I’ve looked over the charges. Forty-seven acts of kidnapping, spell casting on a pony without a license and without their consent, using an undocumented and unregistered spell, time-traveling using an unregistered spell, assault with magic, ponyslaughter, assuming they leave it at that and don’t push for a full murder charge, and all this on a crown princess of Euquestria, so treason as the cherry on top.”

Had Starlight’s jaw not been wired shut, she might have told him to get on with it.

“A not guilty verdict is out of the question, so I propose we go with the insanity defense.”

Starlight’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. Insane? Her? No, she was the only one thinking clearly!

“Now, contrary to popular belief, there are very few forms of insanity that can absolve you of legal responsibility. Normally I’d suggest we go with dark magic, but there’s no way it wouldn’t have been detected by now.

“The second is compulsions, but Princess Twilight did her homework on you, and besides, there is no compulsion that could cover everything.

“So that leaves us with the ever popular delusions. And this one shouldn’t be too hard. I mean, eliminating cutie marks, really?”

Starlight moved out of anger, and immediately regretted it as pain shot through her body. She whimpered and moaned, tears coming from her eyes.

He waited for her to calm before he went on. “Now, we need to sell the fact that you didn’t understand that what you were doing was legally wrong, so you can start rambling and saying that Celestia spoke to you, telling you to carry out the next phase of Harmony’s plan. Go big, the crazier, the better.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes. How dare this stallion tell her that her philosophy was crazy. How dare he!

“Aww, did I hurt your feelings?” Nocturn said, his grin getting bigger. Starlight’s eyes narrowed.

Nocturn brought his hoof up, and Starlight watched as he brought it to one of her sides. He grinned.

Then he pressed. It wasn’t much, but it still brought an intense pain. Her muffled screams sounded, which only brought the pain in her jaw out. By the time Nocturn let the pressure up, she was in tears.

“I can talk to you that way because you got yourself into this mess. You need me to get out. It’s your only way out of prison. Well... maybe not. There’s no death penalty in Equestria, but you never know. You killed Celestia’s little pet. She might make an exception.”

Starlight whimpered.

“Right, glad you understand. Now then, you’ve seen the stick, now see the carrot.”

He lit up his horn. Starlight felt a quick pain. She realized a bandage on her hind leg had been ripped off. It had been to cover a smaller cut on what was otherwise the only undamaged part of her body.

She could see it. Nocturn put his horn up to it.

Suddenly, Starlight was in less pain. Even as small as it was, she noticed.

She had to strain her eyes to be sure, but the cut was gone.

Starlight’s eyes bulged in surprise. Nocturn grinned.

“That’s all I can do for you at the moment. Any more and the guards will get suspicious. But full healing awaits you. Yes, even your horn, if you’re a good filly.”

Conflicting emotions erupted in Starlight. Excitement over getting cured, fear over this stallion, rage as he mocked her ideals. How dare this pony insult her.

“Confused?” Nocturn said. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to think about our offer. In fact, thinking is about all you can do right now.” He let out a small chuckle. At Starlight’s glare, he merely shrugged. “Just a little joke. You need to get a sense of humor.”

With that, Nocturn walked out, giving a small chuckle. The doors closed and locked behind him, leaving Starlight alone in her cell.