Chapter Two: Pyx is Worst OC

Storm clouds were beginning to gather as Twilight left the clearing, and by the time she made it back as far as Fluttershy's cottage the rain was falling steadily. There was a sudden crack of thunder, and an instant later the heavens erupted in a downpour.

Twilight galloped along the road as fast as she could, the filly riding on her back. She had tucked it underneath her mane to give it some shelter from the storm, but by now it had to be as soaked as she was.

She threw open the door to her tree library.

"SPIKE!!" she yelled.

The baby dragon was seated in his favorite easy chair in the corner, wrapped in a maroon dressing gown. The door hit the wall with a loud crack, startling him so badly that the bubble pipe he was smoking fell out of his mouth and clattered to the floor.

"Oh, hey Twilight," he said, recovering his nerves. "What happened? You get caught in the rain?"

She glared at him and rolled her eyes.

"No, Spike, I just figured that since it was such a nice afternoon, I'd go for a quick splash in the pond while I was out."

"Did you find your bookbag?" he asked, ignoring her sarcasm.

Twilight came to a dead halt.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake--"

She wheeled around and was halfway out the door again when Spike's voice called her to a halt.

"Twilight, stop! You can't go look for it now, it's raining cats and dogs out there! Besides, those books are probably ruined."

He bent down to pick up his bubble pipe off the floor.

"What happened, couldn't you find it out there?" he asked.

"No, Spike, I forgot to even look for it."

"You forgot? How could you forget? That was the whole reason you went out."

"Well, I got kind of distracted by--"

She started to turn her head towards the wet, shivering lump under her mane, but she stopped. She wasn't quite sure she wanted Spike to know about the filly just yet.

Spike's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Got distracted by what? You head on down to the 'Canterlot Royal Library' to do a little 'afternoon research?'" He cocked his head back and pantomimed drinking from a bottle.

Phew! thought Twilight. He doesn't think I'm a foal-napper; he just thinks I'm a lush. And I'm not; I can stop any time I want to.

"Can it, Spike, I'm not in the mood for a lecture," she said. "And anyway, I'm soaked, and I need a bath. Why don't you go make us some daffodil sandwiches or something?"

"Yes, Miss Daisy," muttered Spike as he tossed his half-finished pipe onto a nearby end table and trotted off toward the kitchen.

"And put your apron on!" Twilight shouted after him.

Upstairs, Twilight locked the door to the bathroom and drew a nice, hot bath for herself and the filly. The steam rising from the top of the water filled the room with a comfortable heat, a nice contrast from the storm that was now raging just outside the window.

Gently, she levitated the wet little lump from underneath her mane. The filly appeared to have fallen asleep at some point during the ride over here. Either that or it had died of hypothermia. A broken neck was also a possibility, as it had fallen off of her back at least nine times on the road. Twilight levitated it a bit closer and examined it. Neck intact; still breathing. Good, it was just sleeping.

Still holding it in the faint pinkish glow of her horn aura, she examined the filly a little more closely.

"You really do look an awful lot like Nightmare Moon," she said to herself, lifting up one of the filly's eyelids slightly for a closer look at those weird reptilian eyes. "Hmm, and that cult that abducted me were all dressed up like Nightmare Moon as well. I wonder if that spell they cast was to try and summon Nightmare Moon? It would certainly explain all of the Nightmare Moon costumes they were wearing, and all of that chanting about Nightmare Moon."

She let go of the filly's eyelid. It yawned slightly, and continued to sleep.

"It would be awfully bad for Equestria if Nightmare Moon came back," mused Twilight aloud, "But it certainly would explain why this weird Nightmare Moon-looking filly suddenly appeared in the place where the Nightmare Moon spell was cast by the Nightmare Moon cult. Still, I wonder what Celestia would say if I told her that I'd found a filly Nightmare Moon in the woods where a Nightmare Moon cult had been trying to summon Nightmare Moon? Would she be all like, 'oh, it's just a coincidence that this filly looks like Nightmare Moon'? Or would she be all like, 'Nightmare Moon! We can't have another Nightmare Moon running around Equestria being all Nightmare Moony, just Nightmare Mooning it up all over the place! She might even send her to the moon, like she did with the original Nightmare Moon, who may or may not be reincarnated as this filly who is suspiciously Nightmare Moonish in her appearance! Would I really want to be responsible for getting some innocent filly sent to the moon just because she resembles Nightmare Moon, even though she might not actually be Nightmare Moon?"

There came a knock at the door.

"Twilight?" Spike's voice called out. "You're saying Nightmare Moon an awful lot in there. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Spike!" said Twilight. "Hey, why don't you go and whip up some celery soup to go with those sandwiches? I could sure go for some right about now!"

There was a pause, followed by a heavy sigh. She could hear Spike muttering angrily under his breath as he tromped back down the stairs. Twilight heaved a sigh of relief.

She returned her attention to the filly, which appeared to be still asleep. No matter how hard she tried to put the thought of Nightmare Moon out of her mind, her thoughts continued drifting in a Nightmare Moonwardly direction. Sure, this filly had a lime-green mane with a racing stripe in it, and the stripe sure did make her look like she could go fast (faster than Nightmare Moon, even), but if you covered that up...well, she was a dead ringer for Nightmare Moon.

"I'd better keep you a secret from the Princess for now," said Twilight out loud again. "After all, we don't really know what you are, now do we? In the meantime, I'll do a little research and we'll see if we can't just figure out where you came from."

Speaking of 'research...'

Still holding the filly, Twilight opened the door to the bathroom cabinet. Sure enough, the bottle she'd planted as a decoy was gone. As she'd suspected, however, Spike hadn't thought to rummage any further back; the second bottle was still there. She pulled it out and uncorked it, and took a celebratory swig. Once again, she had outwitted her ~~slave~~ ~~pet~~ friend.

"Now then, filly," she said, "Let's have us a nice, hot bath, what do you say?"

The filly continued to slumber contentedly. Twilight frowned.

"Hey, wake up, filly!" she said. "It's bathtime now."

Silence.

She levitated it up and down a few times to try and shake it awake. No response. She cast a furtive glance to either side to make sure nopony was watching.

"Whoops!"

Her horn aura suddenly evaporated, and the filly fell onto the bathmat with a soft plop. This seemed to do the trick: she yawned, shook her head, and looked up at Twilight with those Nightmare Mooninite eyes.

"Pyx?" she asked.

"Pyx," agreed Twilight.

Then, she levitated the filly once again, holding it out over the bathwater.

"Pyx!!" cried the filly in alarm. She looked down at the bathwater and then back at Twilight. She began to struggle.

"Now now," said Twilight, struggling to hold on to the squirming filly, "Don't you want to get nice and clean? You were out in the woods all night, and you're all covered with mud, and brambles, and--"

"PYX!!"

As Twilight lowered her into the water, the filly suddenly cried out in panic. There was a bright flash as her horn ignited.

"Hey, wait a minute--"

Suddenly, Twilight found that her aura had been dissipated and there was nothing in the space where the filly had been. Her eyes darted around the room in confusion for a moment. Then there was a second flash, and the filly reappeared on top of the sink.

"Teleportation?!?" exclaimed Twilight. "Now how in Equestria did you manage something like that? I had to study for years to master that spell..."

She took a step towards the filly again, but the filly was on guard. There was another flash, and she was gone. Twilight whirled around to find her seated atop the lid of the toilet.

"Pyx!" she said accusingly.

Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself down. She decided it would be a good idea not to make any more sudden movements.

"Now now, filly," she said, in the most soothing voice she could muster. "There's nothing to be scared of! I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just trying to give you a bath."

"Pyx?"

The filly cocked her head to one side, still looking rather suspiciously at Twilight.

Twilight smiled patronizingly. She moved over to the bathtub and splashed her front hooves gently in the water.

"See?" she said, "Nothing to be afraid of. It's just bathwater. Now let's just hold still, and we'll go to the tub, and we'll both get nice and clean!"

Twilight flashed a big, toothy grin. The filly raised an eyebrow, seemed to consider the situation for a moment, and then smiled and gave a quick nod.

"Pyx!" she said.

"Great!" said Twilight, taking a step forward. Her horn flared up, and she once again enveloped the filly in her aura. The filly began to levitate upward, moving slowly toward the bath--

Then there was a bright flash, and suddenly Twilight lost all sense of space and coordination. She had an uncomfortable sense that she was floating in midair. She flailed her limbs about in a panic, trying to find terra firma, as her eyes darted frantically about the room, looking for something with which she could orient herself.

She realized that she was hovering above the bath about a fraction of a second before gravity caught up with her, and then suddenly she was underwater. She splashed around helplessly, until finally she was able to find the edge of the tub with her forelegs and pull herself up over the rim. Spitting out bathwater, she spied the filly sitting on its haunches in front of the door. As soon as she saw that Twilight was looking, she flashed her a triumphant grin.

"Pyx!" she said. Her horn began to glow again; the aura was the same bright green as her mane. Twilight heard the tumbler turning in the lock, and then the bathroom door swung open.

The filly raised her hoof in a kind of salute, and then she turned and darted out the door.

"HEY!!" cried Twilight, and once again began splashing around in the tub, struggling to pull herself out. After several seconds of this, she remembered to her embarrassment that she knew how to teleport as well.

Her horn flashed, and she disappeared and re-materialized on the bathmat, dripping wet. There was a clunk to her left, and to her extreme annoyance she realized she had miscalculated her landing. Her bottle of secret bathroom wine was now lying on its side, spilling its precious contents out onto the floor.

"Okay, that's it!" she cried. "You get back here right now, you little--"

She took off at a gallop.

Downstairs, Spike was standing on a footstool in front of the stove, sullenly stirring a pot full of celery soup. He was once again clad in the pink frilly apron, as well as a white chef's hat that he wore because...because... Hey, wait a minute; why was he wearing the chef's hat? He took it off and tossed it angrily to the side.

"Put on your apron, Spike," he muttered, still stirring the soup. "Bring me a mimosa, Spike! Stop ogling my friends, Spike! Make me a sandwich, Spike! How about some soup, Spike? Where has that claw been, Spike?!?"

Owlowicious, Twilight's pet owl, was perched on the counter nearby, watching him. He cocked his head inquisitively to the side.

"WHO?" he inquired.

Spike turned his head, as if he'd forgotten the owl was there. He sighed.

"Huh?" he asked. "Oh, just Twilight. Sometimes, she just--sometimes I just wanna--sometimes I just wanna burn this tree to the--"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from somewhere outside the kitchen.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU!!" Twilight sounded angry. There was a scurry of hooves on the floor just outside, and then suddenly the kitchen door burst open.

A young foal with a lime green mane and a really boss-looking racing stripe came barreling into the room.

"PYYYYYYYYYX!!!" it screamed.

It darted under Spike's footstool, knocking against one of the legs and throwing him off balance.

"WHOA..." cried Spike, struggling to right himself. The stool was teetering dangerously to one side, but he wouldn't fall, so long as he just...

"GET BACK HERE!!!"

Before Spike could even blink, Twilight burst into the room, puffs of steam spouting from her nostrils.

"Twilight, help--"

But it was as if she didn't even see Spike. She scanned the room, and her eyes narrowed when she spotted what she was looking for, crouching against the shelf at the end of the room.

"Twilight, I can't hold on, I'm about to fall--"

Ignoring him, Twilight snorted again and pawed at the ground with her hoof.

"Looks like you're cornered," she said. "End of the line for you, missy. Now for the last time, let's say we turn around, you get your little rump upstairs, and you can take your ba--"

The filly stuck out her tongue.

"Pyx!" she said defiantly.

That was the final straw. Twilight charged, passing within a hair's breadth of Spike, who was still trying desperately to maintain balance on top of the teetering footstool. In the last instant before she would have caught her, the filly teleported again.

Twilight tried to stop herself, but she was moving too fast. She careened headlong into a tall shelf laden with pots and pans and jars of spices and herbs. The shelf wobbled back and forth for a few perfunctory seconds, and then fell on top of her with a loud crash.

"WHOA!!!!" cried Spike, as the vibrations caused the stool to shift in the other direction, and tilt dangerously towards the bubbling pot of soup.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash.

"WAAHH!! WHAT THE HELL?!?" Spike cried out in alarm as a filly suddenly appeared in the air, just inches from his face.

The filly had about an eighth of a second to enjoy her moment of triumph. Then, she came to the realization that she had miscalculated her landing point: she had re-materialized directly over a boiling pot of celery soup.

"PYYYYYYX!!!" she screamed, trying to teleport again, but it was too late. She fell into the pot with a splash.

"PYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYX!!!"

The filly blasted out of the pot like a rocket, and a green blur with a black and white racing stripe whizzed past Spike and sent him teetering in the other direction. The pot, meanwhile, had been knocked off the stove, and it fell to the floor with a crash, spilling its contents all over the place.

The rolling pot grazed the leg of Spike's footstool. The small amount of force was enough to once again send it tilting back in the other direction.

"WAAAAAH!!" Spike finally lost his balance, and went tumbling head over heels in a somersault, crashing into a cupboard on the opposite side of the room. A flurry of pots and pans overhead came loose from their hooks, and went crashing down all around him.

Meanwhile, the green blur rocketed about the room, screaming atonally and dislodging any remaining pots and pans. Eventually, it found the door and went racing back up the stairs. They both heard the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut and latching.

Spike sat up slowly, trying to shake the ringing out of his ears. A saucepan that he had somehow wound up wearing as a hat slid to one side and hit the ground with a clatter.

"What the--what was that?!?" he demanded.

Something was scuffling around underneath the overturned shelf. The shelf was engulfed in a purple aura, and then it suddenly righted itself. Twilight Sparkle, her damp coat now powdered with eleven original herbs and spices, sat up and grunted.

Owlowiscious swooped down and alighted on top of her horn.

"WHO?" he demanded.