Strategy

Fluttershy heard a rustling sound, like a gentle breeze flowing through the sea of stems on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. It took her three, four seconds to realize that it was breathing, tiny lungs blowing out air, so quiet that it was only audible due to the near perfect silence of the moment.

As she took cautious steps towards its source, she saw a tiny, curled-up figure lying in the grass: light gray fur, a dark gray (or dark blue?) mane and tail, and a tiny horn which erupted a single spark as its tip came in touch with a flattering halm. She was not pretty, but more than that, she was dirty. Fluttershy wasn’t even sure if this pale shade of gray was her true color, or if her coat had once been white. Specks of grass, mud, and the occasional bruise now dotted her fur, revealing that this wasn’t the first night spent outside. And she didn’t have a cutie mark.

Without hesitating, Fluttershy bent down, putting her basket aside and closing in on the sleeping filly. Where had she come from? Fluttershy was fairly certain that there was nopony in Ponyville at her age that she didn’t at least know the face of, but this was somepony she had never seen before.

Whatever the case, she couldn’t stay out here, it was too close to the forest. Predators would see her as easy prey, and although it was rare for them to go this far out, you could never be certain. After a moment of reflection, Fluttershy gave her shoulder a gentle poke.

The filly woke up immediately, but she didn’t do anything except returning Fluttershy’s gaze. Her iris was a scarlet red, contrasting starkly with her otherwise pale features.

“... hello,” Fluttershy heard herself say. Somehow, she had expected a different reaction.

“Hi.”

“Uhm...” Fluttershy offered hoof, and although it was more of a symbolic gesture, the filly took it. “I’m Fluttershy,” she said as she pulled her upwards.

“Vi. Thanks.”

“Vi,” Fluttershy repeated. “Uhm, I’m sorry that I woke you up.”

“That’s okay.”

“Where... where do you live?”

“Right now... nowhere.”

Homeless. How was that possible? There were no homeless ponies this close to Ponyville... or anywhere in Equestria, as far as she knew. All that a pony had to do to get a place to sleep was to turn to authority.

“I have a cottage. Would you like to come?”

The filly hesitated. “Come and... do what?”

“Oh, we can get you all cleaned up, and I can give you something to eat if you’re hungry, and we can decide what, uhm, what we’ll do going forward.” Fluttershy watched her nervously. The only reason she could think of for somepony to be homeless by choice would be if she had something to hide.

“No commitments attached?” the filly asked, and Fluttershy felt her suspicion confirmed.

“Uhm... no. I won’t force you to do anything.”

“Really nothing? You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay then.”

Fluttershy made sure to walk slowly as she lead the way, but there didn’t seem to be any need to: Vi gave no sign of injury beyond a few bruises, and seemed to have no trouble keeping up. Before long, she felt silly being slow on purpose, so she returned to a more normal pace.

Many times before, Fluttershy had taken care of animals who had been hurt in the wilderness. Some had left once they got better, but others stayed. What would happen with this pony? If her desire to get away from home was so strong that she had chosen to sleep in the wild for days on end, then Fluttershy didn’t know what solution she’d be able to offer. She would keep the promise she had made, but also do everything she could to make sure Vi would sleep in a bed tonight.

“I’m back home,” Fluttershy called as she pushed her door open. “Um.”

No answer could be heard, but as Vi cautiously stepped inside behind her, she was caught in a small wince as two mice came running out of some tiny hole and halted beside Fluttershy’s front hoof.

“Uh...” A pause. “I see. It’s just that I have a guest, so if you could... yes, thank you. Thank you. I’ll make sure of it. Thanks.”

The two mice ran back into their hole.

There was a moment of silence, until-

“You can’t really talk to them, can you?” Vi’s eyes were fixed at the point where the mice had disappeared. “They don’t actually... understand you, right?”

“I-”

“And-”

Vi blinked. “Sorry.”

“No, you go first.”

“May I close the door?”

“Sure. Uhm.” Fluttershy’s gaze nervously trailed over Vi’s body. “Would you like an, uhm, bath? Or do you want to eat something first?”

“Getting clean first seems to make more sense,” Vi said with a look at the hoofsteps she had already left.

Fluttershy hesitated, but then nodded. “Follow me.”

“This is really nice of you,” Vi said to Fluttershy while the pegasus was stroking through her mane with a brush, the filly standing in a half-full tub of pleasantly warm water. Fluttershy mumbled a response that was barely audible around the grip in her mouth, but which might or might not have been meant to be ‘it’s no problem.’

“Can I come back to the animals?” Vi asked as an entire bulb of dried earth fell from her mane into the water. “Could those mice understand what you were saying? And what about other animals?”

Fluttershy reached a hoof up to take the brush out of her mouth, doing her best to continue the task in this less familiar manner.

“Angel Bunny, he is, uhm, he’s my personal pet, he understands what I say; the mice can only react to a few, uhm, things that come natural or that they’ve been taught. The words, they don’t matter to them.” She took a swig in the tub to clean the brush as best as she could before she continued. “This doesn’t hurt, I hope? You have an uhm, really... full mane,” she finished awkwardly.

At that, Vi turned around, giving Fluttershy her first smile.

“Thank you,” she said warmly, “for not saying it’s pretty. I appreciate honesty.”

Fluttershy blinked, visibly shocked. “Uhm. Um. Um. I... you’re... you’re not-”

Now Vi giggled. “I was complimenting you, Fluttershy. I was afraid you would tell me I’m pretty once I’m clean.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy let out a breath. “Um. No problem then. But you really don’t look ugly either...”

“Thanks,” Vi said. “So when you say that Angel understands what you say, do you mean he understands everything?”

“Technically, yes,” Fluttershy said while going back to cleaning the filly’s mane, who didn’t respond, so after a few seconds, she continued. “He understands Equestrian, and nothing prevents him from knowing about other things, but he doesn’t really care about most of it. Mostly he wants nice things to eat.”

“And that’s okay?”

“I think so. It’s normal for him.”

“Okay, but...” Vi winced as the brush got stuck in a knot of her mane, followed by a murmured apology from Fluttershy, as she tried to leave as much of the mane in place as possible. “But is he... fully conscious?”

“I... think he is...”

“As much as you and I?”

“I...” Fluttershy lowered her brush. “I, um, don’t think I ever thought about that, really...”

“Can you do it now?”

“Um... why do you want to know?”

“Well...” Vi lifted a hoof to her mane, and Fluttershy went back to brushing it. “There a lot more animals in Equestria than ponies. If each animal were itself as important as a pony, then collectively they would be much more important. That would be good to know.”

A pony standing behind Fluttershy right now would have seen a slight shiver running through her body at those words.

“I...” she lowered her brush again, this time seemingly without noticing it. “I actually have thought about that before,” she said, her voice now almost a whisper. “I just wasn’t really... didn’t really...”

“You never thought about that you thought about it, so you weren’t really aware of it.”

“Yes.”

“That’s normal.”

Fluttershy gulped. “Uhm...”

Vi took a stroke through her mane, getting a brief sense of its current state.

“You can go on, if you want.”

Fluttershy nodded, although Vi was turned away from her and couldn’t see it.

“I don’t think he is,” she said quietly. “But I think animals can be. I... ... once, before Angel-”

“I think I know what you want to say,” Vi interrupted. “If you would rather not continue, that is okay.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy briefly got up on her hindquarters, stabilizing her position with her wings as she used her other hoof to help out with a particularly big knot.

“Okay,” she then said, “thanks.”

“But how frequent is that among animals?”

“Very, very rare.”

“Can you put a number on it?”

“Um... I’m not sure-”

“Do it anyway,” Vi said. “Everypony thinks you should only be precise when you know exactly. But being precise and unsure is always better than being vague and unsure. Uncertainty only means that being precise is less of a benefit, but it’s still a benefit.”

As unusual as those sentences were from the mouths of a filly, Fluttershy seemed so captured by their conversation that it barely surprised her.

“One in a thousand,” she said. “No. One in ten thousand.”

“Even with the ones ponies take care of?”

Fluttershy bit her lip. “Other ponies don’t... take care of them the same way I do. At least... I’ve never met another pony who does it.”

“I see. You’re a really kind mare,” she added, causing a blush from Fluttershy.

“Thank you.”

“Could any animal achieve consciousness?”

“Uhm...” Fluttershy’s hoof was shaking a bit. “I don’t really know anything... you know? I just-”

“Of course. Tell me what you think.”

“Well, I think that they, they are inclined... every animal is inclined not to. The smaller they are, the less likely it is that they will break, you know, do things outside of the box. Without somepony like, uhm... ...”

“Like you?”

“Yes. Without somepony like me, it would be very unlikely. Something would just have to happen that... that confronts them with something that makes them think, and then probably more things after that to keep it going.” A frown crossed her forehead as she juggled a strand of the filly’s mane under her hoof that was also holding the brush. “Is this-”

“It won’t get better,” Vi said. “My mane naturally has a coarse texture.”

“Huh.” Fluttershy almost seemed to be paralyzed for the moment, focusing on the touch against her feathers. “It’s... uhm... strange.”

“I’ve never heard of anypony else who has it.”

“Are you sure that’s... it’s not dangerous? It could be a part of an, uhm, disease... Celestia hope not, but...”

“I went through the most comprehensive treatments that were available to me.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“It could still be something bad, but I can’t do anything else about it.”

“I... see.”

Fluttershy took a few more moments stroking over the mane, before she went back to cleaning it.

“So they become less... sensitive the more they stay inside the box. The animals, I mean. And less... self-aware.”

“So the key thing isn’t intelligence, it’s-” She took a sharp breath as Fluttershy removed the largest remaining specks of dirt from her mane.

“Sorry.”

“... it’s habit?”

“It’s both... I think.” Fluttershy took another swig through the water, which by now was colored in an unpleasant shade of brown. Then,

“Vi... where are you from?”

“I’m really sorry, but I don’t want to answer that.”

“I see. And... are you going to go back to... wherever it is?”

“No. If I can, I will stay in Ponyville.”

“Stay where?”

“I don’t know.”

“But Vi, you can’t stay here, not if your parents are looking for you or-”

“I don’t think anypony is looking for me.”

“Then, can’t you tell me? Please? I promise I won’t tell anypony.”

Vi turned around.

“I really like you, Fluttershy,” she said, and it was clear that she meant it. “You seem kind and generous. If I get to know you better, maybe I’ll tell you eventually. But not today. I’m sorry. But... thank you. Even if you want to throw me out now.”

“...”

Fluttershy sighed.

“We need new water. Can you...”

The filly lit her horn, and a few moments later, the sound of draining water could be heard.

“You don’t know where you want to stay, and you don’t want to tell me where you come from...”

“I’m sorry.”

“I... I don’t know what to... I guess I’ll ask Twilight for help. She’s, an, uhm, a friend, she-”

“I know of her. I’ve heard a bit about the six element bearers.”

“... oh. I keep forgetting th-that we’re now... ... uhm, would you mind if I brought you to Twilight after we’ve got you all cleaned up? Then we can figure out what to do together.”

“As long as we don’t have to answer to other ponies or the mayor... not at all.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.” Fluttershy seemed relieved, even managing a smile. “I got a few things to take care of first, but it’ll only take a few minutes. After that, let’s go to Twilight together? Alright?”

“Alright.”

“Hm... but first, we got to get you all cleaned up. ... I think Twilight will like you... you can even do magic. You must be older than you look, right? How old are you?”

“Nine.”

“Ni... nine.”

The noise of the remaining water disappearing through drain was the only sound.

“Can I...?” Vi asked with a nod to the tap as she put the cylinder back in.

“Go ahead,” Fluttershy said dimly.

“Thanks,” Vi said, turning the tap. “Fluttershy, if you were ready to treat me as an adult when you thought I was twelve, then there’s no reason not to do it now that you know I’m nine.”

“Nine,” was Fluttershy’s response. “You know that not even Twilight talks as, well, formulated as you do? So fluid? You talk like, um, like out of a book. Like you’ve had time to think through every sentence before you say it. That’s not normal.”

“I don’t think I’m normal.”

“No,” Fluttershy said, “no, I don’t think so, either.”

“And this will be okay?” Vi asked as they were leaving the cottage together, for the first time appearing to be a bit nervous.

“Of course.” Fluttershy gave her a smile. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“Well... how many ponies live in Ponyville?”

“It’s said to be about three hundred, but...” Fluttershy chuckled. “No-one has ever counted them, actually, so, they don’t, uhm, well, they don’t really know. Nopony really knows.”

“Okay. That should make for only about thirty students. Many ponies probably know all of them personally, so if they see us...”

Fluttershy halted, so she could turn her head to the filly who’d been walking suspiciously close to her. At this point, somepony who knew Fluttershy really well, like Rarity, might have noticed how she seemed relieved at the remark, that first time this strange filly had said something really silly.

“Nopony will be suspicious just because you’re someone they don’t recognize.”

“... no? Why not?”

“Well – because you could be from anywhere. A cousin of mine. Or of Rarity. Or they forgot a face. Or... uhm, anything else.”

“But what if somepony asks? Since we won’t lie, won’t that tell them everything?”

“I... could just say some vague thing,” Fluttershy explained, “and then move on. Don’t worry, Vi. This will be fine. At least, until, uhm...”

Her voice had sort of faded near the end, with the last three words barely audible, and rather than repeating them, she only gave Vi a smile and continued her walk. “Most of the way is outside Ponyville, anyway,” she added.

“You were saying something there,” Vi pointed out as they both continued their trip, this time with a bit more distance between them. “If you don’t want to repeat it, then-”

“Oh. Uhm. No, I... well, I was about to say that, well, you see, I... well, I really don’t think you’ll have problems reaching the library, but Twilight might not be quite as eas-... easy to... uhm... persuade as I am.”

“Ah. Okay.”

“But I’m sure... well, at least I think you could win her over, too.”

Vi gave another warm smile to Fluttershy, who raised an eyebrow before she connected the dots.

“You really don’t like lying, do you?”

“No,” Vi said, “I don’t.”

“I really hope... you’ll have luck with Twilight.”

“Thanks.”

“I want to help you, but... I don’t really know what to do... I... sort of... hope I could pass on responsibility, I think. I think... I think a smarter pony than me should decide what to do.”

“Is she, really? You aren’t less smart because you can’t do magic.”

“Oh. ... thanks.” Now Fluttershy smiled again. “But Twilight is smarter than me. Not because she can do magic. And that’s okay. It’s in good hooves.” She paused. “Her, uhm, smarts, I mean.” She giggled.

“Okay. I look forward to meeting her.”

“Fluttershy!” Twilight smiled widely as she opened the door and recognized her friend. “What a pleasant surprise! I was just thinking about you!”

“Oh.” Fluttershy blinked. Whatever she had been meaning to say seemed to have been put aside by this unexpected comment. “Uhm, why-”

“Just a coincidence.” Twilight giggled. “I can tell you over a cup of tea. If you have the time for one.”

“I’m in no hurry,” Fluttershy responded. “Uhm-”

But Twilight didn’t pick up her delayed hesitation. “Spike!” she called over her shoulder, ”Could you heat up some water?”

Only when she turned back toward Fluttershy did she notice the other pony.

“Oh. Well, hello there. Who are you?”

“I...” Vi hesitated. For the first time since Fluttershy had found her, she seemed to have begun a sentence which she didn’t know how to finish. “That’s a... hard... question...” she said weakly. “I... like to be called Vi.”

“Vi?” Twilight asked. “Just Vi?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then. I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

They shook hooves.

“Are you a friend of Fluttershy? Or a relative?”

“I’m not a relative. I... don’t know if I’m a friend.”

“You don’t know?” Twilight threw a look at Fluttershy.

“I’m not sure, either,” Fluttershy said with a weak smile. “But I think so.”

“... okay. Where are you from?”

“That’s a secret.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A secret?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then.” If she was bothered by this, she didn’t show it? “Do you like tea?”

“That-”

“Another secret?” Twilight interrupted, sounding amused.

“No, but it depends on the kind of tea.”

“Oh. Well, I have a pretty big collection. I’m sure we’ll find something you like. Why don’t you come in?”

“Thanks.” Vi stepped inside. “You have a very nice looking library,” she remarked. Then, “If you want a bit of time to talk to Fluttershy because you have to discuss what happens with me and I’m not old enough to hear it, you can do that now if you want to.“

Those words made Twilight halt in her walk, her eyebrows raised. But when she spoke, her voice was as calm as before.

“That’s really nice of you, Vi. I think we should take that offer. What do you think, Fluttershy?”

“Uhm... o-okay...”

Vi nodded. “Can I wait in the kitchen?”

“Of course. The small stairs to the right.”

Vi nodded again, following the directions, but not without letting her gaze wander around on the way, until-

“WOAH!”

-she met Spike.

“... ... you startled me! Who-”

“You’re a dragon!”

“‘course I am. So what?”

“A dragon!!!” Vi stared at him disbelievingly.

“Are you Fluttershy’s cousin or something?”

“No, was she surprised to see you, too?”

“Sure was. And for good reason, too!”

“Yeah, wow.”

“Err...”

“How come I’ve never heard of you? Not a single mention that Twilight lives with a dragon? Unless you don’t usually live here?”

“I’m... not mentioned?”

“... well, not where I... was informed. Maybe you’re mentioned at other places.”

“Oh...” Spike looked down at his feet, seemingly not taking the news well. Beside them, the fire below the can crackled.

“So,” Vi said eventually, “do you know a lot about dragons?”

“I, uh...”

Another pause followed, but Vi didn’t say anything to overplay the awkward moment.

“Hey, so who are you?”

“You can call me Vi. Do you not want to answer my question?”

“Well...” Spike nervously played with his tail between his claws. “I was brought to Twilight as an egg...”

“Okay. I see. Then, how is Twilight?”

“Oh.” Spike seemed relieved at the change of topic. “Twilight is great,” he exclaimed while the water began to boil. “And I’m her number one assistant! Which is why she instructed me to heat up water. Excuse me.” He picked up the kettle and made for the main room, only to return momentarily, opening a drawer and taking out two cylindrical boxes. Balancing them on top of each other in one claw while carrying the kettle in the other, he walked back outside.

“I’ll wait here,” Vi called after him. A while later, he was back, now empty-clawed.

“Twilight says you can come back,” he told her. “Also that I should ask you what, err, you like. Which tea, I mean.”

“I would like something without caffeine,” Vi said. “I assumed Twilight was talking herbs too when she said she had a big collection.”

“Sure.” Spike walked over towards the same drawer he had just opened. “Let’s see, we have mint, rooibos-”

“Rooibos would be nice.”

“Okay, I’ll get it.”

“You are a riddle,” Twilight greeted Vi as she returned, three cups and small plates following her in a purple cloud out of the kitchen. “Fluttershy told me some interesting things. And I’d like you to tell me where you’re from.”

“That’s a secret,” Vi repeated as Twilight gave out one plate to her. “Thanks.”

“Yes. Well.” Twilight took a few of the brown, stem-like leaves out of the second box Spike had brought, put them into Vi’s cup and poured water above them. “Fluttershy said that, too. But can’t you clue us in on your secret?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Aw, but I really think you should!”

“But you can’t know that it’s a good idea,” Vi pointed out, “since you don’t know why I don’t want to tell you.”

“Vi...” Twilight said, now sounding a lot more serious, “what is your plan?”

“Also a hard question,” Vi said carefully. “It depends on what exactly ‘plan’ means.”

A blue and purple cloud formed over Fluttershy’s cup before Twilight poured water into it.

“Thanks,” Fluttershy said politely.

“I’ve really gotten better at that one,” Twilight remarked with a chuckle before turning back to Vi. “Well, you didn’t just stumble into Ponyville by accident, did you?”

“I... can’t confirm or deny that,” Vi said, now sounding uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, that’s part of the secret. Anything relating to where I’m coming from.”

“Alright. Let’s talk about what you want, then. Would you prefer staying in Ponyville or leaving?”

“Staying.”

“And where-” But Twilight interrupted herself. “Nevermind. Look. I don’t know how you imagined this going, but... nopony will take you in if you’re hiding from your parents. I know you told Fluttershy you aren’t hiding from your parents, but... that’s not good enough. What if you’re hiding from an aunt?”

“I’m not hiding from anypony.”

“Any... pony...” Twilight repeated slowly. “What about-”

“I’m not hiding from anyone as far as I know of, and I’m not attempting to deceive you by being strictly literal. No-one is looking for me... I think.”

Twilight sighed. She took a sip of her tea, watching the filly intently.

“Look,” Vi said, “I have a good reason not to tell you. It’s not a game. If you knew, you’d probably understand.”

“If I’d understand, then why not tell me?”

“Because I’m not sure.”

“Okay. So you can promise me that no-one is looking for you... right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not lying to me?”

“No.” Vi straightened up. “I. Don’t. Lie. Not to you, not to anyone.”

“Okay,” said Twilight, “I believe you. But that doesn’t solve our problem.”

“You can always just leave me to myself. I’m not your problem. You don’t have to do anything.”

“No,” Fluttershy said before Twilight could. “We can’t do that. I’d let you live at the cottage before we let you be homeless.”

“Do you have something to write?” Vi asked.

“Uhm. Sure.”

Twilight lit her horn, and a quill, a flask of ink, and a piece of paper came floating down from somewhere on the higher levels.

“Thanks,” Vi murmured, while writing ‘What to do with Vi’ on the top of the paper and underlining it. She added the items ‘Leave to herself’ and ‘Cottage’.

“We want to solve this problem, so let’s just write down every possible solution and then decide which one is best. What other options are there?”

Twilight’s eyes trailed the list for a few seconds, then she lifted the leaves (she had taken black tea herself) from the bottom of her cup, putting them onto her plate. After a nod from Fluttershy, she did the same with hers.

“Yours need to brew longer,” she said towards Vi. “Spike, can you get milk, too?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. We could always bring you to the mayor. She would contact Canterlot, and they’d find a solution.”

Vi added ‘Mayor’ as a third point.

“You wouldn’t want to stay at the Cottage, would you?” Fluttershy asked the filly.

“Not really. I don’t like animals,” she added towards Twilight. “Particularly not the big ones. Otherwise, I’d really like to live with Fluttershy.”

“But...” Fluttershy said slowly, “you like books... don’t you?”

“I do. ... Twilight, should I add that as an option, or is it out of question?”

Twilight looked at her. Several seconds passed in silence, until Spike returned with a bottle of milk.

“Thanks,” Twilight said to him, added some milk to her tea and took a sip. “Sure. Go ahead. We’re not deciding on anything yet, right?”

“Right.” Vi added ‘Library’.

“I guess you could ask if somepony else is interested?” she suggested. When neither Twilight nor Fluttershy objected, she added ‘Another pony’ as the fifth item. “Um, anything else?”

Twilight took a step closer. She looked at the list, then at Vi, then back at the list.

“Fluttershy says we can’t do one, and I mostly agree. No-one wants two. What about three? What happens if we decide that we do want to do this the official way?”

“I won’t go to the mayor unless you drag me there. And, um, Fluttershy promised me that she wouldn’t do that. But anything else is fine, you can tell me to get out and you’ll never have to deal with me again.”

“Okay,” Twilight said, and something about her voice had changed, “listen. I’m actually not opposed to the idea of taking in a student. Or just an inmate. I wouldn’t have wanted somepony so young, but you’re obviously not like a normal filly. What I don’t like is how you’re going about it. It feels like you’re trying to trick me into doing this.”

“That’s not fair!” Fluttershy held against her, before Vi could say anything. “She hasn’t done anything! I found her, I brought her to the cottage, I brought her here, and the only thing she says she doesn’t want is to meet the mayor.”

“Hm. I guess you’re right.” Twilight frowned, seemingly unsure what to say next. “Still. Vi, do you actually-”

“I would like to live here if I could. A lot. I would be very grateful. But I... I didn’t intend to pressure you into doing anything.”

“I see.”

“I could be your number two assistant,” Vi offered. “I could do ordinary tasks, or I might help you with research. I’ve also been studying maths, I don’t know how it compares to you, but-”

“Really.”

Everyone turned around, looking at Spike.

“What?” Vi asked.

“You think you’re... Twilight, why don’t you test her? Ask her a maths question and see if she knows the answer.”

“Spike!” Twilight gave the dragon a stern glare. “Why are you being hostile? Vi hasn’t done anything to you.”

“She said she could do it!” Spike protested. “Let’s see if she’s right!”

“She said she doesn’t know how it compares to me.”

“Then ask her something... something basic! Basic for higher level stuff!”

“I agree with him,” Vi said with a nod. “Test me.”

“Fine.” Twilight sighed. “... okay. Suppose... okay, take a two on two matrix, first row one two, second row x three. What does x have to be so the matrix is not invertible?”

“Not invertible,” Vi repeated. “Well... one point five.”

“And if x is one, what’s the determinant?”

“... one.”

“That’s correct. Sorry, Spike. She clearly know some maths.”

“Bah.”

“But you still can’t be my number two assistant.”

“Um. Okay.”

“... because I already have a number two. My pet Owlowiscious.”

“Oh. Well, I can be number three.”

“I don’t think she’s trying to take your place, Spike,” Fluttershy said softly.

Spike murmured something unintelligible.

“I could also be Spike’s personal assistant, if that helps,” Vi offered. “I could be doing your tasks, Spike, and either not help Twilight, or only help her with research and stuff, so your position wouldn’t be affected at all, but It would still decrease the total amount of work to be done in the library.”

A pause.

“I like that idea,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “What do you think, Spike? Two assistants should be enough for me.”

“You... would you really be my assistant?”

“Of course,” Vi said immediately. “Your number one assistant... unless you already have...?”

Spike shook his head.

“Your number one assistant, then.” Vi saluted. “At your command, Spike, sir!”

“Do you think you could massage my back?”

“Spike!” Twilight protested, but Vi was already speeding over to fulfil her task. Lighting her horn, she applied pressure to different parts of the dragon’s backside, avoiding the scales but working around their sides.

“Less or more?”

“More, please.”

“Aye.” Vi added further magic to the stream, applying increased amounts of pressure at a similar interval. Spike closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the procedure.

Fluttershy giggled.

“Alright,” Twilight said after about half a minute, “Spike, I command you to command your number one assistant to step back.”

“Why?”

“Because I command it,” Twilight said sternly.

“You never gave me commands before!” Spike protested.

“But I do now.”

“Fine.” Spike stuck out his tongue towards Twilight. “You can stop,” he said to VI.

“Aye.” The stream stopped. Vi stepped back, retaking her old position next to Fluttershy.

“That was exhausting,” she murmured, too quiet for anyone but the pegasus to hear. “Does this mean... I can live with you?” she asked Twilight, while Fluttershy gave her a pat on the head.

“Well, I don’t know,” Twilight said, now back to sounding amused. “What do you think, Spike?”

“Welllllll...” Spike shrugged. “I guess it’s okay.”

“Fluttershy?”

“Oh, of course.”

“I guess I’m overruled, aren’t I?”

“Well, no. The library belongs to you,” Vi pointed out.

Twilight’s smile froze for a moment but returned momentarily.

“You can stay here, Vi. I think it’ll be fun. But you have to understand that there is no guarantee I won’t change my mind.”

“Of course.”

“And you have to promise me that if you think anypony is looking for you, you’ll tell me.”

“Anypony who doesn’t know I live here,” Vi corrected. “Otherwise, I would have to tell you every time Fluttershy is looking for me.”

Twilight shrugged. “Good enough.”

“Alright,” Vi said, “I promise.”