Run Filly Runby InkquillyChaptersCider at a PartyRunaway SparkleGenerosity for some CiderA Sparkle of LaughterPaying it BackSpark of PanicPlans AwryShining Light in the ForestSparkles of LoveHatchling SittingRunaroundCider at a PartyAfter a small trampling under small hooves and a clear misunderstanding, Shining Armor found himself escorting a group of fillies out of the dangerous Everfree and back toward Ponyville. On his back was Spike, who was incredibly happy to see him. “I can’t believe he ended up here! You’re sure a filly named Twilight didn’t come by?” Shining Armor said, nuzzling the hatchling who grabbed his horn as he giggled. Applejack nodded her head. “Eeyup. Just Spike n’ Sparklin’ Cider ‘ere.” She said, nodding her head toward Twilight who was still sniffling a little and was still a blue color. Fluttershy had shown some support in walking beside her and pressing into her side. “Oh mare how did you find him?” Shining Armor asked the blue filly, who snapped to attention and turned yellow, startled. Twilight looked down at the dirt path they walked as she tried to come up with an answer. “I-I was lost too when I found him in the everfree.” Twilight muttered out. Shining looked worried at this answer, and hummed to himself about what it implied. Meanwhile Spike hung from the stallion’s horn laughing with glee. “Darlings!” Everyone snapped to attention at the sound of Rarity’s voice coming to meet them. The white unicorn filly panted as she came to a stop before swiftly pulling out a bottle of water from somewhere. After a pant of relief she spoke. “I had heard from Big Mac that Sparkling Cider had disappeared again and that everypony was headed toward the everfree for her!” She took a moment to take a breath. She then zipped over to Twilight who was beginning to fade to her natural colors after calming down only to shoot a bright yellow from the filly suddenly invading her space. “My goodness darling are you okay? You have sticks caught in your mane and- is this dirt?!” Rarity’s voice cried dramatically as she pulled back her hoof to observe the dirt now on it. Twilight’s confusion was represented by the color orange. Which Applejack noted she liked the color of on the filly. “Honestly I think there’s something more important than ALL of this! Asidefromyoursisterbeingmissingofcoursebut, I get to throw you AND Carl’s Welcome To Ponyville party!” Pinkie Pie borderline shouted, filled with anticipation. She quickly grabbed Twilight’s hoof and snatched Spike from Shining’s magic with a swiftness as she carried them off. “C’mon! We’ve gotta hurry and set this party up!” The group watched as Twilight and Spike were carried off to Sugarcube Corner by Pinkie at an incredible speed. “Yeesh, someone should feed that filly less sugar.” Shining commented passively. Cadance brushed off her hooves as she put a pie in the oven. “Thank ya’ kindly fer’ all yer’ help Carl, Ah’ know Applejack an’ Sparklin’ will be hungry once they git’ back here!” There was a swift set of knocks at the door. That alarmed the two ponies for a moment before they settled down and decided to answer it. However there was no one there but a flyer. Cadance picked it up for the old green mare, but she quickly noticed the mouth writing. “Oh! Guess we’ll have ta’ put this away fer’ later then! Pinkie’s aboutta have a party!” Granny Smith said jovially, rushing back into the kitchen to clean up and then store away the apple pies for later. Meanwhile Cadance just stood there looking at the letters on the card. The writing was a bit messy, but it was a familiar kind of mouth writing nonetheless. “Twily…” the mustached princess muttered to herself. “Ah’ tell ya, that filly can be a little much at times but she knows how ta’ throw a good party Carl! Now c’mon, let’s get Big Mac and head on over to the library.” Granny said, walking out of the kitchen. Cadance nodded and kept the invitation with her. “-and then there was the time she threw that anniversary party for the first time I knocked my own tooth out, and she even made a party for something like THAT awesome! So yeah, safe to say, Pinkie knows how to party.” Rainbow Dash said confidently, crossing her forelegs as she floated in front of Shining Armor as they walked. “Man, I wish I knew about her before! She would’ve been great for helping Twily to make new friends!” Shining Armor replied, outstanded by just how much expertise a filly had already for celebrations. “Well look on the bright side darling, I’m sure your sister will never want to be alone again after you find her.” “Well I hope so! Because I’m not taking my eyes off her for a LOOOOONG time when I find her.” Shining Armor said as they crossed town and got closer to the library. His attention was dragged to another pink pony, though this one was taller and was currently under the clever disguise of Carl. His face lit up and he ran over to Cadance giving her a hug. Cadance brought Shining Armor aside, allowing the fillies to meet up with Big Mac and Granny Smith who had Apple Bloom in a foal carrier. Meanwhile, Shining was given the flyer with Twilight’s mouthwriting. ”Then why did she leave Spike?” He questioned absently. ”She what?” Cadance interjected in concern. ”Oh yeah, some filly found him in the woods.” ”I feel like we should focus on that a bit.” ”Hey, you guys coming? Library’s just over here!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering over the two ponies. A loud welcome later, and Twilight found herself paranoid and pale yellow. She carefully watched Shining Armor as he enjoyed some snacks and talked with the locals of Ponyville, and his new companion, a very familiar looking “Carl”, played some games Pinkie made. Of course she was also checking in on Spike who was happily playing with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom while Granny and a few other ponies watched over them. There was also a fourth, orange filly playing with them. ”H-Hi Sparkling” Twilight’s ears stood on point as she turned to look behind her. She almost didn’t hear Fluttershy say anything. The butter yellow filly shrunk back a little before she scrounged up the few scraps of confidence available. “I-I-I just wanted t-to check up on you, i-if it’s okay of course.” She said, hoofing at the wooden floors. Twilight just nodded and sat back down. ”I-I’m fine, just a little shaken by what happened.” Technically it wasn't a lie. She was still jumpy from the manticore attack. She then flickered and was mushed against the wall behind her. She was also still blinking, just not as often. Fluttershy was a bit startled and rushed to help her up. ”Oh dear! I almost forgot to mention that you may have a magic leak! You should avoid using any spells for the time being.” She smiled with concern. Twilight of course already knew but couldn’t help but smile back at her kindness. ”Thanks, I’ll try my best. I just hope the flickering doesn’t count.” Fluttershy seemed to contemplate something as Twilight spoke. ”I-I-If you want, y-you and Spike can come by my cottage to relax! I take care of some smaller animals right now, and they’re just the cuddliest little things and I think it you two would enjoy just spending the day around some cute critters!” Fluttershy managed to get out at a barely normal volume. Twilight had to lean in to hear but, over all it sounded really nice! Maybe if she asked she could spend the night! ”Darlings! There you are, Pinkie has been looking for you to try this game with us all!” Rarity said, getting behind Twilight and Fluttershy and started pushing them over to a group of fillies all over a white mat with multicolored spots. ”Oh, that’s okay Rarity! You can tell her we didn’t-” ”Nonesense! After you all had to be in the ghastly everfree, you should do everything you can to unwind! Though I’d prefer to do it using a good spa, games can work too!” Rarity insisted as they reached. Twilight and Fluttershy just glanced at each other and sighed. ”All right everypony, I call this twister!” The party went on until midnight. If there was something Pinkie knew how to do, it was how to start, continue, and end a party. Though Twilight had taken Spike with her as Fluttershy had left since they left early. She had taken the offer to come by and had imposed the question of spending the night on the way, and thankfully the Pegasus said yes! But now she just woke up on the belly of a bear that was lovingly cuddling her. She took in a deep breath and let it out carefully. There was no reason to panic. Fluttershy said the animals were friendly, and she trusted her. Plus, she survived a manticore! Thanks to the help of Shining and her own haywire magic but still. She looked around, hoping to see Fluttershy so she could get some help, but just found the adorable sight of Spike being cuddled by a fluffle of rabbits in the little bed Fluttershy made for him. Man she wished she could afford a camera. Twilight silently laid atop the bear, just waiting for Fluttershy to come down to help her. It was an anxiety filled hour. Now Twilight had found herself walking herself down to Sweet Apple Acres, intent on helping out for the day WITHOUT an incident! She flickered into the air about three feet and face planted back down. At least with as little incident as she could. She had decided to entrust Spike to Fluttershy for the day through a combined fear of Twilight’s on random blinking and Fluttershy weakly pleading to take care of him. Twilight didn’t know much about the Pegasus, but from what she had seen of how content the animals were with Fluttershy, Spike should be in good hands. By the time she reached the farmland she had realized her coat had settled down to her natural colors, though they turned a vibrant yellow with her surprise before she calmed herself. She spotted Big Mac already on the fields tending to them and walked up against the fence. ”Hi Big Mac!” She said climbing under the fence. ”Mornin’ Sparklin’ .” He nodded to her, giving her a little pat on the head. ”Here ta’ help?” ”Mhm.” ”Not gonna disappear again?” ”Uh-uh.” ”Alrighty, Applejack’s workin’ the north orchard.” ”Thank you!” Twilight said, turning orange. ”Oh, one more thing. We’re all gonna see Shinin’ an’ Carl off later this afternoon if ya’ wanna come.” Big Mac witnessed Twilight turn white and freeze up, and then rigidly nod while continuing on her way to where Applejack was. ”Ah’m startin’ ta’ think she has a problem sayin’ no.” Author's Note Feel free to leave a comment! Runaway SparkleThe filly’s hooves trudged through the underbrush, her magic being used to pry away any plants that sought to stay in her path. Twilight had been walking in circles all night with the baby dragon on her back. She could tell because she had arrived at the balloon they had made their escape in multiple times. She was tired, and was starting to get hungry. She knew she was lucky Spike had been sleeping so long, she only had two bottles for him left after they crashed. ”There’s gotta be somepony out here…” She muttered to herself. She readjusted her broken reading glasses on her snout, still couldn’t believe that the case for the was one of the things she forgot. As Twilight felt the foliage thin out in the direction she was walking, hope began to fill her heart. Finally! She wasn’t gonna end up where she crashed again! She picked up her pace into a trot, careful not to jostle Spike too much as she found herself walking out to a fence. She peeked through the gaps. ”It’s a farm!” She said joyfully. She looked around, it was sometime around midnight, so no one should be up. She steeled herself, putting on a serious face. Then immediately had to readjust her glasses. Not that they served a purpose really. She carefully levitated Spike over the fence as she slipped through it and landed the dragon on her back. She then enacted what was, in her head at least, super tactical and stealthily movements, but really just consisted of her quickly skittering behind objects she thought would be big enough to hide both her and spike. However her objective was clear. The barn. The nights were getting chilly and if there was a barn then there was hay that they could huddle up in and snack on. Twilight stuck her head around the corner, no one was there so she made a quick skitter into the barn and let out a sigh of relief. Good, that was one thing secured: shelter for the night. Now she just needed some- CLANG Oh dang. ”Who puts a rake next to a bucket like that?!” Twilight whisper yelled as she felt Spike start to stir from the loud noise. ”Now what was that?” Twilight, put her hooves over her mouth and was quick to jump right into one of the piles of hay. Spike was beginning to fuss, and she did her best to shush him as a voice began to grow near. She was able to start hearing the owner’s hooves touching the ground when she remembered she had a bottle for Spike and quickly stuck it into his mouth. It was quiet outside the haystack. Granny Smith looked over the barn with tired eyes, having been awoken by a sudden racket. She looked to find that it was a fallen rake that had struck a bucket. She snorted with minor annoyance. ”Thought I been tellin’ them yougins’ to put away the tools properly!” She grumbled as she walked over to put up the rake and bucket properly when her hoof brushed against something. A little pair of broken glasses. Twilight felt her blood run cold when the old mare picked up her reading glasses. She touched her face with a hoof. “I didn't even realize they were gone!” She thought in a panic. She prayed to Celestia, and also hoped that she didn’t hear it because then she would find her, that the green pony wouldn’t find her. She quickly closed up the small hole she made to see and sat as still as possible. There was a long stretch of silence before she heard the sound of the mare leaving and closing the barn door behind her. She gave things a few more minutes before letting out a sigh of relief. She shifted around and put down Spike, holding the bottle with her magic until he was finished. In the meantime, she retrieved one of two books she had in her saddlebag. Her diary. Day 1 I ruined everything It was a beautiful evening in canterlot. Yet Twilight was still in school hunched over a book with a daisy sandwich on a plate off to the side. Spike was playing with some toys a few feet behind her. She was eager to keep growing, to keep learning and she was grateful for access to the school’s library. She had seen a teacher in one of the older classes use a transfiguration spell, changing a rock into an orange. Being young and eager the filly sought to replicate this spell for herself. ”This stuff looks a bit hard…but it can’t be that bad, right?” Twilight said, looking behind herself to Spike, who just looked back at her and giggled. ”Yeah, you’re right Spike. I can do this!” It was supposed to be a simple change. A daisy sandwich into a grilled cheese. But what she got was a molten glob of dairy that melted and corroded everything it touched as it grew out of control. In a panic she had grabbed Spike and her saddlebags and ran to escape the ensuing destruction. Other colts and fillies screamed in terror behind her, and a few times she even heard those cries cut short. The panic in her brain only increased, and she ran faster. The building was crumbling around her as she escaped through a back door, and even after that she kept running. She killed ponies. She killed other ponies. She was a murderer, a criminal! She didn’t want to go to jail. She didn’t want to be banished, or even executed! She looked back as she saw the blob begin to melt into the streets, her eyes widening in horror as tears began to gather in her eyes. She didn’t mean to she didn’t mean to shedidn’tmeantoshedidn’tmeanto! She ran into the twinkling balloon with a thud. She wiped tears from her eyes. Twilight made a realization. She was quick to put Spike and herself into the balloon. She’d only been in it for school trips but she could figure out how to navigate it fully as she went. As the balloon rose into the air Twilight had a full view of the carnage she had caused. The school was covered in a golden yellow slime that was beginning to darken and cool as it reached the streets, guards and other emergency services were beginning to arrive on the scene. She could barely make out ponies running to their parents and some that approached the mess looking for their child. She put her hooves over her mouth and slid down into the balloon’s basket. She felt Spike nuzzle into her side and look up at her. ”Oh Spike…I’m so sorry.” She murmured into him as she pulled him close for a hug. She had just ruined everything for them. Twilight watched the sun set as they continued their journey in the air. Spike babbled idly and rolled on the floor of the basket. The lavender filly pulled out the map that was kept in the balloon along with the compass and tried to make sense of where they were going. “If I’m reading this thing right, we’re headed toward…Dodge? M-Maybe we’ll be safe tHERE-“ The balloon jerked wildly as a mighty gust swung the balloon around. Spike cried out as he was thrown to one side of the basket. ”Spike!” Twilight enveloped her saddlebag in magic as she slid herself to Spike and wrapped her moves around him. She fastened the bag to her barrel and held Spike tightly, praying for the best. Applejack was a smidge tired when she woke. Last night there was a racket which had startled her and Big Mac awake for about an hour. But at least waking up to some pancakes made it better. Now she got to start on farm work! As she moved on to go to the front door, she found something strange. A broken pair of glasses fit for a filly like herself, well they would be if the bridge wasn’t a bit cooked. Either way, she decided to take them with her as she walked out to head to the barn. ”Twiligh’ Sparkle…must be the brand!” She said as she inspected the spectacles. She put them on her snout, looking around at the barn through them. She walked over to get her plow when she noticed something. A purple hoof sticking out of a haystack. She stared at it for a moment, confused. Now who could that be? She walked herself over to the haystack, readjusting the glasses on her snout and began to pull at the hoof with her mouth. With a few tugs, Applejack got her prize, a purple filly like herself staring at her dazedly. Those dazed purple eyes blinked in confusion before focusing and shrinking in surprise. Applejack however instantly knew something was wrong with herself. She had a crush now. Twilight sat staring at the orange filly that was wearing her broken glasses in shock. She was starting to panic as she had just been found out, she needed to grab Spike and run, but she was being stared down! Applejack’s cheeks flushed a slight bit red as she began to stutter. ”u-Uh, h-hi!” Twilight instantly zipped back into the haystack and in a fluid leap grabbed Spike and her saddle bags and exited on the other side. Where there was a wall. ”Hey wait!” Twilight didn’t listen and tried to go around the haystack, only for Applejack to cut her off. She tried the other side for only the same outcome, so Twilight employed the simple tactic of juking her by faking going back around the other side of the haystack. She bolted and zipped out of the barn with Spike on her back, curiously looking around at the sudden action. Applejack took a moment before realizing what had happened and chased after her. “Hang on! Git’ back here!” She called after Twilight. However she ignored the calls as she ran through the field, weaving around an older looking red colt who just stared confused as Twilight made a run for the gates. Applejack ran past a dumbfounded Big Mac and just yelled, “She was in our barn!” “Oh.” He said quietly before he ran off after Twilight as well. Twilight could feel her lungs burning. This was the fastest and the most she’d ever run in her life, and she hoped she wouldn’t ever have to run for her life again. If they caught her, then they would throw her in jail. Then they would call Canterlot! THEN THEY WOULD GET CELESTIA! This was enough of a kick to make Twilight keep running a little faster. She saw that she was reaching the town this farm was connected to and kept running right into the streets. She narrowly dodged other ponies, causing a commotion as her two pursuers had to do the same. “Leave me alone! I’m sorry!” Twilight shouted back at them. She got an idea and sharply turned a corner, whipping herself around the edge and swiftly entered the door of the building, closing it behind her. Spike began clapping and giggling, making Twilight quickly turn to use a hoof to silence him. “Um, hello there darling. Can I help you?” Twilight’s face blanked as she looked over at the white unicorn at a small desk by a playpen scratching onto some paper. Inside a baby unicorn babbled happily. “…not telling on me would help.” Generosity for some CiderShining Armor’s eyes stared soullessly into the ceiling of her sister’s room. It was decorated with constellations of all kinds. Just the way Twilight liked it. The young stallion was laying on the floor of his sister’s room in despair, holding the only thing of hers that she left behind before she disappeared the day before. Smarty Pants. When he first heard the news he was enraged with whoever could’ve caused this catastrophe. It was quickly replaced with fear once he overheard that the mess seemed to come from the right side of the school, and he knew the library was on that side of the school from the few times he had to go and get his sister himself. His feelings properly took the downfall into despair when no evidence of Twilight was found in the cheesey monsoon of hurt and burned ponies. He had a glimmer of hope for a while thinking she had escaped, but he returned home and she wasn’t there. Now there was a search going and she still hadn’t been found yet. One piece of evidence was found in the fact that the twinkling balloon had gone missing. “Twily…please come home…” “My word! You have no home?! Actually, looking at you, that makes sense…” Rarity said, taking a sip of her tea as she looked at her guest. Twilight was not looking her best. Her coat was messy with hay and dirt, and was frazzled, her mane was slightly tangled and her face was a mess. At least her beard was still growing in alright. “Y-Yeah…thanks for the tea by the way.” Twilight said, taking a sup from the cup she’d been given. She glanced at Spike who was playing with Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle, inside a playpen. They were working together to build a tower from the blocks. “Think nothing of it darling, you’ve already said that 5 times anyway.” “T-That’s because I really mean it, a-and I’d repay you if I could!” “I know darling. If you really want to repay me then I could always take the name of such a lovely guest!” Rarity said, leaning in closer as she set her cup down. Twilight’s mind began racing like an athlete. If she said her real name then any warrants out for her arrest would quickly be traced to her! Fake name! C’monc’monc’mon- “Y-Yeah! It’s Tw- uh- Sp-Sparkle- Sp-Sparkling uh-“ she quickly glanced around spying a bottle of cider from the cabinet Rarity left open. “Cider! Sp-Sparkling Cider. That’s my name!” Twilight said with a forced grin. Rarity thought about the name mumbling it to herself a few times as she glanced back at Twilight. “Sparkling Cider…a beautiful name for somepony with eyes like yours!” Rarity said happily, clapping her hooves together. “O-Oh! Thank you!” She said with a small blush as she took a sip from her tea. Rarity collected their tea cups and placed them in the sink, giving Twilight a moment to pick up the foal and hatchling along with their playpen in her magic. Rarity watched impressed as Twilight carried so many items at once. “Ah, you practice magic more extravagantly I see?” She said as they exited to the main area of the boutique. “Uh, y-yeah! I g-got my cutie mark for it so I kinda have to?” She shrugged. If she said she was a student that’d give her away. She looked around at the dresses in the area, pretty designs were all about, mostly in filly-size though. “Are you a fashion designer? Your work is really pretty!” Twilight complemented, putting the kids down to play. Rarity puffed her chest out looking prideful. “Thank you for noticing! Yes it is true, not only do I go to school and take care of my sister as a single filly, but I also design the most extravagant designs for ponies all across town!” Rarity said, posing dramatically. Twilight stroked her short beard. “What about your parents? Who takes care of Sweetie Belle while you're at school?” Rarity deflated a bit. “Eh…mother and father are quite busy so… they aren’t around much… but I entrust my sister’s safety to the grandmother of a friend of mine! Granny Smith, she has grandkids and doesn’t mind caring for Sweetie Belle while her other grandchildren are at school! In fact I was about to start preparing to drop Sweetie off before you arrived!” Rarity said to Twilight. She blushed, embarrassed that she could’ve made Rarity late. “S-Sorry, I-if we hurry over you won’t be late for school!” “It’s only about five thirty, we still have another half-hour. But I suppose it is best to do this early so I can have time to sketch out a few more designs before I’m off to school.” Rarity pondered “Sounds like a plan! C’mon Spike, up!” “Oh you’ll absolutely love her Sparkling, Mrs. Smith is just the most delightful pony you’ll meet! Sure she might be a little kooky but every time I’ve left Sweetie with her I’ve been told there was nothing but joy!” Rarity said with praise, however Twilight had begun to look antsy. The path they were taking to this “Granny Smith”’s place was the path she had just ran out of. ”Please don’t be the farm, please don’t be the farm, please don’t be the far-” Twilight looked up at the sign labeled Sweet Apple Acres. “Feathers!” ”My word! There’s children!” Twilight shook with fear as they walked up to the front door. Rarity knocked without hesitation, standing politely outside the door. It swung open to reveal Granny Smith, much to Twilight’s hidden dismay. The younger company babbled happily at the sight of a new pony, while the older mare took a while to register the faces before a smile lit up her features. “Why hello there little miss Rarity! Here to drop off yer’ sister? A bit earleh but Ah’ don’t mind none and neither does Apple Bloom!” Granny said as she welcomed them inside. Twilight rigidly stepped inside after Rarity. Either those two from earlier didn’t come back to tell her, or she was just old and didn’t remember. “Ah’ got Applejack an’ Big Mac runnin’ an errand for me real fast but they’ll be back to meetcha at school hon’. Now tell me who’s yer’ friend here!” Granny questioned as she turned to Twilight, who was trying to hide behind a couch. “She’s a strange filly I can tell that much.” “Ah, that would be Sparkling Cider, I’ve just met her today! I promise you she’ll be nothing but a gem, and I know my way around a crystal!” Rarity spoke confidently. Twilight honestly was surprised. She didn’t have many people her age that would speak well of her traits, even though what Rarity knew was vague, so it created an interesting bit of emotion in her. She then saw Rarity lean over to Granny Smith to whisper something to her as Twilight came from behind the couch to sit with the three babies. ”Unfortunately Mrs. Smith, Cider is currently…without housing.” Rarity told the old pony in a hushed volume. Granny Smith’s eyes widened in shock as they briefly looked over to Twilight, now registering how dirty and scruffy she was. Twilight just blinked, confused on why the old mare was staring at her now. “Ah’ understand, Ah’m fine with lettin’ yer’ friend stay over for a bit. Could use the help if there’s gonna be three youngin’s here!” Granny Smith said, patting Rarity on the head. Rarity was quick to brush out her mane after the touch. Rarity bid them a quick farewell and trotted off home, to gather herself. Granny Smith closed the door behind the young unicorn. Twilight sighed to herself quietly. So far, things have gone well! Now she just needed to get out of here before that colt and filly came back. “Twi-” ”HI GRANNY WE’RE WITH THA’ CHEESE! BYE WE’RE OFF TO SCHOOL NOW!” Twilight was caught off guard by the whirlwind of motion that went through the front door, up the stairs and back out again. Well she didn’t have to worry about them for a while. Granny Smith walked over to where Twilight sat, currently picking up Apple Bloom from having fallen on her face. “Twiligh’ Sparkle, that’s yer’ real name right?” The old pony said, making Twilight go stiff as a tree. She turned to look at Granny Smith while shaking. "N-Nuh-uh.” She rebuked unconvincingly. Granny giggled. “So these glasses ain’t yours honey?” Granny Smith questioned, pulling out her glasses and showing the engraving. Twilight paled. She thought that orange filly still had them. “Um, th-they’re mine.” “An’ muh’ eyes ain’t what they used ta’ be but Ah’m sure this here read’s “Twiligh’ Sparkle”. What’s gotcha' down on ya’ luck sugarcube? Heard you don’t gotta’ place to stay.” The elderly mare said, putting a hoof on Twilight’s back. ”I-I-I, uh…” Twilight hesitated to form an answer, just watching the infants play for a moment before she put together what she could say without putting herself and Spike in danger of capture. She sniffled, jeez, shouldn’t have slept with a foot out of the haystack last night. Hope she doesn’t have a cold. ”W-We can’t go home…” Twilight mumbled, rubbing her foreleg with the other. Unbeknownst to Twilight, she had made it seem as though she were about to cry, prompting Granny Smith to pull her close and gently rub her back. “No need ta’ fret missy, you can come by mah’ farm anytime ya’ need, ya hear? Now let’s get these kids fed!” Granny said, giving her a gentle stroke on the head before she hopped up and made her way to the kitchen. Twilight looked back at the three playing slightly confused. Well, maybe now she didn’t have to sneak into the barn. Twilight stared at the infants rolling a ball between the three of them. Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, and Spike all giggled happily. Man it feels like there’s a filly missing from the picture here. Twilight multitasked between feeding Spike and eating herself as Granny Smith regaled her with interesting stories while she fed Sweetie and Apple Bloom. Finding out she was speaking to a pony who was part of the town’s foundation was incredibly interesting to her, almost as interesting as reading about Star Swirl! She had to look more into the history of this town, who knows what other interesting magical phenomena like the zap apples could be in this place! Twilight finished her simple meal of an apple-jelly sandwich, she wasn’t aware you could turn apples into jelly but hey, she was learning new things. The empty plates were taken into her aura and were lifted to the sink by Twilight. She was quick to trot over and begin on the dishes. “You don’t gotta go an’ do that now dear!” Granny said as she put Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom down. “It’s fine! It’s the least I can do for your hospitality!” Twilight replied as she continued. She had to think about how kind Granny Smith was to her, as well as Rarity. She was honestly almost excited to see her again the next day, but she might not be in town still afterward. Thanks to Granny’s story she figured that Ponyville wasn’t too far from Canterlot. This could be the next place they look! She and Spike would have to get moving to another town. “Thank you for gathering on such short notice my ponies. Please do not mind my appearance.” Princess Celestia said, looking…rough from the news of her most recent, and surprisingly closest, personal student’s current status as missing. Though in Celestia’s mind she was overreaching to thinking she could be dead. “I would like to make the first point for the search to be innn…..” Her hoof hovered over Ponyville. Then moved all the way to Manehatten. “Here.” But…she didn’t wanna leave Granny Smith and Rarity! Rarity was basically her first friend that wasn’t her brother! Now she’ll never see him again. Granny Smith was such a kind pony, and Spike liked Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle already! But they HAD to leave! Twilight’s hair began to twang out of place as she stressed over the decision whether she and Spike would leave today or not before Granny came in to check on her as she finished the last plate. “Th’ spare bath is upstairs. Get yer’ self washed up while Ah’ get these yougin’s cleaned. “Oh! Thank you again Mrs. Smith!” Twilight responded, snapping out of her thoughts. Twilight wasn’t sure how long she sat in that tub. But man those bubbles felt great. It also helped her decide. The princess was a smart pony, so she would definitely check Ponyville next. “Perhaps next I should send them to Cloudsdale…Twilight has always been interested in learning about pegasi, perhaps she tried to run there?” Definitely. But, they didn’t have to leave immediately. Maybe they could give it another day and it would be fine? Then they would leave. 100%. They wouldn’t get sidetracked. “Sparklin’! Little miss Rarity’s ‘ere to getcha and her sister!” Twilight quickly came trotting down, but screeched to a halt when she reached the living room. Seeing Rarity, Granny Smith, the foal's and hatching, and Big Mac and Applejack. "It's you!" Applejack's face lit up as she pointed at Twilight. Author's Note feel free to leave a review! I love to know what cha' think even if I'm just doin' this for fun! A Sparkle of Laughter“So THAT’S why you ran into my boutique looking haggard!” Rarity said as Applejack explained her first encounter with Twilight. Twilight shifted nervously where she sat. “Yup! Ah’ wanted to invite her into mah house proper, b-but ah’ stuttered an’ scared ‘er off.” Applejack replied sheepishly, as Twilight just scratched her cheek. “Then I must ask darling, how did you end up in Applejack’s barn to begin with?” Rarity said, turning to Twilight, who was now taking Spike into her lap. The lavender filly stiffened up and looked away. “I-I don’t want to talk about it.” She mumbled as she squeezed Spike a little. “Well why not-” “Applejack, if she don’t wanna tell then we gotta respect that!” Granny Smith lightly admonished. Applejack gave a small “Yes Granny” and let the subject drop. Rarity stood, taking a small stretch. “Well I suppose me, Sweetie, and Cider should be going now, thank you again for having us!” Rarity said as she picked up Sweetie Belle in her magic. “Now hold on a second, why’s Sparklin’ Cider comin’ with you?” Applejack opposed, a little fast as well. “Well, I have a spare bedroom at home she can use for a bit!” “Well so do we!” Applejack argued. “Nope.” Only for Big Mac to quickly correct her. “Well we have a…couch?” She suggested, as Rarity just gave her a deadpan stare. “That’s hardly satisfactory.” The white unicorn replied in a flat tone. “Is too!” A minor bickering match had started between the two, meanwhile Twilight used the commotion, and a suddenly sleeping Granny Smith, to quietly back herself out the door with Spike. The hatching giggled and waved goodbye to the bickering ponies. Twilight felt safe enough to speed up into a quick trot once she was away from the door. “I think we’ve intruded enough Spike, why don’t we just check out town for now. Ya’ like the sound of that?” She said, glancing back at the dragon on her back. Spike gurgled, which Twilight just took as an agreement. “Alright then! Let’s see what’s around before the sun goes down!” The pair strolled around Ponyville, curiously taking in the buildings and giving small waves to people as the sun continued its arc across the sky. The town was a nice little place, mostly peaceful aside from the random bit of action that occurred at times from ponies just being ponies. But Twilight stopped dead in her tracks as she found something incredible. It was a large tree with a balcony and windows, partially a house. More importantly to Twilight though, was the sign above the door. “Golden Oak Library.” Library. Spike let out a little groan of exasperation and shoved his face into the back of Twilight’s neck as she began to bounce in place. “eeeEEEEEEE-” Shining Armor wasn’t the brightest knife in the crayon shed, but he was smart enough to put together a few things about Twilight’s situation. One, she probably caused the accident. Two, she ran out of fear and took Spike with her. Three, they could be anywhere in Equestria now, and were alone and terrified. He ran a hoof through his frazzled mane as he considered the possibilities of where Twilight and Spike could be, there was the chance they didn’t even have food or shelter. Even worse, there was gonna be rain scheduled tonight! “…I should go out there and look for her. She’s out there alone and scared and is gonna want someone she knows.” Shining said to no one in particular, more convincing himself of why he needs to go out and find her himself. But of course he was going to write a letter first. Wouldn’t want to cause another panic. Twilight wasn’t sure why it happened but she and Spike were far from alone. One second she spotted the library, and was about to look for the street name to memorize. Next she had confetti and balloons blasted at her and Spike and she was dragged off in a blur to a party! “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” A pink filly shouted in excitement as the rest of the ponies at the apparent party in a…bakery she believed, began to celebrate properly. She began to get her wits about her when the pink filly assaulted her with questions one after the other. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Where are you from? Who’s that one your back? OHMYGOSH is that a baby dragon?! Does he like cake? Do YOU like cake? Are you allergic to anything-“ Pinkie Pie ranted, still going on behind Twilight's hoof that was holding her mouth shut. “Uh, I-I’ll just answer those few. Ahem.” “Sparkling Cider, I don’t wanna talk about it, that’s Spike, yes, yes he can have a little cake, I like cake, and no I think.” Twilight responded calmly. Pinkie Pie raised her hoof to indicate a question. Twilight let her speak. “Can I touch your beard?” “No thank you.” “Aw man.” Twilight allowed Pinkie Pie to continue to chatter her and Spike’s ears off about various interesting topics about herself. Pinkie Pie was an interesting individual herself. She was hyperactive, bouncy, and is that a cannon? “-and this is my PARTY CAAANNOOOON!” The pink filly said in excitement before yanking the string on the back of the cannon, setting it off. Twilight and Spike were blasted with confetti and streamers, having a heap of the pieces of paper covering them. They stuck their heads out, with Twilight spitting out a piece of confetti. “Hehe! Sorry! Guess I put in a bit too much!” Pinkie said, brushing a piece off of Twilight’s snout. Twilight tried to keep a grin from forming on her face, as Spike laughed in joy as he played in the confetti. Eventually Twilight found herself laughing too, putting a smile on Pinkie's face. "If you like that, then how about some dancing!" She said, pulled Twilight by her hooves out of the confetti pile with Spike. Twilight found herself being swung around every which way by the pink filly in the form of a makeshift 'dance', but she and Spike were laughing in joy all the way. “Consarnit, now why’d she have ta’ run off like that!” Applejack complained as she and Big Mac looked around town for ‘Sparkling Cider’. Rarity had gone off in her own direction to look for their guest, with the agreement that whoever found and convinced her first could have her stay over. “Maybe y’all should’ve just asked Cider’ what she wanted.” Mac said, as she picked up a piece of confetti off the floor. “Huh. Forgot Pinkie had a party, we were s’posed to come after school.” The red colt said as he observed the piece of paper. Applejack had a lightbulb go off in realization. “That’s right! She was gonna throw a party fer Cider since she was new!” Applejack shouted as she ran off to Sugarcube Corner. Big Mac just sighed as he followed her. Meanwhile with Rarity, she was struggling with Sweetie wanting to go home. “C’mon Sweetie darling! Just a few more minutes of looking and we’ll go back home WITH a playmate!” Rarity said, trying to shush and reason with a baby. However, such attempts proved futile as Sweetie began to get more upset. She growled in frustration as she was forced to give up and return home. Applejack entered the bakery to see the party still going strong, and the “Welcome to Ponyville” sign overhead, all she needed to do now was find Twilight. She and Big Mac stumbled through the party searching for the lavender mare, all while coming across many other ponies they recognized and saying hello. Eventually they came across the organizer of this celebration, doing flips on a giant rubber ball. While juggling. It was honestly impressive and she almost forgot what she was looking for. “Hi Applejack! Glad you came after all!” Pinkie said as she continued her antics. “Hiya Pinkie, uh has a pony called Sparklin’ Cider been here yet?” She asked, looking around. “Hmmmm…” The pink filly halted mid-air, with her juggling balls doing so as well as she began thinking. “Yep! But I lost track of her, so she might still be around!” Pinkie said, instantly resuming her juggling flips. Applejack let out a breath of relief. This should be easy. Well it would’ve been if Twilight hadn’t left as the sun began setting. She was quick to make her way back to the library she saw before. “That party tuckered you out, huh Spike?” She said to the sleepy hatchling on her back. Spike let out a yawn and nuzzled into her neck, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. A chill blew past. Causing them both to shiver. “Y-Yeesh, we need to find a place to stay…” Twilight said as they got up to the library door. It didn’t seem to be closed yet. She pushed open the door and looked around the foyer. The large open area filled with books and sitting cushions was like heaven to Twilight. She noticed a light amount of dust on things, meaning no one was here for a bit. Checking upstairs, she found an empty bedroom meaning no one had taken this place as a home. It was likely only used for just the library part downstairs. Using her magic she collected the cushions and piled them upstairs into a makeshift bed and laid Spike on one side. He snuggled into the pile and got comfortable, but not yet asleep. “Gimme a minute and I’ll get a book for us to read, don’t go anywhere!” Twilight disappeared downstairs for a moment and looked around the library in the fiction section. She was in the mood to get lost in a new world for a bit, so… In the doorway a yellow pegasus filly was about to enter to return a book, but upon seeing another pony she gave up on it and just backed out. “Ooh! Septimare Hoof, I’ve always wanted to start this one!” She pulled the book out and headed back upstairs. She quickly backtracked to close the front door. She could’ve sworn she closed that. Once she got upstairs, she found the neat arrangement of pillows turned into a pile Spike was sleeping inside of. She sighed. “Maybe we should’ve snuck back into the Apple’s barn.” Twilight said. She crawled into the pile with the book and found Spike there. He giggled woozily. She smiled at him. “All right Spike, time for a story. I’ve been looking forward to this one!” The baby dragon snuggled into her as she began reading. “Alright, I think I’ve got everything.” Shining Armor said as he checked over his saddlebags again. He looked at his partner who was adjusting her outfit. “I think I’m good to go over here!” She said, adjusting a hat that was supposed to make her look inconspicuous. Shining Armor just stared at her. “Well, you think this disguise’ll work?” Cadence said, wearing a fedora, black sunglasses, and a fake mustache. As well as a poorly drawn cutie mark of three hearts taped over her flank. Shining put a hoof to his chin in thought. He then rotated the hat to the left a bit. “Perfect!” Author's Note Ah yes, a very convincing disguise that cannot be seen through. Feel free to offer ideas and corrections! WHA-BAM, ART FOR THE first i think CHAPTER Paying it BackTwilight woke up to a harsh sneeze from her snout. When she checked, her hoof was sticking out of the warm pile again. She pulled it back in and pulled Spike close to her to try and return to sleep again. She never wound up stopping after Spike fell asleep so she kept on reading Septimare Hoof until she finished it, which led her to be awake all night. “Um, excuse me.” Funny, that almost sounded like somepony trying to talk to her. But surely no one was inside the building right now! “E-excuse me…” ”WHA- HUH?” “Eeep!” Twilight shot up, afraid of being caught by somepony. She broke right through the barrier of cushions and looked toward the source of the noise. Which was a yellow pegasus filly cowering by the door with her hooves over her head. Twilight took a moment to process her surroundings. She was on the 2nd floor of the library. It was day. She had been caught here when she shouldn’t be. “I-I-I d-d-don’t think y-you’re supposed to b-be up here…” The pegasus said. Twilight just stared at her, and began to slowly move to pick up Spike. The pegasus gasped in surprise when Twilight had retrieved him from the pillows. “A baby dragon! I-I’ve never seen one before!” The yellow filly quickly opened up and began to approach as Twilight set him on her back. “W-What’s his name?” “This is Spike, I’m Twi- Sp-Sparkling Cider!” Twilight said in a rushed fashion. “A-Anyway we’ll be going now-” “Wait! He’s so cute, where did he come from?” The pegasus asked as Twilight made her way down the stairs. “I hatched him.” Twilight responded, before she left the library she stopped to grab a book she wanted to read yesterday. “Really? That must’ve taken some time, he seems very happy though! Hi there! I’m Fluttershy, you adorable little thing you!” Fluttershy spoke to the hatchling who giggled happily as the filly played with him while he was on Twilight’s back. Fluttershy didn’t even notice as they wandered out of the library as she kept Spike entertained. Twilight let out a light sigh as she felt Spike wiggling around on her back as he played. Fluttershy seemed nice though, definitely an animal lover. Now that she thought about it she seemed a bit tall. “Hey Fluttershy?” Twilight turned around abruptly, now face-to-face with the filly. She yipped in surprise. “How old are you? You’re a bit tall and I thought you were about twelve like me…” She said, tilting her head as she observed Fluttershy, who became flustered and blushed as Twilight looked at her. “I-I am t-tall…I’m only a y-year older…” Fluttershy explained, Twilight let out a small ‘oooooh’ at the information. “Well, it was nice to meet you. I’ve got to be going now, I have some things I’ve gotta return.” Twilight explained as she shifted Spike on her back, with the hatchling grabbing on to her mane. “O-Oh! I-I’m sorry to have kept you, I didn’t mean to. It was nice to meet you two as well! A-And f-feel free to visit with Spike. I live in a tree-cottage over that way.” The pegasus spoke softly. Despite still being soft-spoken Twilight could detect that she was a little more comfortable. Twilight continued on, she wasn’t lying when she said she had to return something. It was a favor to Granny Smith for letting her and Spike both sleep in her barn (without permission) and feed them. Speaking of, Spike only had one bottle left and would need to eat soon. She was lucky she could save it from how much food there was around for him yesterday. As she saw the gates to Sweet Apple Acres she spotted Applejack out on the fields, she was busy bucking apple trees like there was no tomorrow. Twilight just stood by the gate awkwardly until Big Mac came by and opened it for her. “You gave our granny quite a scare yesterday.” The red colt said, leading her to the house. Twilight scratched the back of her head with her hoof. Twilight walked inside, finding Granny Smith on her way to the kitchen. “Twiligh’! You had me n’ the kids worried when you disappeared like that!” The old mare said, trotting over to Twilight. Twilight looked down a bit ashamed before speaking up again. “Sorry, I know you said I didn’t have to worry about it but I wanted to pay you back for taking care of us.” “Ah-” “I know you’ll say it’s fine, but I want to!” Twilight said firmly, her face taking on a little pout. Granny Smith stared her in the face with equal firmness before relenting. “Fine, fine. You can help us out ah’ suppose. Righ’ now it’s all jus’ chores the kids r’ doin’, so ahead n’ see what cha’ can help out with. Ah’ll jus’ take this lil’ one off ya’ fer’ now!” Granny said, taking Spike off Twilight and depositing him on to her own back with Apple Bloom who was happy to see him again. Twilight trotted her flank back out to the field where she caught up with Applejack, who was obviously glad to see her. “Twiligh’! Where’d you run off to yesterday?!” She said running over to her, abandoning the buckets of apples she had on her back. Twilight found herself caught in a tight hug she could barely breath in. Jeez Applejack was a little short for a filly her age but she was still crazy strong. “Uh, h-home?” She lied, unsure. Applejack pulled back and looked at her. “...Really?” “OHLOOKLEMMEHELPYOUWITHTHOSEAPPLES!” Twilight said, slipping past her over to the two buckets held on a bar. She went to try and lift them on her shoulders, but found them incredibly heavy for someone like her. “You uh…you good there sugarcube?” She said as Twilight barely lifted the buckets of the ground and shuffled forward. “Yep!...I got-” Thump “Ow. No…my shoulder’s hurt.” Twilight said pitifully on the ground. Applejack chuckled as she took off one of the buckets from the rod and helped Twilight up. She carefully put a bucket on her back, and put another bucket on the rod. Applejack and Twilight worked to get apples put away in the barn until Twilight began to look like she was dying. “Alrigh’ Cider, why don’t you jus’ go an’ take a break. Ah’ can fetch the last round of apples m’self.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “An’ no buts!” Twilight promptly closed her mouth and pouted. Shining Armor stroked his beard in boredom. His girlfriend had stopped her cute reactions to being on a common train, so now he had nothing else to do but wait until they reached the station, which luckily was coming up just now. “Finally…” “Aw, I liked the train.” Cadance, or as she was known in her disguise, Carl, spoke with sadness. “You know, I never asked. Why did you suggest we start in Ponyville? It’s a nice place but I think she would’ve gone to Manehatten. No wait, Dodge.” Shining asked as they got off the train. “Well, Twilight is still just a filly even if she ran away. She’d probably still end up seeking the comfort of being around other ponies. If not that then she came here looking for a library to calm down in.” Cadance explained, shrugging at the end. “Hey, do I know you?” A random pony said as they almost passed by Cadance. “I-I- u-uh…no?” “You sure because you kinda look like one of the princesses!” “N-No, I’m a uni- I-I mean, pegasus named, u-uh…” She quickly looked at her hoof and barely could read the smudged writing of the name Carl. “C-Carl.” “Carl?” “Carl.” “...huh, sorry then!” Cadence shuddered with relief as the pony then walked off. She looked to Shining Armor, who had a look of pride at her. “You nailed that!” Big Mac watched Twilight struggle so hard to pull a plough that she was starting to turn the same color as his fur. “Stubborn, ain’t she?” Applejack said beside him. “Almost as much as you.” Applejack grumbled at that retort. Twilight was barely tugging the equipment along a few inches, luckily she had only joined on the last line that needed to be dug. Otherwise this would take a few days. “C’mon…c’mon…c’mon!” Twilight said, each c’mon emphasized with a mighty tug that pulled the plough another inch. As she repeated the motion, the swirl carved in her horn began to flicker as she tried harder, the magic beginning to slip out the more she exerted herself. The grooves in her horn flashed to life as with one more tug and Twilight suddenly shot forward. Her hooves and legs flashed a spiral pattern for a moment letting her shoot forward three feet and falling on her face. “Nice job there! Now why don’t cha’ let Big Mac finish up, ya’ look like death. C’mon, we can get some juice inside!” Applejack said as she freed Twilight from the farming tool. Twilight panted as she shambled towards the house. Applejack however saw her chance and let Twilight use her side to lean on. Twilight found herself back in town with flyers on her back a while later. Since it wasn’t a school day, Big Mac and Applejack sold apples and handed out flyers. Usually, Granny came with them and ran the stand while they handed out the flyers, but with Twilight volunteering it meant they could run it themselves today with Twilight taking over Big Mac’s place in handing out flyers. “Ya’ look a lil’ shabby but it should be fine! Now git’ out there and lets offer up some apples!” Applejack said enthusiastically. Twilight found herself full of determination as she went off in a direction to pass out some flyers. Now that she looked at herself, she looked pretty messy. Wow, she really hasn’t had a shower in about two days. Applejack watch as Twilight offered a flyer to someone, who seemed to take pity on her poor appearance and took the flyer, and walked over to the stand and bought some apples from Big Mac. She smiled and watched as Twilight’s face lit up with joy that she was able to do something as she turned a corner to hand out some more flyers. “Excuse me, mind if we get one of those?” Applejack turned around to a voice behind her. She looked up to see a pink pegasus pony with purple and yellow hair in a ponytail, as well as sunglasses, a fedora, and a black mustache with a decently long beard. Applejack just stared at her intensely. “Is that’a horn pokin’ outta yer’ hat there?” “U-Uh, no!” Cadence said, quickly putting a hoof up to pull her hat back down, and also suddenly adopting an accent. “Th-That’s just Carl! H-He’s an… uh- an intern!” Shining Armor said, coming to his girlfriend’s aid. “Uh-huh. Internin’ what.” Applejack said in a deadpan fashion, not buying the obvious lie. “Princ-Pruh- Uh- P-Prench…cheese?” Cadence said awkwardly, mentally kicking herself. Twilight was honestly proud of herself and how many flyers she was getting through, the stack was almost gone! Just a few more then she could- WHOOSH And now she was face down in some mud with her flyers scattered. “Hehe, sorry! Need a hoof?” Another pegasus filly came into view. This one was blue with a rainbow-colored mane. She helped Twilight up, and wiped the mud off her face. “Again, sorry. I’m Rainbow Dash. I know, I know, just by looking you can tell I’m pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash said boisterously, doing a little posing. To Twilight she just seemed a bit egotistical, but Rainbow Dash was actually just trying to impress Twilight out of the blue due to a sudden case of a filly crush. “Yeah, I guess. What would be really awesome is a shower right about now.” Twilight said, mostly muttering to herself. Dang, there was even mud in her beard! “Shower? No problem!” Twilight instantly realized what was about to happen. Then she was soaked in rainwater. “No need to thank me, I’m just awesome like that. But you can still thank me anyway if you want.” The prisma-color pegasus spoke smoothly as sandpaper. “Thanks.” Twilight said, voice dripping with sarcasm as she shook herself off. She then looked around for the flyers than were blown off her, only for them to be offered in a stack right beside her. “Lookin’ for these?” Rainbow said confidently. “Yeah, thanks again.” Twilight repeated, now a bit more genuine. “I never got your name, your the pony Pinkie threw that party for yesterday right?” Twilight nodded. “Sparkling Cider.” “Hmm…Applejack your cousin?” “What? No, why?” “Just sounded like an apple name to me.” “I think we got out of that without suspicion!” Cadence said optimistically. “I think we just made up a new career field in Prench cheese.” Shining Armor thought aloud. Cadence interrupted his thoughts by pointing her hoof as she bit an apple. “Oh look! A Library! Twilight’s sure to be in there!” Spark of PanicTwilight went around the block with Rainbow Dash tagging along handing out flyers. The blue pegasus was a bit of a chatterbox at first but started to calm down a bit, which gave Twilight a bit of a break as she tried to finish. “Sooo…what’s your cutie mark for? Stargazing?” “Hm?” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash, and then to her own flank and then back at Rainbow Dash. “Oh, magic! I like to study it.” She said, then stopping to hand a flyer to a mare. “Really? Then you must’ve done something CRAZY to get your cutie mark in magic!” Twilight felt her muscles stiffen, and it became difficult to walk forward without trembling a bit. Twilight’s mind flashed to the most recent spell she had casted. She felt her tongue dry up, and her breath became unsteady. The terror, the destruction. It was all her fault. She felt herself finally stop moving as she froze in place, her breath starting to quicken as what she had caused began to come back to her again. “Hey, Cider? Hellooo, Earth to Sparkling Cider!” Rainbow Dash said. She was starting to get concerned as the unicorn suddenly froze with a 1000-yard stare. Not to mention her breathing was getting kinda fast. “C’mon, snap out of it!” She said with concern as she gently shook her. “Rainbow Dash, what’re you doin’ ta’ poor Cider?” Applejack said as she walked over. She had spotted them as she finished passing out her own flyers. She had spotted Rainbow Dash talking to her new friend who looked terrified all of a sudden, and so she came to the obvious conclusion that Rainbow Dash was messing with her. “Hey, it wasn’t me! She just froze up all of a sudden!” The Pegasus said defensively, raising her hooves as if to show she had nothing on her that could’ve caused this. “Sparklin’? Sparklin’! Oh lord she’s hyperventilatin’-“ Applejack said as she started to panic a bit as Twilights breathing became rapid, uneven, and louder. She tried to coach Twilight into breathing properly, but all of a sudden Twilight just screamed and took off. “Sparklin’! Come back!” “Where ya goin’?!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack called after her in concern. They gave chase, where Pinkie Pie spotted them and joined in. Twilight’s world was becoming dark as less air was reaching her brain, taking off running all of a sudden didn’t help. She didn’t want to be taken, she wanted to be safe, where would she be safe- As she spiraled with an oxygen deprived mind her magic began to flow uncontained as it warped and she vanished with a loud crackle of energy. Since she didn’t have school today Rarity was indulging in her most favorite pastime, dressmaking. Currently she is trying to put together something for Twilight. It’s not that she asked for Rarity to make her a dress, but Rarity just felt like doing it for her. After all, she might need one for some kind of surprise gala event! Rarity took a seat right in front of the dress to work on it some. What she didn’t expect was for Twilight to suddenly warp right into her workspace. On her lap no less. The poor purple filly was haggard and terrified and was breathing like she was being deprived of air. “D-Darling?! What is going on?! B-Breathe!” Rarity tried to help Twilight, but it was too late, as everything combined with a lack of air caused Twilight to shut down. The filly collapsed against Rarity, limp and after a few seconds blood began to drip from the fillies nose. Rarity stared in horror at the unconscious filly in her forelegs. The ground beneath her was scorched and fused with a dirt path from outside, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. She quickly began to follow her own advice and breathe to keep herself calm, now would be an awful time for a dramatic faint. She quickly flared her horn’s magic to life and dragged an item she had recently been using for those dramatic faints. A lounge sofa, which she gently laid Twilight on and wiped her nose. She was glad Sweetie Belle was napping right now, as it would be a bad time to have to tend to her while Twilight was like this. From what she could tell, the filly was fine physically, aside from the nosebleed that she was repeatedly having to wipe up. However what concerned Rarity is what could’ve gotten Twilight so worked up! She doesn't believe that anypony in Ponyville would try and hurt her out of the blue, so it had to be some kind of extreme stress. At least that what she told herself it had to be, it worried her to think Twilight was facing problems of trauma. “Ah, um…d-don’t go anywhere! I’ll be right back!” Cadance, now without a mustache at the moment, looked around the upstairs of the library. Everything had seemed fine aside from the pile of pillows on the floor. The young alicorn approached it, looking through some of the pillows. At first she thought nothing would be there until she spotted some hair. Lavender hair. Shining was enjoying a good bit of literature that would be important for his current task. “How to Find Missing Fillies”, he never expected a book like this to exist but he was glad it did. ”SHINY!” He couldn’t teleport but with how fast he was there you’d think he could. Cadence was holding up a strand of hair to his face with a look of hopeful joy. “What? It’s just a hair.” Shining Armor said, taking the strand of hair into his magic. He then recognized the color and turned to Cadance with hope in his eyes. “She was here! She and Spike were really here!” Cadance said in joy, hugging her partner who hugged her back tightly. “But where in town could she be now? Sh-She could’ve left again by now!” The white stallion questioned with worry. “Shiny it’s a library, she’ll probably be coming back here for comfort!” Cadance explained, remembering how when Twilight had a bad day she’d go and hide in a book fort when Shining Armor or her parents weren’t available. “...Maybe, but I still wanna go look around. Just to be sure, y’know?” Cadance nodded, hugging him again. “How about, I stay here and you go and look for Twilight. That way if she comes back here I can have her stay by me until you get back.” Cadance suggested. Shining Armor smiled and gave her a peck on the lips, making Cadance giggle. She wished him luck as he went out the door of the library, leaving Cadance in the main room. She briefly tapped her hooves idly as she just looked around. Eventually she decided to look for something to read, maybe she could catch up on Dragon Ball- BANG “DO YOU HAVE ANY BOOKS ON NON-DRAMATICALLY FAINTED PONIES?!” Cadance screamed, and instinctually teleported her fake mustache back on her face. Twilight woke to something wet on her forehead over her eyes, as well as a migraine. There was also something up her nose. She was just having this wonderful dream about apples, and then everything was being engulfed in a sea of yellow and she was starting to drown. “Darling? Are you awake?” Twilight’s ears perked up. She lifted the wet rag from her face to see Rarity entering the room she had been laid in. She had a worried smile on her face and her eyes seemed to be flicking from looking all over Twilight and back to her eyes. Twilight quickly remembered what happened. Rainbow Dash was asking her about her cutie mark, and then she freaked out, and then she…somehow got to Rarity’s boutique. Twilight sat upright fast enough to make the head pain worse, which brought rarity to her side to fuss over her. “Darling be careful! When you appeared here you passed out and popped a nosebleed! The latter was caused by magical strain from what I read so you need to rest for the pain to subside.” “I-I’m sorry for making you worry-” “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. If anything, someone must owe YOU an apology for the strife you’ve suffered!” Rarity declared, now sounding a bit disgruntled. “I-I huh?” Rarity looked at Twilight sympathetically. “Sparkling, I can tell that you and Spikey were…abandoned.” Rarity said hesitantly, afraid to trigger anything unpleasant in Twilight. Twilight did look uncomfortable, but more because the claim was completely wrong and she knew that she might have to run with it. Rarity looked a bit awkward and decided to change the subject. “B-But in much funnier news, you’ve seemed to have dyed yourself red and green in your sleep! Hahaha! Ehhhh…” Rarity said with a forced laugh, but cringed at the sight of Twilight’s light green mane. “I WHAT?!” Twilight shouted. True to Rarity’s word, Twilight was now a similar shade of red to Big Mac and had a light green mane and tail. Twilight had read about what was going on with her before, and after seeing the path from outside that was now fused into the floor in the main room of the boutique, Twilight knew what happened. She sprung a leak. She must’ve done something that not only strained her magic, but put a hole in the proverbial balloon that was her magic reserves. Meaning that use of even levitation spells would cause magic to leak and do almost anything. Lucky for her, she didn’t seem to have a big leak! Only enough to dye her fur weird colors. “Thanks for walking me back Rarity, I must’ve scared Applejack and Rainbow Dash when I took off like that. A-Again.” Twilight said as she was escorted to Big Mac’s stand. The colt saw them coming and perked up with surprise and then looked relieved as she saw them approach. “Again, think nothing of it! Anything for a friend!” Friend…huh. “This ain’t gonna be a common thing with ya’ is it?” Big Mac said as he walked out from behind the stand. It looked like he sold most of the apples and other treats for sale. He began to check her off-colored body over, tilting her head around. He took note of Twilight’s horn flickering between the grooves. “Rainbow said you’d up an’ exploded. Glad to know for sure that was an exaggeration.” He said, patting her on the head. Twilight looked disturbed that Rainbow had said that she just blew up. “How’s about we head on back to Granny fer’ some lunch.” Big Mac said, about to lead her by her hoof. “Ah ah ah! Please carry her if it wouldn’t be too much Big Mac. She’s overstressed herself and needs rest!” Rarity interjected. “Eeyup, would ya’ like ta’ join us fer’ lunch Rarity?” Big Mac asked the white unicorn as he put Twilight on his back in a smooth motion despite her protests. “That’s quite alright Darling, I’ll be having to get back to Sweetie Belle since her nap will be ending soon. Take care!” The unicorn filly said, trotting off. “...I’m sorry I ran off again.” “It’s alright, yer’ goin’ through a tough time. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were worried, but Ah’m sure they’re fine.” “Now you quit yer’ cryin’ Applejack Ah’m sure she’s fine! You’ve got the foals comfertin’ ya’ instead of the otherway around!” “BUT WHAT IF RAINBOW’S RIGHT GRANNY? WHAT IF SPARKLIN’ DID ‘SPLODE! SHE’S GONE GRANNY, GOOONE!” The farm filly wailed on the floor as Applebloom patted her on the head and Spike rubbed her back. Neither of them really understood beyond them seeing someone crying. “Oh u-um, please stop crying Rainbow Dash-” “SHE BLEW UP! SHE BLEW UP AND IT’S ALL MY FAAUUULT-” Rainbow Dash continued to definitely not cry and wail on about Twilight “exploding”. “O-Oh dear, I-I’m sure she’s fine!” Fluttershy weakly assured. “...Maybe we should hurry back.” Big Mac said. He then bumped into a stallion. “Sorry sir.” “It’s fine, I wasn’t paying attention. Hey, have you seen a filly named Twilight Sparkle around?” Shining Armor asked, not paying much mind to the bug-eyed red and green filly on Big Mac’s back. “Hm. Can’t say ah’ have sir.” “Ah, thanks anyway.” Shining then looked at Twilight. “Dawww, aren’t you cute. Riding on your bother’s back!” He said, patting her head as he continued on his way. Big Mac looked at her panicked expression. “If ya’ didn’t wan’ ‘im to touch ya’ ya’ coulda said sumthin’.” Plans Awry“Found ‘er. She was with Rarity.” Big Mac said, opening the door to the main house. Spike cooed happily at the sight of the red-dyed Twilight. Apple Bloom giggled at the sight of Twilight as she was let down from Big Mac’s back, though she was cut off from the action by Applejack hugging her. “Ya’ scared me! Why d’ya run off like that again!” Applejack questioned, trying her hardest to not look like she was just crying over her exploding. Twilight’s face turned apologetic. “Sorry…I was just a bit overwhelmed for a moment.” “”Overwhelmed" is an understatement from what Ah’ saw. If you really are okay though, then Ah’m glad!” Applejack said as she gave Twilight a heavy pat on the back. She walked to the living room, and let Spike crawl his way over to nuzzle her. “You should work on that runnin’ habit of yours Sparklin’. It ain’t gonna help ya’ with all yer’ problems’!” Granny Smith said as she got up from her rocking chair. Twilight just muttered to herself as Granny went into the kitchen to start on lunch. She played with Spike, happy to see him again after all the panic she just put herself through. She just hoped they would be able to sleep in the library again, they might have books on magic! After all, she needed some way to keep up with her studies. After being treated to some lunch by Granny Smith, Twilight decided to depart and look for the other filly that thought she blew up to clear the air. Although it was a bit harder since unlike Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, she didn’t know where she commonly hung around or where she lived. Which meant she had to put herself at risk of being found by her brother. Who was DEFINITELY looking for her because now she was wanted in Canterlot dead or alive and he’s a part of the royal guard and- Her vision was suddenly obscured by Spike's little hands. He began to make cute babbles that vaguely sounded like numbers, but she understood what he was trying to do. She took a deep breath in, and let Spike count to ten. Or at least five before Twilight took over counting. She let her breath out. “Thank you Spike. Not as good as Cadance’s but it works.” She returned back to her task, finding Rainbow Dash. Now that she wasn’t panicking, she realized that she could ask Pinkie Pie if she knew! Man, she should also find some way to thank Pinkie for throwing her a party. She skipped over to Sugarcube Corner happily, and bumped into someone coming out of the door. It was a pink pegasus with a fedora and a mustache. “S-Sorry.” “It’s fine, I’ve gotta get back to the library!” “Carl” said in a fake-dep voice, rushing off to said tree. A cake also floated behind her for some reason. It appeared neither party recognized each other through their disguises. “W-Wait was that magi-” “Sparkling!” She was suddenly hugged by the pink earth filly tightly. She patted Pinkie on the back. “You met Carl just now right? He’s new in Ponyville too! Ooh, I’ve gotta throw another welcome party, this is amazing! So many new friends are popping up, I wonder who’ll come to town tomorrow at this rate!” Pinkie Pie spoke rapidly as she bounced around Twilight. Twilight’s eyes followed Pinkie as she moved. It must’ve been difficult putting together the party for Twilight, maybe she could help Pinkie today? “Maybe I can help? I’d love to do it as a thanks!” Twilight offered. The party pony halted mid air and smoothly drifted to the ground, doing an exaggerated “hmmmm” as she thought it over. Twilight stood smiling awkwardly until Pinkie proceeded to say: “Okay! First things first, cake!” The earth filly said starting to lead Twilight into the kitchens of Sugarcube Corner. Back at the library now, Cadance gleefully indulged in a piece of cake. She didn’t have a borderline need for it like Celestia but it was still nice to try, especially from such a nice town. It was going to take a while for Shining Armor to search the whole town, and hopefully he wouldn’t forget he’s supposed to search only the town. Shining Armor pushed aside a bush as he scavenged through the forest. His baby sister HAD to be somewhere here… So while she waited it would do her some good to at least enjoy her stay while she waited for Twilight to come to her. She just wished she could fake being a librarian better until Twilight eventually came here. She only got in one bite of her cake before she had to start faking her job again. “FLUTTERSHYSHESGONESHESSUPERGONETHISISTHEOPPOSITEOFAWESOME-” “E-Excuse me, M-Mr, can you help me f-find a book…” Fluttershy mumbled, somehow barely audible over Rainbow Dash’s totally-not-wailings. Cadance blinked bewildered and gave a small nod. After a short explanation about why the multicolor filly was crying, Cadance gave a snort. “Well Rainbow Dash, I think you’ll be happy to know that it doesn’t sound like your friend has ‘gone kablooey’, more like she panic-teleported. And honestly, that sounds really impressive! Sounds like she’s got some real power to her!” The alicorn said to the prismacolor filly. Fluttershy gave Rainbow a hug of reassurance before she turned back to her book about shed construction. But why does it recommend a shovel? “R-Really?” Rainbow Dash sniffed. “W-Well y-yeah of course she isn’t dead! She said that she likes m-magic and stuff so of course she knows what she’s doing!” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to pretend she wasn’t just sobbing on the floor a moment ago. “The only problem is where she ended up, but in these situations a pony is likely to end up where they feel safe.” Cadance added. Rainbow Dash thought hard on what she knew about ‘Sparkling Cider’, aside from the fact that she thought her coat was a pretty color, and that her magic was pretty cool, and that she was handing out flyers. “Well, she did come from Applejack’s farm and was with her. Maybe she’s at Sweet Apple Acres!” She said triumphantly, fluttering into the air. She was quick to zip off to said farmland with a quick “Thanks!” Echoing behind her. Cadance got up. “Maybe I should go with her. Will you be coming along sweetie or are you okay here?” The alicorn said, turning to Fluttershy. “Oh, that’s okay. I’ll stay here, I’m really enjoying this book.” She responded. Cadance nodded and turned to leave. “Oh um, one question Mr. Carl, if it isn’t too much to ask.” “Yeah?” “Why do you sound like, um, a girl?” Well, Twilight now knows that she couldn’t bake to save her life. The worst part was that SPIKE COULD! “Wow Sparkling! Spike’s a natural, and he’s just a hatchling!” Pinkie Pie commented. Spike had managed to make a decent looking little cake, it was a little misshapen, it was decorated in a crude image of Twilight and the word “Mama”. Twilight was both proud and touched. “You may not be good with the baking part, but your measurements are on point! I’ve already got the cake done!” Pinkie said to Twilight, presenting her with the two layer cake with a little figure of Carl that Pinkie somehow had made already. “That looks amazing! Sooo…guessing by what happened when you threw a welcome party for me, we have to decorate this place now?” Pinkie shook her head. “Nope! We aren’t having it here!” “What? Then why was my party here?” “Because you’re homeless!” Twilight grumbled to herself at that. “But Carl isn’t from what I can tell, I’m pretty sure she lives at the library now! So we’re gonna set this all up over there!” Pinkie explained. Twilight nodded. “I guess we’ll have to stop by the supply store on the way then-“ “Nah I got it.” Pinkie said, pulling a ton of streamers out of her mane. Twilight stared at Pinkie. Then took a hoof and lifted her mane so it didn’t cover her forehead. She let her mane drop. “Hhhhhhow?!” “I dunno! C’mon Spike!” The hatchling babbled as Pinkie put him on her back. Twilight was careful as she carried the box all the way back to the library. She was honestly happy they were coming back here. Once they did the invites, she might have time to read a little! The door was opened, Fluttershy eeped from the noise. “Oh, hi Fluttershy! I didn’t know you wanted to throw a party for Carl too!” Pinkie bounced over and grabbed her hoof. “O-Oh no, I wasn’t I-I-I was just-“ Pinkie dragged the poor Pegasus to help her decorate. Twilight found herself giggling at the pink pony’s antics. Twilight decided that she could get started on the invites, and even let Spike help! Maybe he had more hidden talents. Once she had made the first card, her first instinct was to try a duplication spell. By the time she stopped herself, she had casted it and made one extra invitation. However now Twilight was gone, and Spike was alone. “Oh! Sparkling Cider, can you run and ask Carl if he would like blue or red hearts better- hey Spike where’d Sparkling go?” Author's Note aw man, and she was doing so good not using magic so far too! Shining Light in the ForestTwilight was too scared to open her eyes for the longest time. Who knows where she just ended up? Then again, if she wanted to leave wherever she went to get to Spike she would need to open her eyes. She shakily parted her eyelids, looking around at the stone walls. They were faded and had vines growing up their sides. She could see tapestries and paintings hung up, and a long carpet under her hooves. She turned around, finding herself standing in front of a twin set of thrones. “T-The castle of the t-two sisters?” She said, confused. She was REALLY lost now. She quickly began to employ proper breathing to stop herself from panicking. All she needed to do was get out. Then she could find her way back to Spike. That would be easy! She just…needs to find the front door! She quickly clopped down the hallway looking for the exit. Said task proved easier said than done, the hallways were long and winding. In their age any easy identification of passages had faded, and being a little filly in such a big castle didn’t help either. After going in a circle for what was likely the 4th time, Twilight found herself in an open room, with an organ in the center. “Hm?” Shining Armor knew he took a wrong turn by that funky tree. Because now he was facing an old decrepit castle. Then again, if the balloon he found out in the forest was anything to go by, it’s possible Twilight ended up here. “Don’t worry Twily! B.B.B.F.F. is comin’!” He said, rushing in toward the castle. Only for a trapdoor to suddenly open under him. “AAHH!” Twilight wasn’t sure, but she was pretty sure her book-repressed childish tendencies were starting to override her. She was senselessly mashing keys on the instrument, stringing together a disorganized tune that resonated through the castle walls. She was trying to play a tune she heard back in canterlot, but then again her talents weren’t in the musical category. But the more childish parts of her weren’t gonna be stopped. “Oof!” Shining came to a stop against a stone wall. The trap door led down a winding slide that sent him rolling into a wall in a dim corridor. After nursing his aching muzzle he got back to his hooves and looked up and down the hall. He took a breath in and snorted, and took out a bit. He flipped it and waited for the coin to settle. Heads. Left it is then. At least it would’ve been if he hadn’t been swept up by a wall flipping and suddenly placing him into an old kitchen. He shook his head to clear the dizziness from the motion. This castle was messing with him. The only reason it would do that would be if it didn’t want him here, and from what he could tell it was abandoned. Meaning no one lived here. UNLESS! The castle found someone, and now wanted to keep them. There’s only one person he could think of that would be in here willingly. “I’LL FIND YOU TWILY! THIS-” “CASTLE WONT STOP ME!” Twilight froze in horror. Her brother was here. Oh god. Oh god how did he even find her moments after a sudden teleport. He sounds pissed. That didn’t matter, she needed to get out of here now. No magic whatsoever. She quickly started to scramble away from the organ. But zipped back and mashed a few keys, reasoning to herself that if he heard them Shining would come to this room first rather than catch her in the halls. But in reality Twilight still wanted to play with the instrument. She took off down the halls, frantically. She was quickly making turns, looking out whatever hole she could to check her progress. Frustratingly, she somehow only got higher up the towers. She grumbled as she looked for some stairs that led downward. She descended a spiral staircase, and found herself in a large room with 5 stone orbs. They looked like some kind of weird statue on their pedestals together, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. She was about to make her way through, but accidentally knocked one of the stone balls off its pedestal. She scrambled to pick it back up, making the effort to use her hooves, and put it back in its place. The second the purple-turned-red filly got it back in its place she heard a set of hooves running up the staircase she was going to descend. She squeaked in terror and hid behind the largest pedestal in the center. Everything was quiet except for the sound of her brother’s hooves. They roamed across the room, searching. She then heard the shimmer sound of magic and could see a pink glow expanding around the room. A translucent wall passed through her, and she held her breath. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you- oh whoops.” Shining Armor said as he walked around to her hiding spot. Twilight internally sighed in relief, realizing that she was still the wrong color- wait she’s blue and yellow now. Twilight allowed her brother to escort her through the castle and down to the exit. They were both quiet, as from Shining Armor’s perspective he didn’t really have anything to say to a random lost filly. Twilight however was waiting to see how long it would take for him to look at her cutie mark and connect the dots. As they reached the entrance, Shining finally posed a question. “Hang on…” ”OH GOD” “How did you get out here?” “Uh…field trip.” Shining Armor stared and the blue filly. Twilight blinked. Shining Armor blinked. “That checks out. C’mon! Let’s get you back to Ponyville!” Cadance was sure how she got roped into it, but now she was helping buck apples for the afternoon. To be honest, as the apple filly would put it, by golly she was lovin’ it! “Wow Mr-” “Ms.” “Ms. Carl! Yer’ a natural! But please don’t shake out too many of tha’ leaves.” Applejack said to Cadance as she went to town on tree after tree, the orange filly kept pace catching the apples that would fall from every tree. Rainbow Dash sighed in exhaustion as she returned to pick up a bushel of apples. She didn’t even understand how she got roped into helping with chores, she was here looking for “Sparkling Cider”! “Man, this blows! How’d you even drag me into this!” “Ah’ didn’t. Ya’ got bored of watchin’ carl and started helpin’ out yerself.” Oh. Right, dang it Rainbow. Wait a second is that Pinkie Pie? “Hey, what’s going on with Pinkie?” Rainbow said as she pointed at the pink earth filly, who currently had her nose to the ground as she moved forward past the orchard. Fluttershy walked behind her, with Spike on her back playing with her mane, making Fluttershy giggle. Applejack’s attention was brought to the pair, leaving Cadance to get carried away and continue bucking the section of the farm they were in. Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached them, walking along the fence at pace of the other two fillies. “Howdy! What brings y’all out here?” The apple filly asked as they all walked on. Fluttershy clammed up, but Pinkie was fine to fill them in. “Well first, me and Sparkling Cider were gonna throw-” She looked back where “Carl” was going to town bucking apples off trees gleefully. “Carl a surprise Welcome to Ponyville party!” She said in a whisper. “Then we baked the cakes for it, though Sparkling isn’t too good at it. Actually she’s kinda bad, like reeeeeeeaaally bad, but she’s trying though and that’s what counts! But Spike is really good at baking and he’s only a baby then I told her-” “Pinkie, focus.” “Right! Then we went to the library to get ready for Carl’s surprise! Then I took Fluttershy with me to put up decorations, and left Spike and Sparkling to make the invitations!” Spike brandished the two hoof-made invitations Twilight had managed to make. “Then when I got back Sparkly was gone and there were sparky bits on the ground! So now I’m sniffing her out!” Pinkie concluded, sticking her snout back into the ground and continuing to sniff-snoff a scent that she logically shouldn’t have been able to find. Applejack facehoofed and let out a small sigh. “Ya didn’t overwhelm ‘er with anythin’ didja’? We just had an incident with that earlier an’ it sounds like she panic-teleported again.” Applejack said, hopping over the fence to follow the trail Pinkie Pie was picking up. “Nope! But I noticed that her horn was a little leaky.” “Her horn was what?” Rainbow Dash asked, following above the others as the scenery began to change to the fields just outside Ponyville. “Whenever she was trying really hard while baking her horn would leak sparkly-magic-stuff.” “That sounds like magic leak.” Everypony except Pinkine looked at Fluttershy, who proceeded to “Eep!” and engrossed herself with Spike again, who was happy to get the attention. Eventually everypony found themselves standing on the edge of the Everfree Forest. They stood in terrified silence, just staring into the magic infested woods. All except Pinkie were highly reluctant to go into the cursed forest. “A-And you’re sure she’s i-i-in there? I-In the E-Everfree Forest?” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly. “Yup! Absolutely, positutely!” She said, trotting right into the woods. Twilight wearily looked around the forest she and Spike had gotten lost in before. Now that sun would shine through some of the trees, she noted that the forest was…strange. The fauna was incredibly unique, it had to be the highest concentration of magical plant-life she’d ever seen! Aside from the potion ingredient stash at the school. It was also…a bit eerie. She saw in the distance a few times small ponds, with four legged trees around the edges. There were trees with horrific faces in denser woods enveloped with shadow. Twilight was glad she and Spike had gotten out of these woods safely, one of the BRANCHES had snapped at her! “Uh, Shi- AHEM -Mr? H-How much longer until we’re out of here?” She asked Shining Armor, the faintest sparks raw of magic leaking out of her horn in response to her anxiety. “Uhh…I have no idea! I think I took a wrong turn by those monster-trees. This section isn’t familiar at all.” Twilight, could only let out a strangled squeak. She was stuck in these stupid woods again. Author's Note Feel free to tell me what you think! Sparkles of LoveTwilight walked alongside her brother with her head hung low. She can't believe she was stuck here again. Even worse, these woods were actively dangerous, and she was just lucky to have gotten out with a hatchling the first time. Her leg was suddenly ensnared by a vine and she let out a scream. With only a quick flick of his head Shining Armor’s horn fired a beam that vaporized the offending plant, dropping door Twilight face first into the dirt. “Man, that’s the third one in the past half an hour!” He said as he set the blue filly back to her feet. Twilight just groaned, she looked up to see the sky in the gaps between the trees. The sun wasn’t directly overhead anymore, the sun could be setting any minute now. She looked back toward the path ahead of her, there was only one direction she could really go. “Forward girls!” Pinkie said, pointing a hoof out in front of her as she marched through, still on Twilight’s trail. “Eeyaaaah!” Fluttershy! Cried out as a tree had snatched her and was flailing her about, Rainbow Dash had found herself holding Spike as he had fallen off when Fluttershy was grabbed and Applejack was rushing in to do what she was meant to. “Let ‘er go!” She yelled as with a powerful set of kicks, she bucked the tree hard enough to put a crack in its trunk that ran halfway through it. She immediately felt the recoil, as her legs now felt like she had hit their funny bone, these trees were definitely studier than normal ones. However it did prove effective as a deterrent, as the tree let Fluttershy go and let her fall right on top of the recovering apple filly. Pinkie peeked her head back through some bushes. “What’re you guys messin’ around for? We gotta find Sparkling Cider!” Applejack tiredly looked at Pinkie. “Fluttershy almost got eaten by a tree!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Fluttershy confirmed this fact with unintelligible sounds. Applejack gently slid Fluttershy off and began to quickly rub her legs to make the strange pain in them go away. “Weeeeelllll, you guys won’t have to worry about icky trees for much longer! I think we’re getting closer to Sparkling!” Pinkie said with glee, bouncing in place. Her tail twitched and she quickly sidestepped a giant mango falling where she was standing before. Rainbow Dash just groaned as she got down on to her hooves and set Spike on to her back. “At least I’ll get to say I’ve gone to the Everfree forest before. This place isn’t too bad anyway.” The prisma-color filly said as she trotted after Pinkie Pie. Spike meanwhile was lightly tugging her feathers. Fluttershy nervously followed along, with Applejack following at the back, occasionally kicking her legs to shake off the lingering pain. Twilight breathed in and out through her nose rapidly. Shining Armor held a hoof over her mouth as they hid behind a tree. Just on the other side a manticore of the wooden obscurity skulked a manticore. Shining Armor gently let go of her mouth, and signaled for her to remain quiet. She nodded fearfully as her brother shifted to peek around the edge of the tree. He held there for a few seconds before quickly whipping himself back behind the tree. He seemed to be holding his breath for a long 10 seconds. He bolted suddenly, and held Twilight in a foreleg, as behind them the tree was bashed aside as the manticore gave out a roar that shook Twilight’s core. Shining was quick to use his magic and affix the filly onto his back as he continued running. Twilight looked back at the assailant, and made the mistake of making eye contact. The beast let out a roar and lunged for them. Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs and her horn began to spark to life. Shining Armor conjured a barrier, causing the beasts fangs to bite into the protective magic with enough strength to crack it. However, that was the least of any of their concerns. Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized she had just used magic again, right on time for the all to fall into the ground as if it were a pool of water. “WOA-“ Shining was cut off as he found himself swimming in dirt as if it were a pool. He thought fast and made a bubble shield above the earth and made it airtight before bringing it down and allowing his head to be able to pass through. He took in a deep breath and looked around. Everything was murky, like water that had a lot of, well, dirt. But flailing about in a panic and sinking fast was a little green and purple figure. “Hang on! Stop panicking!” Shining said as he quickly swam down to catch the filly, catching another bubble of air in a shield before descending. He was almost there when he was reminded of the manticore’s existence by it coming up under the filly. He worked his legs to swim as fast as they could as it opened its jaws around the filly. “NO!” Only for it to clamp down on dirt as the filly began to uncontrollably flicker from place to place under the water/earth. Shining Armor brought the bubble of air he had gotten for her in front of him, and the second she reappeared nearby she was caught in the shield and gasping for the air inside. She still flickered about inside but was pushed against the walls of the shield. Good, whatever was making her teleport, it was only working linearly as long as nothing was in the way. So more of a “blink” teleportation spell. He swam back upward with the filly in tow, away from the manticore that struggled to ascend the dirt. Shining armor gasped as he breached the surface and wrapped his around the tree that was someone still in place despite the dirt underneath being liquid. He was running out of air in that bubble. Speaking of which, he made a small hole in the previously blue, now green filly’s bubble. She greedily gasped the air up before blinking again and mashing her face against the bubble. “Ow! What the-” Twilight blinked again, mushing herself against the top of the bubble. “Oww!” “You’ve gotta magic leak, how’d ya manage that?” Shining Armor bringing her bubble closer, and putting a foreleg around it. Twilight gulped. “I-I dunno-” She was mashed against the bubble again. “I-I didn’t even know I had it…” She thought for a second. “How do you even know I have a magic leak?” Shining Armor, who was now on top of the bubble, pointed to his horn. Twilight brought a hoof up and yelped as something shocked her hoof. “Yow!” Oh jeez it got way worse. From what Twilight could see, her horn was actively sparking a bit hazardously and just letting off excess magic. “Hey, don’t worry! It’ll fix itself up in a day or two if you hold off on using magic!” He began to use his magic to pilot Twilight's bubble forth and above the earthy sea. “Also why are you green now? No, wait. Yellow now.” Twilight’s pupils shrunk. “Oh hey! You match me now!” “And Twilight’s vanished again you say?” “Eeyup.” “How dreadful! This time she didn’t appear at the boutique, I hope she didn’t end up anywhere dreadful!” Rarity said, putting a hoof over her mouth in shock. Big Mac pulled in a sharp breath through his teeth. “…” “Uh, they were headin’ in tha’ direction east a’ town.” “…as in…toward the everfree?” “Eeyup.” “Hm…” Rarity sniffled, before starting to run off eastward. “Ah’ should prolly’ go an’ make sure everyone gets out okay.” Big Mac muttered to himself. “YEEHAW!” “Or I should gomakesureMs.Carldoesn’tbuckdowntheorchard!” Twilight sat miserably, now a deep blue in matching her mood, in the bubble, the blinking had calmed down but occasionally she was still mashing against the sides of the shield. Meanwhile Shining Armor was drifting them over the watery ground, periodically checking if it became sold at any point. Shining Armor’s eyes flicked down to the “mysterious” filly he was transporting. “Y’know, you look a lot of my little sister.” Twilight’s body tensed. “You look almost as adorable as she does!” He said gleefully. Twilight was then surprised, looking up in confusion. “She’s a filly about your age, and really smart for her age too! Everyday my mom and dad are writing to me about her and how much she’s been learning, recently we even got a new little brother! They don’t even have to write to me about that stuff though, they don’t really live far from where I have to stay for royal guard training.” He rambled wistfully, as Twilight listened patiently and quietly. If you disregard the small thumps that come from her being shot against the shields by her blinking. Shining Armor then sigh. “Two days ago she got herself into trouble.” Twilight controlled her breathing. “There was an accident at her school. Officially it’s unclear what caused it, but I think it was my little sister. Now, we can’t find her and she could be out there anywhere alone with our little brother.” He idly dipped his hoof in the ground, watching it ripple as they traveled. “Normally I go up to a few weeks at a time without seeing her but…knowing she’s out there somewhere, scared, without someone to care for her…I can’t help but be worried. None of us back home can.” Twilight could feel tears beginning to build in her eyes as she stared at the ground passing under them through the bubble. She scratched at the magic orb below her, watching as her feltlocks began to lighten from their blue into a purple color. Her lips quivered as she opened her mouth. “But people back home are mad, and I dunno what to do if I bring her back.” Twilight's fur turned white again as she clamped her mouth shut. “If she goes back we’ll have peace of mind, but people will still want just punishment. A-And I know that she got people hurt, but I know Twily! I-I know that however it happened that she didn’t mean it! …I dunno. Uh, sorry. Y-Your just a filly and I shouldn’t have dumped all that on to you. Just forget the second part, just know that…I love my little sister no matter what.” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to quietly breathe in and out, her breath shuddering. Her coat was a light blue, a perfect reflection of how badly she wanted to cry right now. Shining’s hoof touched shallow “water” and he dismounted in front of a bush. He hovered Twilight at his side not noticing how she held her hooves over her mouth with tears running down her cheeks. The girls trudged through the shallow liquid earth. Rainbow Dash hovered above them while Pinkie was somehow diving deep enough to snorkel in 2 feet of water. “Ooh! She’s close guys! And she’s sparklier than ever!” Pinkie said, her head popping up out of the ground. She pointed ahead of her as the girls just stared confused. “Pinkie, what does that even mean?” Applejack asked confused. Spike began to sniff the air before he started chirping happily and bouncing on Rainbow Dash’s back. “Woah- hey- calm down! You’ll make me drop you!” Rainbow said, having to readjust the hatchling so he wouldn’t plummet into the ground below. The girls began heading in the direction Pinkie pointed when they heard rustling in the same bushes. They all yelped and quickly stepped back. After a few tense seconds, Shining Armor emerged from the foliage. “Oh! There’s more of you to pick up!” He said in surprise at the number of fillies out in the strange woods. He pulled himself out of the bush fully and allowed Twilight’s bubble to pull out from the bush. Now. This painted a very bad scene for Shining. The girls all viewed an unfamiliar stallion who had shown up in town that day, now holding a filly/friend captive in a magic bubble, who seemed to be distressed trying to use magic. ”GET HIM!” Shining Armor found himself tackled by 3 fillies, with one shy filly having caught a baby dragon that was tossed to her. Author's Note Updated the cover image! Hatchling SittingTwilight shook her hind leg off as tingles went up it. A few apples fell into the barrels set up by the trees. Her coat took on a red color closer to her feltlocks from the pain she felt, while the rest of her stayed her natural colors. “There ya’ go! Just give it a bit an’ you’ll be able to get ‘em in one! I’ll keep goin’ on’, you just keep workin’ ‘ere!” Applejack said as she continued her part of the field. Twilight nodded dutifully, reeling her legs back again and giving a kick to the bark. Almost immediately, apples collapsed atop her in a heap. Making her groan as she would now have to pick them up and put them into the barrels by hoof. She almost thought about cheesing the workload by using magic, but a reminder of the hectic afternoon she had yesterday squashed those thoughts. She groaned and just did her best to scoop the apples by the forelegful without bruising them. Twilight suspected she was about halfway done after about two hours if Applejack bringing her water twice so far was an indicator of an hour passing. Which just meant two more hours to go if she kept up the same pace. … “Oh-” Twilight quickly looked around. “-frick-” “ -that!” She shouted as she formed the determination to finish faster. “All I’ve gotta do is kick a bit harder, then I can finish with this, and hopefully do something a little less taxing.” Twilight said as she began stretching. She turned around to face her hind legs to the tree and did a small trot in place to warm up her legs. She reeled back, and mustering all the force she could she let loose a set of kicks to the bark of the tree, and heard a sharp crack. She froze. She carefully pulled her legs back and stretched them one by one. Maybe it was the tree bark that had split. Nope, it looked fine, and all the apples were in the barrel so what happened? The answer was revealed when she settled her weight onto her hind legs fully. Then pain exploded in the right leg. Applejack was walking out a cup of apple juice for Twilight when she heard a shrill whinny of pain. She dropped the cup in a panic and ran out to the fields where Sparkling Cider was supposed to be working. When she found her, the filly was twitching in pain and foaming at the mouth a little with one of her hind legs held in the air, colored a pale yellow. “Oh Celestia, looks like ya’ cracked yer’ hoof!” The orange filly said, taking the hoof on her own and inspecting it. Twilight made unintelligible noises of pain on the ground. Applejack gently touched where the split was, lighting teasing the wound. Twilight twitched in pain every time. “Sheesh. Alright, don’t you move one bit sugarcube! I’ll bring somethin’ back ta’ help!” Applejack said trotting back toward her house. “eeEeEeEehhhh…” The pale mare whimpered. Shining Armor stretched as he sat up on the air mattress he and Cadance setup for the night. Mare, his head hurt, he was really hoping that little pink filly didn’t have cider ready at the party last night and that someone snuck it in. Even worse he feels like Twilight may have just said a swear word wherever she is. As he got off the rubber bed he looked over to the smaller air mattress that was set out for Spike, and the kind little filly who had taken to caring for him. It was about time for little fillies to be up by now anyway so might as well wake them. “Her, Sparkling, time to wake uuuup~!” Shining Armor said with an amused tone as he nudged the lump shaped like a little pony. He nudged it again. Then a third time. Then a fourth. “Ok, come on! Up lazy pone- what.” It was a lamp. It was a stupid lamp conveniently shaped like a filly. “Why would anyone even- THEN WHERE’S SPIKE?!” The white unicorn said in panic, now rushing through the library in search of the dragon. Cadance woke up from the clatter of books, groggy and confused. “Wha? W-Why did someone put a lamp to bed…” She muttered, rubbing her eyes and reapplying her mustache. “Cadance! The filly and Spike are gone!” “WHAT?!” Twilight inspected her right hind hoof after Applejack finished. The orange filly had spray something that stung like hell on it and then bandaged it. “There we go, it’ll be better in no time! Though granny says it’ll take longer than it does for me.” Twilight hummed in response. She was then suddenly lifted and held atop of Applejack’s back. “Wh- put me down!” “Nope! Granny says you should walk on that leg as little as possible for ya’ ta’ heal up fast!” Applejack said as she trotted Twilight back toward the farm house. “Then, can you take me to Rarity’s? I wanted to give her a visit later today anyway.” Twilight said with a sigh. Applejack obliged and they changed directions. As they walked the streets toward Rarity’s boutique Twilight couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed as some older ponies looked at them and chuckled. Twilight’s fur turned as pink as her cheeks as they trotted their way past Sugercube Corner, where Pinkie was outside. “Hiya Sparkling! Pink’s a good look on you!” “Th-Thank you.” She muttered at a barely audible level. The sooner they got to Rarity’s the better. The thumping of hooves rapidly approaching brought the filly-corn’s attention to her side, where she suddenly found herself being tackled off her friend’s back. “WAAUGH!” “WHERE’S SPIKE-” Fluttershy was grateful for the peace she had in her cottage this morning. She had a sleepover with a friend, and was left just the cutest baby dragon to learn about! “O-Ow! O-Okay Spike, we don’t throw food in other ponies' eyes please!” She said softly to the hatchling who had his hands covered in foal food. Spike was about to throw another glob, but settled for listening and decided to stuff his hand into his mouth, sucking off the mashed pears. Fluttershy sighed in relief. Spike wasn’t very high maintenance, but she should’ve remembered what Sparkling said about feeding him a bit earlier so he wasn’t in such a playful mood when he ate. She looked around her kitchen that had more globs of food. As well as a chicken that had wandered in who was caught in the crossfire of the assault. Her squawks weren’t happy. “Oh dear…I think it’s time to clean up a bit.” Fluttershy muttered as she lifted Spike out of a high chair she used for some animals, mainly rabbits. She fluttered the hatchling into the living room after getting him wiped up, and set up a makeshift barrier of numerous pillows around the baby dragon. “Alright Spike, give me a moment and I’ll be right with you. I promise. In the meantime, I have a very special job for you!” She said going back into the kitchen, and retrieving the chicken that was attacked by his food fight earlier. “Can you watch Ms. Eggtilda for me Spike?” The baby crawled closer, outstretching his arms for the chicken. The hen didn’t look too pleased as she looked back at Fluttershy. She knew that the subjects in the sentence were reversed and the request was really meant for her. Eggtilda gave her best impression of a sigh as she gave a cluck of resignation to the role of babysitter. Spike giggled as the chicken was put into his arms and he held it carefully. Its feathers tickled and it smelled like pears! Fluttershy zipped into the kitchen and got to cleaning as fast as she could, already nervous about taking her eyes off the baby. And right she was because Spike somehow was already outside and locked in the chicken pen. “Whew, okay. You really should stop disappearing on ponies! You’re just a filly, and even though this place is pretty safe, something could happen! In fact, where are your parents? I think somepony should talk to them about how long they’ve left their daughter unattended!” Twilight fidgeted where she sat on the floor, pawing at the ground, her colors having shifted to a dark blue. “C-Canterlot…” “Hm?” “Excuse me Ms. Carl but uh…” Applejack interrupted and brought her aside. “M’Granny says they may have, um, ‘not wanted’ her anymore.” The farmer whispered into her ear. Cadance’s eyes softened as she looked at the blue filly that was scratching words into the dirt. “U-Um, Spike is being watched by Fluttershy. She lives in a cottage that way, I’m sure he’s safe!” Twilight spoke up nervously. She outstretched a hoof in the direction that Fluttershy lived. Simultaneously she began climbing back onto Applejack’s back. “I’ve gotta go, when you get Spike make sure to bring him to the Carousel Boutique though!” Twilight said, patting Applejack to let her know to continue moving. “Spike? SPIKE?!” Fluttershy whisper-yelled in a panic when she returned to her living room. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! I-I couldn’t have lost him! Sparkling Cider and Shining Armor will be so mad! And that poor baby dragon! How did he even get out?!” She said in a panic as she inspected the area, finding the pillow barrier had been breached. Then she noticed the chicken door she had. Ah. That wasn’t good. “Spike! Spike, please be a good little dragon and come here!” Fluttershy said as she made a swift exit and looked around the outside of her cottage. She rushed over to the chicken coop only to find the gate open. The chickens inside were all fine, but there was no sign of the hatchling. “Oh heck…” Meanwhile residents of Ponyville were treated to the amusing sight of a chicken walking a baby dragon attached to some rope in the form of a makeshift harness. Eggtilda had a very bored expression fixed on her beak as she allowed the baby to lead her around town for the time being, planning to start leading him back to Fluttershy’s cottage once Spike seemed to be losing steam. Though she was already starting to regret it because the baby seemed very energetic. A sharp yank and change of direction snapped the chicken from its thoughts as Spike began crawling toward a particular bakery. The door was pushed open with the ring of a bell, and bouncing to the front counter was Pinkie Pie. “Hi, Ho, hello! What can I- oh! Hi Spike!” She said, getting down on the floor to the baby dragon’s level. Spike giggled as he grabbed her mane and began gently tugging. The chicken huffed as this clearly meant that this little excursion would be taking a bit longer. “Wow! Looks like you’ve made a new friend there Spike! Isn’t she just the cutest little chicky-chick-chicken!” She said, picking up the chicken and nuzzling it, much to Eggtilda’s dismay. Fluttershy trotted through the town, frantically looking through for the missing hatchling. She was mentally bucking herself for losing a baby so fast. She didn’t even get to bathe him! She had to find him fast before he got hungry, or worse! Hurt! “Sparkling Cider, darling are you sure you’re fine to walk? Applejack said-” “I’m fine! I can just walk on three legs, I said I wanted to help and here I am!” Twilight and Rarity emerged from around the corner causing the butter yellow pegasus to gasp and hide behind some boxes swiftly. She waited until they passed before peeking out. “Or even worse, Sparkling Cider or Shining Armor finds him before I do! She’ll be so upset with me and so disappointed!” Author's Note Feel free to leave a comment! I like to hear from you! RunaroundTwilight scrambled around the messy dressmaking room as she looked around for an aubergine fabric. She doesn’t even know what color that comes from! Didn’t help that she would occasionally have to tend to Sweetie Belle, who seemed to like watching Twilight scramble from one side of the room and then back to her whenever she threw a toy. “Darling, are you okay back there?” Rarity asked as she stitched a piece of a costume on. “Never bette- A-“ The poor filly was attacked by an avalanche of fabrics that barreled against her head. A ton of fabric had cascaded around her, surrounding her in a rainbow of surprisingly soft clothes. Twilight just laid there for a moment, contemplating the things that led her to this point. With a sigh, she quickly took out her diary while Rarity wasn’t looking and jotted down the event. Twilight rolled back up the fabric mess dejectedly. Recently it feels like she’s done nothing but ruin things. She intrudes on ponies' homes and makes them care for her. She worries them by disappearing, she can barely even try to help out with anything without completely messing it up! And that was without any magic. She put up the roll of fabric, only to have it slip right back off and smack her in the nose. Twilight took a shuddering breath as she calmly tried once more to store away the fabrics. These ponies were so nice, perfect for Spike to be around. “I should’ve stayed in the forest alone…Spike doesn’t deserve this.” She thought darkly. Fluttershy trotted in a panic around the market space. Spike had to have come through here, right? There were all sorts of things that would draw his attention! Like…food! There were even a few toy stores! He was old enough to want those upon seeing them right? “Spike! Spiiiike!” The butter-yellow filly said, barely getting her voice above a whisper. She carefully kept her eyes trained on the ground for the little hatchling in case he had managed to fall asleep somewhere. This proved fruitful as she did spot something related to the missing hatchling. Tracks. Tracks of knees dragged through dirt, and little claws. Also Eggtilda’s chicken tracks! The filly happily bounced and scampered off following the lead to find her charge. Her searches had brought her all the way to Sugarcube Corner. This was perfect! Pinkie Pie had to have seen Spike come through, and was likely now playing with him inside. The shy filly entered the establishment, slightly wilting when eyes turned to her. She lowered her head as she walked up to the counter where Mrs. Cake smiled. “U-Um, h-hi…have you seen a b-baby dragon…” The timid filly stuttered out at a barely audible level. Mrs. Cake smiled but looked confused. “Uh, I’m sorry, could you repeat that sweetie?” The baker said, leaning in a bit. “A-A b-b-baby dragon.” Mrs. Cake leaned in closer and tilted her ear toward the filly. “I’m sorry, one more time? A little louder?” “B-b-baby d-dragon.” Mrs. Cake was trying her hardest to piece together what the Pegasus was trying to say. She didn’t want to ask her what she said AGAIN! Poor thing looked like she might explode from anxiety. ”Flake Naggin’? No no, drake stabbin? No, cake wagon? No- hold on, maybe she was trying to find Pinkie? Yes, that must be it!” Mrs. Cake thought, her face lighting up. “Oh, you just missed Pinkie sweetie! She had a baby dragon and a chicken with her and said she was going to take him out to play!” The baker mare said happily. Fluttershy however withered a bit, but still had a strained smile. “T-Th-Thank you…”The butter Pegasus said through grit, anxious teeth. She quickly exited the bakery, running to hopefully catch up to Pinkie with hopes the pink filly was still on her way to her destination. “…Plank chew? What does that mean?” Mrs. Cake said as she watched the Pegasus skitter out. Pinkie happily pronked into the local park with the baby dragon on her back giggling happily every time she hopped. Meanwhile the chicken was less amused and was keeping track of how long they’d been out now. Pinkie stopped in her tracks. “Oh! Guys look! It’s Rainbow Dash! Hiiii Rainbooooow!” Pinkie said, rushing over with her guests…to the swings where Rainbow Dash was sleeping herself draped over the top bar like a wet towel, somehow comfortably asleep. Even Spike and Eggtilda understood that it had to be murder on the spine. The multicolored filly snorted as she woke up and slipped off the swings and landed in the mulch. “Ugh…hi Pinkie.” She groaned as she stood back up and shook the loose wooden chips from her mane. “What’s up with ya?” “Babysitting!” “Oh man, glad IM not stuck with- is that Spike.” “Yup!” Rainbow Dash quickly did some mental calculations. If she could prove she could take care of Spike, her crush would totally wanna hang out with her…a-and maybe even…hold hooves. “Ahem, as I was saying. GLAD I’M HERE TO HELP!” She said triumphantly. How hard could watching a kid be? She was a kid, legally allowed to move out yeah, but she was easy to take care of. 7 Years Ago “BOW HAVE YOU FOUND DASHIE?!” “NO! I EVEN TRIED THE WONDERBOLT TRICK!” Meanwhile, a blue filly fluttered down the street with a bag of candy. “Oh man, mom and dad are gonna love this! Hey where’s the house again?” Present “...wait did I tell my parents I moved out?” Twilight stood by Rarity’s side in a depressive mood, holding out a roll of fabric for her. The white unicorn couldn’t help but notice, and glanced at her worried. Twilight had turned a shade of blue, which made how the fellow unicorn was feeling obvious. “Darling, I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been a bit quiet, a-are you alright? You don’t feel faint do you?” She said, turning to look at her. “Rarity, am I a screw up.” Okay BUCK, right out the gate with that one. Sweetie Belle had let out an ‘Uh oh’, but Twilight didn’t seem to hear it. “Darling! Of co-” Rarity watched as Twilight changed colors to an even deeper shade of blue, her mane turning a black color. The filly’s eyes had begun to water, threatening to spill tears as Twilight shivered, trying to keep herself from breaking into a sob. “Sparkling Cider, listen. Yes, you’ve been having…er…issues, but! uh, how did it go again, it’s not about how you fall, it's how you get back up! Right now, you’re simply underway of getting back up!” Rarity said using the best supportive tone she could while giving Twilight a short pat on the shoulder. Twilight’s color seemed to lighten a little, which Rarity assumed meant that Twilight would be okay. They resumed their work on the costumes with Rarity making an attempt to keep Twilight’s mind off darker thoughts with idle chatter about things from school. Her efforts were futile however. ”Then maybe I’ve fallen in a ravine…” Twilight’s coat darkened a little further. Fluttershy panted as she came running into the playground. Her body ached from the physical activity, but she felt relieved when she saw Pinkie Pie and Eggtilda. “P- wheeze P-Pinkie Pie! W-Where’s…” “Spike? He’s with Rainbow Dash!” The party point answered happily. Fluttershy looked around, not seeing the aforementioned filly. “Um, where?” Pinkie Pie’s mane straightened out into an arrow, pointing in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The yellow Pegasus whimpered and did a cute little stamp of frustration as she started to trot off to the farmlands. Rainbow did another loop in the air, letting Spike fall for a second before zooming in and catching the whelp. The baby dragon cheered with joy and the ride he was being taken on, and Rainbow couldn’t feel any better about it. “I am AWESOME at this! You’re pretty cool too, kid!” She said, holding Spike up to her eye level. He just stuck his tongue out and drooled. Rainbow Dash chuckled and zoomed off to their target destination, an apple tree. The pair landed gently in the leaves. Spike hungrily eying the fruit. He grabbed one and started gumming on it as Rainbow just watched relaxing in the leaves. “Whew! Almost done with mah chores! Just one last tree!” An earth pony filly said walking up to the tree the two occupants were in. With a swift buck, everything came down, including a Pegasus and a dragon. “Ow!” “What the- Rainbow what’d I say about goin’ up there! Yer gonna bruise the apples sittin’ on ‘em!” “I was on the branches, it's totally fine!” Aside from the apple she had just crushed by falling on it. Spike meanwhile had lost his apple and began to fuss. “Look what you did AJ! You made him mad! Don’t worry I’VE got this.” She said, confidently trotting up to the hatchling. “You know how ta’ take care of a baby?” “Well…no, but it’s a baby! I’ve done great so far!” She picked up Spike as she spoke and began to toss him in the air to cheer him up. The unexpected result was Spike just getting angrier and starting to cry and wiggle. “Uh- okay, feathers, uhh, i-it’s okay little dude! No need to cry! Hehe, uh, there there!” She said awkwardly, rhythmically patting Spike’s back to try and get him to calm down. Applejack watched unimpressed. She walked over. “Need some help there?” “What?! No! I-I can do this-“ Spike cried louder and began beating his little hands against Rainbow’s shoulder. “Okay fine! Yes…” she said in defeat, holding the baby out for Applejack to take. The duo were inside the kitchen, a sniffly Spike being distracted by spoons the Rainbow clinked together. “Alright, here we go! Applesauce!” Applejack placed a small jar on the table in front of Spike. They all just stared at him waiting until the two ponies facehoofed and realized they would have to feed him. Shining Armor had to admit that Ponyville had a very diverse set of ponies. He and Cadance were currently on the outskirts on their way to Fluttershy’s cottage, when a white unicorn with a blue mane and sick shades had come up to them. Weirdly enough she didn’t speak a word, yet somehow Shining understood her, which greatly confused Cadance. “She says she wants to be a DJ and wants us to listen to something she just came up with, her name is Vinyl by the way.” Shining explained. Vinyl smiled and nodded vigorously, her shades almost being shaken off her snout. “Oh, um, sure why not! Spike is being babysat so it’ll be fine if we don’t get him right away.” Vinyl smiled and pranced in place in excitement. She took the couple’s hooves in her magic and began leading them to her house. Which weirdly enough was half undecorated. She wheeled out a set of turntables to the front yard and posed with her hooves in the air. “Get ready, to have your. Horns. BLOWN!” Shining narrated for the filly. “Uh, maybe choose a different word there sweety-“ She barely finished before she was being blasted by some sick beats. “Thank you again darling, it’s always a pleasure to have you around, but your help is much appreciated! Isn’t that right Sweetie Belle~” the Foal cooed and giggled in response, reaching out for Twilight. Twilight’s mouth twitched upwards as she reached a hoof or for Sweetie to take. She said her goodbyes and began a slow walk down the road. For the most part she was just quiet, the ambient noise of Ponyville to fill her thoughts. From what she could tell, her magic leak was closing up. She might be able to use her horn again by the end of the day or maybe tomorrow. But who’s to say she won't just do something else to spring another leak. Or blow something up. Or destroy even more. The spiral of thoughts just continued endlessly, making her miss Rainbow flying over head and back to the park. She just walked, kicking aside rocks as the thoughts brought her further into a pit of sorrow. By the time she stopped moving she sat on the edge of Ponyville, staring at the forest ahead, mind racing with contemplations of her actions. So she stepped forward, and trudged through the foliage, wincing at the thorns that jabbed her, biting against the bits of vine that got in her way. She found herself standing in a nice little clearing in no time and looked around. She sighed, using her tail as a brush and cleaning off a patch in the middle, and just lying there. She closed her eyes and just hoped that things would get better if she just left for a bit. Author's Note Feel free to leave a comment!
Cider at a PartyAfter a small trampling under small hooves and a clear misunderstanding, Shining Armor found himself escorting a group of fillies out of the dangerous Everfree and back toward Ponyville. On his back was Spike, who was incredibly happy to see him. “I can’t believe he ended up here! You’re sure a filly named Twilight didn’t come by?” Shining Armor said, nuzzling the hatchling who grabbed his horn as he giggled. Applejack nodded her head. “Eeyup. Just Spike n’ Sparklin’ Cider ‘ere.” She said, nodding her head toward Twilight who was still sniffling a little and was still a blue color. Fluttershy had shown some support in walking beside her and pressing into her side. “Oh mare how did you find him?” Shining Armor asked the blue filly, who snapped to attention and turned yellow, startled. Twilight looked down at the dirt path they walked as she tried to come up with an answer. “I-I was lost too when I found him in the everfree.” Twilight muttered out. Shining looked worried at this answer, and hummed to himself about what it implied. Meanwhile Spike hung from the stallion’s horn laughing with glee. “Darlings!” Everyone snapped to attention at the sound of Rarity’s voice coming to meet them. The white unicorn filly panted as she came to a stop before swiftly pulling out a bottle of water from somewhere. After a pant of relief she spoke. “I had heard from Big Mac that Sparkling Cider had disappeared again and that everypony was headed toward the everfree for her!” She took a moment to take a breath. She then zipped over to Twilight who was beginning to fade to her natural colors after calming down only to shoot a bright yellow from the filly suddenly invading her space. “My goodness darling are you okay? You have sticks caught in your mane and- is this dirt?!” Rarity’s voice cried dramatically as she pulled back her hoof to observe the dirt now on it. Twilight’s confusion was represented by the color orange. Which Applejack noted she liked the color of on the filly. “Honestly I think there’s something more important than ALL of this! Asidefromyoursisterbeingmissingofcoursebut, I get to throw you AND Carl’s Welcome To Ponyville party!” Pinkie Pie borderline shouted, filled with anticipation. She quickly grabbed Twilight’s hoof and snatched Spike from Shining’s magic with a swiftness as she carried them off. “C’mon! We’ve gotta hurry and set this party up!” The group watched as Twilight and Spike were carried off to Sugarcube Corner by Pinkie at an incredible speed. “Yeesh, someone should feed that filly less sugar.” Shining commented passively. Cadance brushed off her hooves as she put a pie in the oven. “Thank ya’ kindly fer’ all yer’ help Carl, Ah’ know Applejack an’ Sparklin’ will be hungry once they git’ back here!” There was a swift set of knocks at the door. That alarmed the two ponies for a moment before they settled down and decided to answer it. However there was no one there but a flyer. Cadance picked it up for the old green mare, but she quickly noticed the mouth writing. “Oh! Guess we’ll have ta’ put this away fer’ later then! Pinkie’s aboutta have a party!” Granny Smith said jovially, rushing back into the kitchen to clean up and then store away the apple pies for later. Meanwhile Cadance just stood there looking at the letters on the card. The writing was a bit messy, but it was a familiar kind of mouth writing nonetheless. “Twily…” the mustached princess muttered to herself. “Ah’ tell ya, that filly can be a little much at times but she knows how ta’ throw a good party Carl! Now c’mon, let’s get Big Mac and head on over to the library.” Granny said, walking out of the kitchen. Cadance nodded and kept the invitation with her. “-and then there was the time she threw that anniversary party for the first time I knocked my own tooth out, and she even made a party for something like THAT awesome! So yeah, safe to say, Pinkie knows how to party.” Rainbow Dash said confidently, crossing her forelegs as she floated in front of Shining Armor as they walked. “Man, I wish I knew about her before! She would’ve been great for helping Twily to make new friends!” Shining Armor replied, outstanded by just how much expertise a filly had already for celebrations. “Well look on the bright side darling, I’m sure your sister will never want to be alone again after you find her.” “Well I hope so! Because I’m not taking my eyes off her for a LOOOOONG time when I find her.” Shining Armor said as they crossed town and got closer to the library. His attention was dragged to another pink pony, though this one was taller and was currently under the clever disguise of Carl. His face lit up and he ran over to Cadance giving her a hug. Cadance brought Shining Armor aside, allowing the fillies to meet up with Big Mac and Granny Smith who had Apple Bloom in a foal carrier. Meanwhile, Shining was given the flyer with Twilight’s mouthwriting. ”Then why did she leave Spike?” He questioned absently. ”She what?” Cadance interjected in concern. ”Oh yeah, some filly found him in the woods.” ”I feel like we should focus on that a bit.” ”Hey, you guys coming? Library’s just over here!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering over the two ponies. A loud welcome later, and Twilight found herself paranoid and pale yellow. She carefully watched Shining Armor as he enjoyed some snacks and talked with the locals of Ponyville, and his new companion, a very familiar looking “Carl”, played some games Pinkie made. Of course she was also checking in on Spike who was happily playing with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom while Granny and a few other ponies watched over them. There was also a fourth, orange filly playing with them. ”H-Hi Sparkling” Twilight’s ears stood on point as she turned to look behind her. She almost didn’t hear Fluttershy say anything. The butter yellow filly shrunk back a little before she scrounged up the few scraps of confidence available. “I-I-I just wanted t-to check up on you, i-if it’s okay of course.” She said, hoofing at the wooden floors. Twilight just nodded and sat back down. ”I-I’m fine, just a little shaken by what happened.” Technically it wasn't a lie. She was still jumpy from the manticore attack. She then flickered and was mushed against the wall behind her. She was also still blinking, just not as often. Fluttershy was a bit startled and rushed to help her up. ”Oh dear! I almost forgot to mention that you may have a magic leak! You should avoid using any spells for the time being.” She smiled with concern. Twilight of course already knew but couldn’t help but smile back at her kindness. ”Thanks, I’ll try my best. I just hope the flickering doesn’t count.” Fluttershy seemed to contemplate something as Twilight spoke. ”I-I-If you want, y-you and Spike can come by my cottage to relax! I take care of some smaller animals right now, and they’re just the cuddliest little things and I think it you two would enjoy just spending the day around some cute critters!” Fluttershy managed to get out at a barely normal volume. Twilight had to lean in to hear but, over all it sounded really nice! Maybe if she asked she could spend the night! ”Darlings! There you are, Pinkie has been looking for you to try this game with us all!” Rarity said, getting behind Twilight and Fluttershy and started pushing them over to a group of fillies all over a white mat with multicolored spots. ”Oh, that’s okay Rarity! You can tell her we didn’t-” ”Nonesense! After you all had to be in the ghastly everfree, you should do everything you can to unwind! Though I’d prefer to do it using a good spa, games can work too!” Rarity insisted as they reached. Twilight and Fluttershy just glanced at each other and sighed. ”All right everypony, I call this twister!” The party went on until midnight. If there was something Pinkie knew how to do, it was how to start, continue, and end a party. Though Twilight had taken Spike with her as Fluttershy had left since they left early. She had taken the offer to come by and had imposed the question of spending the night on the way, and thankfully the Pegasus said yes! But now she just woke up on the belly of a bear that was lovingly cuddling her. She took in a deep breath and let it out carefully. There was no reason to panic. Fluttershy said the animals were friendly, and she trusted her. Plus, she survived a manticore! Thanks to the help of Shining and her own haywire magic but still. She looked around, hoping to see Fluttershy so she could get some help, but just found the adorable sight of Spike being cuddled by a fluffle of rabbits in the little bed Fluttershy made for him. Man she wished she could afford a camera. Twilight silently laid atop the bear, just waiting for Fluttershy to come down to help her. It was an anxiety filled hour. Now Twilight had found herself walking herself down to Sweet Apple Acres, intent on helping out for the day WITHOUT an incident! She flickered into the air about three feet and face planted back down. At least with as little incident as she could. She had decided to entrust Spike to Fluttershy for the day through a combined fear of Twilight’s on random blinking and Fluttershy weakly pleading to take care of him. Twilight didn’t know much about the Pegasus, but from what she had seen of how content the animals were with Fluttershy, Spike should be in good hands. By the time she reached the farmland she had realized her coat had settled down to her natural colors, though they turned a vibrant yellow with her surprise before she calmed herself. She spotted Big Mac already on the fields tending to them and walked up against the fence. ”Hi Big Mac!” She said climbing under the fence. ”Mornin’ Sparklin’ .” He nodded to her, giving her a little pat on the head. ”Here ta’ help?” ”Mhm.” ”Not gonna disappear again?” ”Uh-uh.” ”Alrighty, Applejack’s workin’ the north orchard.” ”Thank you!” Twilight said, turning orange. ”Oh, one more thing. We’re all gonna see Shinin’ an’ Carl off later this afternoon if ya’ wanna come.” Big Mac witnessed Twilight turn white and freeze up, and then rigidly nod while continuing on her way to where Applejack was. ”Ah’m startin’ ta’ think she has a problem sayin’ no.” Author's Note Feel free to leave a comment!
Runaway SparkleThe filly’s hooves trudged through the underbrush, her magic being used to pry away any plants that sought to stay in her path. Twilight had been walking in circles all night with the baby dragon on her back. She could tell because she had arrived at the balloon they had made their escape in multiple times. She was tired, and was starting to get hungry. She knew she was lucky Spike had been sleeping so long, she only had two bottles for him left after they crashed. ”There’s gotta be somepony out here…” She muttered to herself. She readjusted her broken reading glasses on her snout, still couldn’t believe that the case for the was one of the things she forgot. As Twilight felt the foliage thin out in the direction she was walking, hope began to fill her heart. Finally! She wasn’t gonna end up where she crashed again! She picked up her pace into a trot, careful not to jostle Spike too much as she found herself walking out to a fence. She peeked through the gaps. ”It’s a farm!” She said joyfully. She looked around, it was sometime around midnight, so no one should be up. She steeled herself, putting on a serious face. Then immediately had to readjust her glasses. Not that they served a purpose really. She carefully levitated Spike over the fence as she slipped through it and landed the dragon on her back. She then enacted what was, in her head at least, super tactical and stealthily movements, but really just consisted of her quickly skittering behind objects she thought would be big enough to hide both her and spike. However her objective was clear. The barn. The nights were getting chilly and if there was a barn then there was hay that they could huddle up in and snack on. Twilight stuck her head around the corner, no one was there so she made a quick skitter into the barn and let out a sigh of relief. Good, that was one thing secured: shelter for the night. Now she just needed some- CLANG Oh dang. ”Who puts a rake next to a bucket like that?!” Twilight whisper yelled as she felt Spike start to stir from the loud noise. ”Now what was that?” Twilight, put her hooves over her mouth and was quick to jump right into one of the piles of hay. Spike was beginning to fuss, and she did her best to shush him as a voice began to grow near. She was able to start hearing the owner’s hooves touching the ground when she remembered she had a bottle for Spike and quickly stuck it into his mouth. It was quiet outside the haystack. Granny Smith looked over the barn with tired eyes, having been awoken by a sudden racket. She looked to find that it was a fallen rake that had struck a bucket. She snorted with minor annoyance. ”Thought I been tellin’ them yougins’ to put away the tools properly!” She grumbled as she walked over to put up the rake and bucket properly when her hoof brushed against something. A little pair of broken glasses. Twilight felt her blood run cold when the old mare picked up her reading glasses. She touched her face with a hoof. “I didn't even realize they were gone!” She thought in a panic. She prayed to Celestia, and also hoped that she didn’t hear it because then she would find her, that the green pony wouldn’t find her. She quickly closed up the small hole she made to see and sat as still as possible. There was a long stretch of silence before she heard the sound of the mare leaving and closing the barn door behind her. She gave things a few more minutes before letting out a sigh of relief. She shifted around and put down Spike, holding the bottle with her magic until he was finished. In the meantime, she retrieved one of two books she had in her saddlebag. Her diary. Day 1 I ruined everything It was a beautiful evening in canterlot. Yet Twilight was still in school hunched over a book with a daisy sandwich on a plate off to the side. Spike was playing with some toys a few feet behind her. She was eager to keep growing, to keep learning and she was grateful for access to the school’s library. She had seen a teacher in one of the older classes use a transfiguration spell, changing a rock into an orange. Being young and eager the filly sought to replicate this spell for herself. ”This stuff looks a bit hard…but it can’t be that bad, right?” Twilight said, looking behind herself to Spike, who just looked back at her and giggled. ”Yeah, you’re right Spike. I can do this!” It was supposed to be a simple change. A daisy sandwich into a grilled cheese. But what she got was a molten glob of dairy that melted and corroded everything it touched as it grew out of control. In a panic she had grabbed Spike and her saddlebags and ran to escape the ensuing destruction. Other colts and fillies screamed in terror behind her, and a few times she even heard those cries cut short. The panic in her brain only increased, and she ran faster. The building was crumbling around her as she escaped through a back door, and even after that she kept running. She killed ponies. She killed other ponies. She was a murderer, a criminal! She didn’t want to go to jail. She didn’t want to be banished, or even executed! She looked back as she saw the blob begin to melt into the streets, her eyes widening in horror as tears began to gather in her eyes. She didn’t mean to she didn’t mean to shedidn’tmeantoshedidn’tmeanto! She ran into the twinkling balloon with a thud. She wiped tears from her eyes. Twilight made a realization. She was quick to put Spike and herself into the balloon. She’d only been in it for school trips but she could figure out how to navigate it fully as she went. As the balloon rose into the air Twilight had a full view of the carnage she had caused. The school was covered in a golden yellow slime that was beginning to darken and cool as it reached the streets, guards and other emergency services were beginning to arrive on the scene. She could barely make out ponies running to their parents and some that approached the mess looking for their child. She put her hooves over her mouth and slid down into the balloon’s basket. She felt Spike nuzzle into her side and look up at her. ”Oh Spike…I’m so sorry.” She murmured into him as she pulled him close for a hug. She had just ruined everything for them. Twilight watched the sun set as they continued their journey in the air. Spike babbled idly and rolled on the floor of the basket. The lavender filly pulled out the map that was kept in the balloon along with the compass and tried to make sense of where they were going. “If I’m reading this thing right, we’re headed toward…Dodge? M-Maybe we’ll be safe tHERE-“ The balloon jerked wildly as a mighty gust swung the balloon around. Spike cried out as he was thrown to one side of the basket. ”Spike!” Twilight enveloped her saddlebag in magic as she slid herself to Spike and wrapped her moves around him. She fastened the bag to her barrel and held Spike tightly, praying for the best. Applejack was a smidge tired when she woke. Last night there was a racket which had startled her and Big Mac awake for about an hour. But at least waking up to some pancakes made it better. Now she got to start on farm work! As she moved on to go to the front door, she found something strange. A broken pair of glasses fit for a filly like herself, well they would be if the bridge wasn’t a bit cooked. Either way, she decided to take them with her as she walked out to head to the barn. ”Twiligh’ Sparkle…must be the brand!” She said as she inspected the spectacles. She put them on her snout, looking around at the barn through them. She walked over to get her plow when she noticed something. A purple hoof sticking out of a haystack. She stared at it for a moment, confused. Now who could that be? She walked herself over to the haystack, readjusting the glasses on her snout and began to pull at the hoof with her mouth. With a few tugs, Applejack got her prize, a purple filly like herself staring at her dazedly. Those dazed purple eyes blinked in confusion before focusing and shrinking in surprise. Applejack however instantly knew something was wrong with herself. She had a crush now. Twilight sat staring at the orange filly that was wearing her broken glasses in shock. She was starting to panic as she had just been found out, she needed to grab Spike and run, but she was being stared down! Applejack’s cheeks flushed a slight bit red as she began to stutter. ”u-Uh, h-hi!” Twilight instantly zipped back into the haystack and in a fluid leap grabbed Spike and her saddle bags and exited on the other side. Where there was a wall. ”Hey wait!” Twilight didn’t listen and tried to go around the haystack, only for Applejack to cut her off. She tried the other side for only the same outcome, so Twilight employed the simple tactic of juking her by faking going back around the other side of the haystack. She bolted and zipped out of the barn with Spike on her back, curiously looking around at the sudden action. Applejack took a moment before realizing what had happened and chased after her. “Hang on! Git’ back here!” She called after Twilight. However she ignored the calls as she ran through the field, weaving around an older looking red colt who just stared confused as Twilight made a run for the gates. Applejack ran past a dumbfounded Big Mac and just yelled, “She was in our barn!” “Oh.” He said quietly before he ran off after Twilight as well. Twilight could feel her lungs burning. This was the fastest and the most she’d ever run in her life, and she hoped she wouldn’t ever have to run for her life again. If they caught her, then they would throw her in jail. Then they would call Canterlot! THEN THEY WOULD GET CELESTIA! This was enough of a kick to make Twilight keep running a little faster. She saw that she was reaching the town this farm was connected to and kept running right into the streets. She narrowly dodged other ponies, causing a commotion as her two pursuers had to do the same. “Leave me alone! I’m sorry!” Twilight shouted back at them. She got an idea and sharply turned a corner, whipping herself around the edge and swiftly entered the door of the building, closing it behind her. Spike began clapping and giggling, making Twilight quickly turn to use a hoof to silence him. “Um, hello there darling. Can I help you?” Twilight’s face blanked as she looked over at the white unicorn at a small desk by a playpen scratching onto some paper. Inside a baby unicorn babbled happily. “…not telling on me would help.”
Generosity for some CiderShining Armor’s eyes stared soullessly into the ceiling of her sister’s room. It was decorated with constellations of all kinds. Just the way Twilight liked it. The young stallion was laying on the floor of his sister’s room in despair, holding the only thing of hers that she left behind before she disappeared the day before. Smarty Pants. When he first heard the news he was enraged with whoever could’ve caused this catastrophe. It was quickly replaced with fear once he overheard that the mess seemed to come from the right side of the school, and he knew the library was on that side of the school from the few times he had to go and get his sister himself. His feelings properly took the downfall into despair when no evidence of Twilight was found in the cheesey monsoon of hurt and burned ponies. He had a glimmer of hope for a while thinking she had escaped, but he returned home and she wasn’t there. Now there was a search going and she still hadn’t been found yet. One piece of evidence was found in the fact that the twinkling balloon had gone missing. “Twily…please come home…” “My word! You have no home?! Actually, looking at you, that makes sense…” Rarity said, taking a sip of her tea as she looked at her guest. Twilight was not looking her best. Her coat was messy with hay and dirt, and was frazzled, her mane was slightly tangled and her face was a mess. At least her beard was still growing in alright. “Y-Yeah…thanks for the tea by the way.” Twilight said, taking a sup from the cup she’d been given. She glanced at Spike who was playing with Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle, inside a playpen. They were working together to build a tower from the blocks. “Think nothing of it darling, you’ve already said that 5 times anyway.” “T-That’s because I really mean it, a-and I’d repay you if I could!” “I know darling. If you really want to repay me then I could always take the name of such a lovely guest!” Rarity said, leaning in closer as she set her cup down. Twilight’s mind began racing like an athlete. If she said her real name then any warrants out for her arrest would quickly be traced to her! Fake name! C’monc’monc’mon- “Y-Yeah! It’s Tw- uh- Sp-Sparkle- Sp-Sparkling uh-“ she quickly glanced around spying a bottle of cider from the cabinet Rarity left open. “Cider! Sp-Sparkling Cider. That’s my name!” Twilight said with a forced grin. Rarity thought about the name mumbling it to herself a few times as she glanced back at Twilight. “Sparkling Cider…a beautiful name for somepony with eyes like yours!” Rarity said happily, clapping her hooves together. “O-Oh! Thank you!” She said with a small blush as she took a sip from her tea. Rarity collected their tea cups and placed them in the sink, giving Twilight a moment to pick up the foal and hatchling along with their playpen in her magic. Rarity watched impressed as Twilight carried so many items at once. “Ah, you practice magic more extravagantly I see?” She said as they exited to the main area of the boutique. “Uh, y-yeah! I g-got my cutie mark for it so I kinda have to?” She shrugged. If she said she was a student that’d give her away. She looked around at the dresses in the area, pretty designs were all about, mostly in filly-size though. “Are you a fashion designer? Your work is really pretty!” Twilight complemented, putting the kids down to play. Rarity puffed her chest out looking prideful. “Thank you for noticing! Yes it is true, not only do I go to school and take care of my sister as a single filly, but I also design the most extravagant designs for ponies all across town!” Rarity said, posing dramatically. Twilight stroked her short beard. “What about your parents? Who takes care of Sweetie Belle while you're at school?” Rarity deflated a bit. “Eh…mother and father are quite busy so… they aren’t around much… but I entrust my sister’s safety to the grandmother of a friend of mine! Granny Smith, she has grandkids and doesn’t mind caring for Sweetie Belle while her other grandchildren are at school! In fact I was about to start preparing to drop Sweetie off before you arrived!” Rarity said to Twilight. She blushed, embarrassed that she could’ve made Rarity late. “S-Sorry, I-if we hurry over you won’t be late for school!” “It’s only about five thirty, we still have another half-hour. But I suppose it is best to do this early so I can have time to sketch out a few more designs before I’m off to school.” Rarity pondered “Sounds like a plan! C’mon Spike, up!” “Oh you’ll absolutely love her Sparkling, Mrs. Smith is just the most delightful pony you’ll meet! Sure she might be a little kooky but every time I’ve left Sweetie with her I’ve been told there was nothing but joy!” Rarity said with praise, however Twilight had begun to look antsy. The path they were taking to this “Granny Smith”’s place was the path she had just ran out of. ”Please don’t be the farm, please don’t be the farm, please don’t be the far-” Twilight looked up at the sign labeled Sweet Apple Acres. “Feathers!” ”My word! There’s children!” Twilight shook with fear as they walked up to the front door. Rarity knocked without hesitation, standing politely outside the door. It swung open to reveal Granny Smith, much to Twilight’s hidden dismay. The younger company babbled happily at the sight of a new pony, while the older mare took a while to register the faces before a smile lit up her features. “Why hello there little miss Rarity! Here to drop off yer’ sister? A bit earleh but Ah’ don’t mind none and neither does Apple Bloom!” Granny said as she welcomed them inside. Twilight rigidly stepped inside after Rarity. Either those two from earlier didn’t come back to tell her, or she was just old and didn’t remember. “Ah’ got Applejack an’ Big Mac runnin’ an errand for me real fast but they’ll be back to meetcha at school hon’. Now tell me who’s yer’ friend here!” Granny questioned as she turned to Twilight, who was trying to hide behind a couch. “She’s a strange filly I can tell that much.” “Ah, that would be Sparkling Cider, I’ve just met her today! I promise you she’ll be nothing but a gem, and I know my way around a crystal!” Rarity spoke confidently. Twilight honestly was surprised. She didn’t have many people her age that would speak well of her traits, even though what Rarity knew was vague, so it created an interesting bit of emotion in her. She then saw Rarity lean over to Granny Smith to whisper something to her as Twilight came from behind the couch to sit with the three babies. ”Unfortunately Mrs. Smith, Cider is currently…without housing.” Rarity told the old pony in a hushed volume. Granny Smith’s eyes widened in shock as they briefly looked over to Twilight, now registering how dirty and scruffy she was. Twilight just blinked, confused on why the old mare was staring at her now. “Ah’ understand, Ah’m fine with lettin’ yer’ friend stay over for a bit. Could use the help if there’s gonna be three youngin’s here!” Granny Smith said, patting Rarity on the head. Rarity was quick to brush out her mane after the touch. Rarity bid them a quick farewell and trotted off home, to gather herself. Granny Smith closed the door behind the young unicorn. Twilight sighed to herself quietly. So far, things have gone well! Now she just needed to get out of here before that colt and filly came back. “Twi-” ”HI GRANNY WE’RE WITH THA’ CHEESE! BYE WE’RE OFF TO SCHOOL NOW!” Twilight was caught off guard by the whirlwind of motion that went through the front door, up the stairs and back out again. Well she didn’t have to worry about them for a while. Granny Smith walked over to where Twilight sat, currently picking up Apple Bloom from having fallen on her face. “Twiligh’ Sparkle, that’s yer’ real name right?” The old pony said, making Twilight go stiff as a tree. She turned to look at Granny Smith while shaking. "N-Nuh-uh.” She rebuked unconvincingly. Granny giggled. “So these glasses ain’t yours honey?” Granny Smith questioned, pulling out her glasses and showing the engraving. Twilight paled. She thought that orange filly still had them. “Um, th-they’re mine.” “An’ muh’ eyes ain’t what they used ta’ be but Ah’m sure this here read’s “Twiligh’ Sparkle”. What’s gotcha' down on ya’ luck sugarcube? Heard you don’t gotta’ place to stay.” The elderly mare said, putting a hoof on Twilight’s back. ”I-I-I, uh…” Twilight hesitated to form an answer, just watching the infants play for a moment before she put together what she could say without putting herself and Spike in danger of capture. She sniffled, jeez, shouldn’t have slept with a foot out of the haystack last night. Hope she doesn’t have a cold. ”W-We can’t go home…” Twilight mumbled, rubbing her foreleg with the other. Unbeknownst to Twilight, she had made it seem as though she were about to cry, prompting Granny Smith to pull her close and gently rub her back. “No need ta’ fret missy, you can come by mah’ farm anytime ya’ need, ya hear? Now let’s get these kids fed!” Granny said, giving her a gentle stroke on the head before she hopped up and made her way to the kitchen. Twilight looked back at the three playing slightly confused. Well, maybe now she didn’t have to sneak into the barn. Twilight stared at the infants rolling a ball between the three of them. Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, and Spike all giggled happily. Man it feels like there’s a filly missing from the picture here. Twilight multitasked between feeding Spike and eating herself as Granny Smith regaled her with interesting stories while she fed Sweetie and Apple Bloom. Finding out she was speaking to a pony who was part of the town’s foundation was incredibly interesting to her, almost as interesting as reading about Star Swirl! She had to look more into the history of this town, who knows what other interesting magical phenomena like the zap apples could be in this place! Twilight finished her simple meal of an apple-jelly sandwich, she wasn’t aware you could turn apples into jelly but hey, she was learning new things. The empty plates were taken into her aura and were lifted to the sink by Twilight. She was quick to trot over and begin on the dishes. “You don’t gotta go an’ do that now dear!” Granny said as she put Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom down. “It’s fine! It’s the least I can do for your hospitality!” Twilight replied as she continued. She had to think about how kind Granny Smith was to her, as well as Rarity. She was honestly almost excited to see her again the next day, but she might not be in town still afterward. Thanks to Granny’s story she figured that Ponyville wasn’t too far from Canterlot. This could be the next place they look! She and Spike would have to get moving to another town. “Thank you for gathering on such short notice my ponies. Please do not mind my appearance.” Princess Celestia said, looking…rough from the news of her most recent, and surprisingly closest, personal student’s current status as missing. Though in Celestia’s mind she was overreaching to thinking she could be dead. “I would like to make the first point for the search to be innn…..” Her hoof hovered over Ponyville. Then moved all the way to Manehatten. “Here.” But…she didn’t wanna leave Granny Smith and Rarity! Rarity was basically her first friend that wasn’t her brother! Now she’ll never see him again. Granny Smith was such a kind pony, and Spike liked Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle already! But they HAD to leave! Twilight’s hair began to twang out of place as she stressed over the decision whether she and Spike would leave today or not before Granny came in to check on her as she finished the last plate. “Th’ spare bath is upstairs. Get yer’ self washed up while Ah’ get these yougin’s cleaned. “Oh! Thank you again Mrs. Smith!” Twilight responded, snapping out of her thoughts. Twilight wasn’t sure how long she sat in that tub. But man those bubbles felt great. It also helped her decide. The princess was a smart pony, so she would definitely check Ponyville next. “Perhaps next I should send them to Cloudsdale…Twilight has always been interested in learning about pegasi, perhaps she tried to run there?” Definitely. But, they didn’t have to leave immediately. Maybe they could give it another day and it would be fine? Then they would leave. 100%. They wouldn’t get sidetracked. “Sparklin’! Little miss Rarity’s ‘ere to getcha and her sister!” Twilight quickly came trotting down, but screeched to a halt when she reached the living room. Seeing Rarity, Granny Smith, the foal's and hatching, and Big Mac and Applejack. "It's you!" Applejack's face lit up as she pointed at Twilight. Author's Note feel free to leave a review! I love to know what cha' think even if I'm just doin' this for fun!
A Sparkle of Laughter“So THAT’S why you ran into my boutique looking haggard!” Rarity said as Applejack explained her first encounter with Twilight. Twilight shifted nervously where she sat. “Yup! Ah’ wanted to invite her into mah house proper, b-but ah’ stuttered an’ scared ‘er off.” Applejack replied sheepishly, as Twilight just scratched her cheek. “Then I must ask darling, how did you end up in Applejack’s barn to begin with?” Rarity said, turning to Twilight, who was now taking Spike into her lap. The lavender filly stiffened up and looked away. “I-I don’t want to talk about it.” She mumbled as she squeezed Spike a little. “Well why not-” “Applejack, if she don’t wanna tell then we gotta respect that!” Granny Smith lightly admonished. Applejack gave a small “Yes Granny” and let the subject drop. Rarity stood, taking a small stretch. “Well I suppose me, Sweetie, and Cider should be going now, thank you again for having us!” Rarity said as she picked up Sweetie Belle in her magic. “Now hold on a second, why’s Sparklin’ Cider comin’ with you?” Applejack opposed, a little fast as well. “Well, I have a spare bedroom at home she can use for a bit!” “Well so do we!” Applejack argued. “Nope.” Only for Big Mac to quickly correct her. “Well we have a…couch?” She suggested, as Rarity just gave her a deadpan stare. “That’s hardly satisfactory.” The white unicorn replied in a flat tone. “Is too!” A minor bickering match had started between the two, meanwhile Twilight used the commotion, and a suddenly sleeping Granny Smith, to quietly back herself out the door with Spike. The hatching giggled and waved goodbye to the bickering ponies. Twilight felt safe enough to speed up into a quick trot once she was away from the door. “I think we’ve intruded enough Spike, why don’t we just check out town for now. Ya’ like the sound of that?” She said, glancing back at the dragon on her back. Spike gurgled, which Twilight just took as an agreement. “Alright then! Let’s see what’s around before the sun goes down!” The pair strolled around Ponyville, curiously taking in the buildings and giving small waves to people as the sun continued its arc across the sky. The town was a nice little place, mostly peaceful aside from the random bit of action that occurred at times from ponies just being ponies. But Twilight stopped dead in her tracks as she found something incredible. It was a large tree with a balcony and windows, partially a house. More importantly to Twilight though, was the sign above the door. “Golden Oak Library.” Library. Spike let out a little groan of exasperation and shoved his face into the back of Twilight’s neck as she began to bounce in place. “eeeEEEEEEE-” Shining Armor wasn’t the brightest knife in the crayon shed, but he was smart enough to put together a few things about Twilight’s situation. One, she probably caused the accident. Two, she ran out of fear and took Spike with her. Three, they could be anywhere in Equestria now, and were alone and terrified. He ran a hoof through his frazzled mane as he considered the possibilities of where Twilight and Spike could be, there was the chance they didn’t even have food or shelter. Even worse, there was gonna be rain scheduled tonight! “…I should go out there and look for her. She’s out there alone and scared and is gonna want someone she knows.” Shining said to no one in particular, more convincing himself of why he needs to go out and find her himself. But of course he was going to write a letter first. Wouldn’t want to cause another panic. Twilight wasn’t sure why it happened but she and Spike were far from alone. One second she spotted the library, and was about to look for the street name to memorize. Next she had confetti and balloons blasted at her and Spike and she was dragged off in a blur to a party! “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” A pink filly shouted in excitement as the rest of the ponies at the apparent party in a…bakery she believed, began to celebrate properly. She began to get her wits about her when the pink filly assaulted her with questions one after the other. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Where are you from? Who’s that one your back? OHMYGOSH is that a baby dragon?! Does he like cake? Do YOU like cake? Are you allergic to anything-“ Pinkie Pie ranted, still going on behind Twilight's hoof that was holding her mouth shut. “Uh, I-I’ll just answer those few. Ahem.” “Sparkling Cider, I don’t wanna talk about it, that’s Spike, yes, yes he can have a little cake, I like cake, and no I think.” Twilight responded calmly. Pinkie Pie raised her hoof to indicate a question. Twilight let her speak. “Can I touch your beard?” “No thank you.” “Aw man.” Twilight allowed Pinkie Pie to continue to chatter her and Spike’s ears off about various interesting topics about herself. Pinkie Pie was an interesting individual herself. She was hyperactive, bouncy, and is that a cannon? “-and this is my PARTY CAAANNOOOON!” The pink filly said in excitement before yanking the string on the back of the cannon, setting it off. Twilight and Spike were blasted with confetti and streamers, having a heap of the pieces of paper covering them. They stuck their heads out, with Twilight spitting out a piece of confetti. “Hehe! Sorry! Guess I put in a bit too much!” Pinkie said, brushing a piece off of Twilight’s snout. Twilight tried to keep a grin from forming on her face, as Spike laughed in joy as he played in the confetti. Eventually Twilight found herself laughing too, putting a smile on Pinkie's face. "If you like that, then how about some dancing!" She said, pulled Twilight by her hooves out of the confetti pile with Spike. Twilight found herself being swung around every which way by the pink filly in the form of a makeshift 'dance', but she and Spike were laughing in joy all the way. “Consarnit, now why’d she have ta’ run off like that!” Applejack complained as she and Big Mac looked around town for ‘Sparkling Cider’. Rarity had gone off in her own direction to look for their guest, with the agreement that whoever found and convinced her first could have her stay over. “Maybe y’all should’ve just asked Cider’ what she wanted.” Mac said, as she picked up a piece of confetti off the floor. “Huh. Forgot Pinkie had a party, we were s’posed to come after school.” The red colt said as he observed the piece of paper. Applejack had a lightbulb go off in realization. “That’s right! She was gonna throw a party fer Cider since she was new!” Applejack shouted as she ran off to Sugarcube Corner. Big Mac just sighed as he followed her. Meanwhile with Rarity, she was struggling with Sweetie wanting to go home. “C’mon Sweetie darling! Just a few more minutes of looking and we’ll go back home WITH a playmate!” Rarity said, trying to shush and reason with a baby. However, such attempts proved futile as Sweetie began to get more upset. She growled in frustration as she was forced to give up and return home. Applejack entered the bakery to see the party still going strong, and the “Welcome to Ponyville” sign overhead, all she needed to do now was find Twilight. She and Big Mac stumbled through the party searching for the lavender mare, all while coming across many other ponies they recognized and saying hello. Eventually they came across the organizer of this celebration, doing flips on a giant rubber ball. While juggling. It was honestly impressive and she almost forgot what she was looking for. “Hi Applejack! Glad you came after all!” Pinkie said as she continued her antics. “Hiya Pinkie, uh has a pony called Sparklin’ Cider been here yet?” She asked, looking around. “Hmmmm…” The pink filly halted mid-air, with her juggling balls doing so as well as she began thinking. “Yep! But I lost track of her, so she might still be around!” Pinkie said, instantly resuming her juggling flips. Applejack let out a breath of relief. This should be easy. Well it would’ve been if Twilight hadn’t left as the sun began setting. She was quick to make her way back to the library she saw before. “That party tuckered you out, huh Spike?” She said to the sleepy hatchling on her back. Spike let out a yawn and nuzzled into her neck, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. A chill blew past. Causing them both to shiver. “Y-Yeesh, we need to find a place to stay…” Twilight said as they got up to the library door. It didn’t seem to be closed yet. She pushed open the door and looked around the foyer. The large open area filled with books and sitting cushions was like heaven to Twilight. She noticed a light amount of dust on things, meaning no one was here for a bit. Checking upstairs, she found an empty bedroom meaning no one had taken this place as a home. It was likely only used for just the library part downstairs. Using her magic she collected the cushions and piled them upstairs into a makeshift bed and laid Spike on one side. He snuggled into the pile and got comfortable, but not yet asleep. “Gimme a minute and I’ll get a book for us to read, don’t go anywhere!” Twilight disappeared downstairs for a moment and looked around the library in the fiction section. She was in the mood to get lost in a new world for a bit, so… In the doorway a yellow pegasus filly was about to enter to return a book, but upon seeing another pony she gave up on it and just backed out. “Ooh! Septimare Hoof, I’ve always wanted to start this one!” She pulled the book out and headed back upstairs. She quickly backtracked to close the front door. She could’ve sworn she closed that. Once she got upstairs, she found the neat arrangement of pillows turned into a pile Spike was sleeping inside of. She sighed. “Maybe we should’ve snuck back into the Apple’s barn.” Twilight said. She crawled into the pile with the book and found Spike there. He giggled woozily. She smiled at him. “All right Spike, time for a story. I’ve been looking forward to this one!” The baby dragon snuggled into her as she began reading. “Alright, I think I’ve got everything.” Shining Armor said as he checked over his saddlebags again. He looked at his partner who was adjusting her outfit. “I think I’m good to go over here!” She said, adjusting a hat that was supposed to make her look inconspicuous. Shining Armor just stared at her. “Well, you think this disguise’ll work?” Cadence said, wearing a fedora, black sunglasses, and a fake mustache. As well as a poorly drawn cutie mark of three hearts taped over her flank. Shining put a hoof to his chin in thought. He then rotated the hat to the left a bit. “Perfect!” Author's Note Ah yes, a very convincing disguise that cannot be seen through. Feel free to offer ideas and corrections! WHA-BAM, ART FOR THE first i think CHAPTER
Paying it BackTwilight woke up to a harsh sneeze from her snout. When she checked, her hoof was sticking out of the warm pile again. She pulled it back in and pulled Spike close to her to try and return to sleep again. She never wound up stopping after Spike fell asleep so she kept on reading Septimare Hoof until she finished it, which led her to be awake all night. “Um, excuse me.” Funny, that almost sounded like somepony trying to talk to her. But surely no one was inside the building right now! “E-excuse me…” ”WHA- HUH?” “Eeep!” Twilight shot up, afraid of being caught by somepony. She broke right through the barrier of cushions and looked toward the source of the noise. Which was a yellow pegasus filly cowering by the door with her hooves over her head. Twilight took a moment to process her surroundings. She was on the 2nd floor of the library. It was day. She had been caught here when she shouldn’t be. “I-I-I d-d-don’t think y-you’re supposed to b-be up here…” The pegasus said. Twilight just stared at her, and began to slowly move to pick up Spike. The pegasus gasped in surprise when Twilight had retrieved him from the pillows. “A baby dragon! I-I’ve never seen one before!” The yellow filly quickly opened up and began to approach as Twilight set him on her back. “W-What’s his name?” “This is Spike, I’m Twi- Sp-Sparkling Cider!” Twilight said in a rushed fashion. “A-Anyway we’ll be going now-” “Wait! He’s so cute, where did he come from?” The pegasus asked as Twilight made her way down the stairs. “I hatched him.” Twilight responded, before she left the library she stopped to grab a book she wanted to read yesterday. “Really? That must’ve taken some time, he seems very happy though! Hi there! I’m Fluttershy, you adorable little thing you!” Fluttershy spoke to the hatchling who giggled happily as the filly played with him while he was on Twilight’s back. Fluttershy didn’t even notice as they wandered out of the library as she kept Spike entertained. Twilight let out a light sigh as she felt Spike wiggling around on her back as he played. Fluttershy seemed nice though, definitely an animal lover. Now that she thought about it she seemed a bit tall. “Hey Fluttershy?” Twilight turned around abruptly, now face-to-face with the filly. She yipped in surprise. “How old are you? You’re a bit tall and I thought you were about twelve like me…” She said, tilting her head as she observed Fluttershy, who became flustered and blushed as Twilight looked at her. “I-I am t-tall…I’m only a y-year older…” Fluttershy explained, Twilight let out a small ‘oooooh’ at the information. “Well, it was nice to meet you. I’ve got to be going now, I have some things I’ve gotta return.” Twilight explained as she shifted Spike on her back, with the hatchling grabbing on to her mane. “O-Oh! I-I’m sorry to have kept you, I didn’t mean to. It was nice to meet you two as well! A-And f-feel free to visit with Spike. I live in a tree-cottage over that way.” The pegasus spoke softly. Despite still being soft-spoken Twilight could detect that she was a little more comfortable. Twilight continued on, she wasn’t lying when she said she had to return something. It was a favor to Granny Smith for letting her and Spike both sleep in her barn (without permission) and feed them. Speaking of, Spike only had one bottle left and would need to eat soon. She was lucky she could save it from how much food there was around for him yesterday. As she saw the gates to Sweet Apple Acres she spotted Applejack out on the fields, she was busy bucking apple trees like there was no tomorrow. Twilight just stood by the gate awkwardly until Big Mac came by and opened it for her. “You gave our granny quite a scare yesterday.” The red colt said, leading her to the house. Twilight scratched the back of her head with her hoof. Twilight walked inside, finding Granny Smith on her way to the kitchen. “Twiligh’! You had me n’ the kids worried when you disappeared like that!” The old mare said, trotting over to Twilight. Twilight looked down a bit ashamed before speaking up again. “Sorry, I know you said I didn’t have to worry about it but I wanted to pay you back for taking care of us.” “Ah-” “I know you’ll say it’s fine, but I want to!” Twilight said firmly, her face taking on a little pout. Granny Smith stared her in the face with equal firmness before relenting. “Fine, fine. You can help us out ah’ suppose. Righ’ now it’s all jus’ chores the kids r’ doin’, so ahead n’ see what cha’ can help out with. Ah’ll jus’ take this lil’ one off ya’ fer’ now!” Granny said, taking Spike off Twilight and depositing him on to her own back with Apple Bloom who was happy to see him again. Twilight trotted her flank back out to the field where she caught up with Applejack, who was obviously glad to see her. “Twiligh’! Where’d you run off to yesterday?!” She said running over to her, abandoning the buckets of apples she had on her back. Twilight found herself caught in a tight hug she could barely breath in. Jeez Applejack was a little short for a filly her age but she was still crazy strong. “Uh, h-home?” She lied, unsure. Applejack pulled back and looked at her. “...Really?” “OHLOOKLEMMEHELPYOUWITHTHOSEAPPLES!” Twilight said, slipping past her over to the two buckets held on a bar. She went to try and lift them on her shoulders, but found them incredibly heavy for someone like her. “You uh…you good there sugarcube?” She said as Twilight barely lifted the buckets of the ground and shuffled forward. “Yep!...I got-” Thump “Ow. No…my shoulder’s hurt.” Twilight said pitifully on the ground. Applejack chuckled as she took off one of the buckets from the rod and helped Twilight up. She carefully put a bucket on her back, and put another bucket on the rod. Applejack and Twilight worked to get apples put away in the barn until Twilight began to look like she was dying. “Alrigh’ Cider, why don’t you jus’ go an’ take a break. Ah’ can fetch the last round of apples m’self.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “An’ no buts!” Twilight promptly closed her mouth and pouted. Shining Armor stroked his beard in boredom. His girlfriend had stopped her cute reactions to being on a common train, so now he had nothing else to do but wait until they reached the station, which luckily was coming up just now. “Finally…” “Aw, I liked the train.” Cadance, or as she was known in her disguise, Carl, spoke with sadness. “You know, I never asked. Why did you suggest we start in Ponyville? It’s a nice place but I think she would’ve gone to Manehatten. No wait, Dodge.” Shining asked as they got off the train. “Well, Twilight is still just a filly even if she ran away. She’d probably still end up seeking the comfort of being around other ponies. If not that then she came here looking for a library to calm down in.” Cadance explained, shrugging at the end. “Hey, do I know you?” A random pony said as they almost passed by Cadance. “I-I- u-uh…no?” “You sure because you kinda look like one of the princesses!” “N-No, I’m a uni- I-I mean, pegasus named, u-uh…” She quickly looked at her hoof and barely could read the smudged writing of the name Carl. “C-Carl.” “Carl?” “Carl.” “...huh, sorry then!” Cadence shuddered with relief as the pony then walked off. She looked to Shining Armor, who had a look of pride at her. “You nailed that!” Big Mac watched Twilight struggle so hard to pull a plough that she was starting to turn the same color as his fur. “Stubborn, ain’t she?” Applejack said beside him. “Almost as much as you.” Applejack grumbled at that retort. Twilight was barely tugging the equipment along a few inches, luckily she had only joined on the last line that needed to be dug. Otherwise this would take a few days. “C’mon…c’mon…c’mon!” Twilight said, each c’mon emphasized with a mighty tug that pulled the plough another inch. As she repeated the motion, the swirl carved in her horn began to flicker as she tried harder, the magic beginning to slip out the more she exerted herself. The grooves in her horn flashed to life as with one more tug and Twilight suddenly shot forward. Her hooves and legs flashed a spiral pattern for a moment letting her shoot forward three feet and falling on her face. “Nice job there! Now why don’t cha’ let Big Mac finish up, ya’ look like death. C’mon, we can get some juice inside!” Applejack said as she freed Twilight from the farming tool. Twilight panted as she shambled towards the house. Applejack however saw her chance and let Twilight use her side to lean on. Twilight found herself back in town with flyers on her back a while later. Since it wasn’t a school day, Big Mac and Applejack sold apples and handed out flyers. Usually, Granny came with them and ran the stand while they handed out the flyers, but with Twilight volunteering it meant they could run it themselves today with Twilight taking over Big Mac’s place in handing out flyers. “Ya’ look a lil’ shabby but it should be fine! Now git’ out there and lets offer up some apples!” Applejack said enthusiastically. Twilight found herself full of determination as she went off in a direction to pass out some flyers. Now that she looked at herself, she looked pretty messy. Wow, she really hasn’t had a shower in about two days. Applejack watch as Twilight offered a flyer to someone, who seemed to take pity on her poor appearance and took the flyer, and walked over to the stand and bought some apples from Big Mac. She smiled and watched as Twilight’s face lit up with joy that she was able to do something as she turned a corner to hand out some more flyers. “Excuse me, mind if we get one of those?” Applejack turned around to a voice behind her. She looked up to see a pink pegasus pony with purple and yellow hair in a ponytail, as well as sunglasses, a fedora, and a black mustache with a decently long beard. Applejack just stared at her intensely. “Is that’a horn pokin’ outta yer’ hat there?” “U-Uh, no!” Cadence said, quickly putting a hoof up to pull her hat back down, and also suddenly adopting an accent. “Th-That’s just Carl! H-He’s an… uh- an intern!” Shining Armor said, coming to his girlfriend’s aid. “Uh-huh. Internin’ what.” Applejack said in a deadpan fashion, not buying the obvious lie. “Princ-Pruh- Uh- P-Prench…cheese?” Cadence said awkwardly, mentally kicking herself. Twilight was honestly proud of herself and how many flyers she was getting through, the stack was almost gone! Just a few more then she could- WHOOSH And now she was face down in some mud with her flyers scattered. “Hehe, sorry! Need a hoof?” Another pegasus filly came into view. This one was blue with a rainbow-colored mane. She helped Twilight up, and wiped the mud off her face. “Again, sorry. I’m Rainbow Dash. I know, I know, just by looking you can tell I’m pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash said boisterously, doing a little posing. To Twilight she just seemed a bit egotistical, but Rainbow Dash was actually just trying to impress Twilight out of the blue due to a sudden case of a filly crush. “Yeah, I guess. What would be really awesome is a shower right about now.” Twilight said, mostly muttering to herself. Dang, there was even mud in her beard! “Shower? No problem!” Twilight instantly realized what was about to happen. Then she was soaked in rainwater. “No need to thank me, I’m just awesome like that. But you can still thank me anyway if you want.” The prisma-color pegasus spoke smoothly as sandpaper. “Thanks.” Twilight said, voice dripping with sarcasm as she shook herself off. She then looked around for the flyers than were blown off her, only for them to be offered in a stack right beside her. “Lookin’ for these?” Rainbow said confidently. “Yeah, thanks again.” Twilight repeated, now a bit more genuine. “I never got your name, your the pony Pinkie threw that party for yesterday right?” Twilight nodded. “Sparkling Cider.” “Hmm…Applejack your cousin?” “What? No, why?” “Just sounded like an apple name to me.” “I think we got out of that without suspicion!” Cadence said optimistically. “I think we just made up a new career field in Prench cheese.” Shining Armor thought aloud. Cadence interrupted his thoughts by pointing her hoof as she bit an apple. “Oh look! A Library! Twilight’s sure to be in there!”
Spark of PanicTwilight went around the block with Rainbow Dash tagging along handing out flyers. The blue pegasus was a bit of a chatterbox at first but started to calm down a bit, which gave Twilight a bit of a break as she tried to finish. “Sooo…what’s your cutie mark for? Stargazing?” “Hm?” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash, and then to her own flank and then back at Rainbow Dash. “Oh, magic! I like to study it.” She said, then stopping to hand a flyer to a mare. “Really? Then you must’ve done something CRAZY to get your cutie mark in magic!” Twilight felt her muscles stiffen, and it became difficult to walk forward without trembling a bit. Twilight’s mind flashed to the most recent spell she had casted. She felt her tongue dry up, and her breath became unsteady. The terror, the destruction. It was all her fault. She felt herself finally stop moving as she froze in place, her breath starting to quicken as what she had caused began to come back to her again. “Hey, Cider? Hellooo, Earth to Sparkling Cider!” Rainbow Dash said. She was starting to get concerned as the unicorn suddenly froze with a 1000-yard stare. Not to mention her breathing was getting kinda fast. “C’mon, snap out of it!” She said with concern as she gently shook her. “Rainbow Dash, what’re you doin’ ta’ poor Cider?” Applejack said as she walked over. She had spotted them as she finished passing out her own flyers. She had spotted Rainbow Dash talking to her new friend who looked terrified all of a sudden, and so she came to the obvious conclusion that Rainbow Dash was messing with her. “Hey, it wasn’t me! She just froze up all of a sudden!” The Pegasus said defensively, raising her hooves as if to show she had nothing on her that could’ve caused this. “Sparklin’? Sparklin’! Oh lord she’s hyperventilatin’-“ Applejack said as she started to panic a bit as Twilights breathing became rapid, uneven, and louder. She tried to coach Twilight into breathing properly, but all of a sudden Twilight just screamed and took off. “Sparklin’! Come back!” “Where ya goin’?!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack called after her in concern. They gave chase, where Pinkie Pie spotted them and joined in. Twilight’s world was becoming dark as less air was reaching her brain, taking off running all of a sudden didn’t help. She didn’t want to be taken, she wanted to be safe, where would she be safe- As she spiraled with an oxygen deprived mind her magic began to flow uncontained as it warped and she vanished with a loud crackle of energy. Since she didn’t have school today Rarity was indulging in her most favorite pastime, dressmaking. Currently she is trying to put together something for Twilight. It’s not that she asked for Rarity to make her a dress, but Rarity just felt like doing it for her. After all, she might need one for some kind of surprise gala event! Rarity took a seat right in front of the dress to work on it some. What she didn’t expect was for Twilight to suddenly warp right into her workspace. On her lap no less. The poor purple filly was haggard and terrified and was breathing like she was being deprived of air. “D-Darling?! What is going on?! B-Breathe!” Rarity tried to help Twilight, but it was too late, as everything combined with a lack of air caused Twilight to shut down. The filly collapsed against Rarity, limp and after a few seconds blood began to drip from the fillies nose. Rarity stared in horror at the unconscious filly in her forelegs. The ground beneath her was scorched and fused with a dirt path from outside, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. She quickly began to follow her own advice and breathe to keep herself calm, now would be an awful time for a dramatic faint. She quickly flared her horn’s magic to life and dragged an item she had recently been using for those dramatic faints. A lounge sofa, which she gently laid Twilight on and wiped her nose. She was glad Sweetie Belle was napping right now, as it would be a bad time to have to tend to her while Twilight was like this. From what she could tell, the filly was fine physically, aside from the nosebleed that she was repeatedly having to wipe up. However what concerned Rarity is what could’ve gotten Twilight so worked up! She doesn't believe that anypony in Ponyville would try and hurt her out of the blue, so it had to be some kind of extreme stress. At least that what she told herself it had to be, it worried her to think Twilight was facing problems of trauma. “Ah, um…d-don’t go anywhere! I’ll be right back!” Cadance, now without a mustache at the moment, looked around the upstairs of the library. Everything had seemed fine aside from the pile of pillows on the floor. The young alicorn approached it, looking through some of the pillows. At first she thought nothing would be there until she spotted some hair. Lavender hair. Shining was enjoying a good bit of literature that would be important for his current task. “How to Find Missing Fillies”, he never expected a book like this to exist but he was glad it did. ”SHINY!” He couldn’t teleport but with how fast he was there you’d think he could. Cadence was holding up a strand of hair to his face with a look of hopeful joy. “What? It’s just a hair.” Shining Armor said, taking the strand of hair into his magic. He then recognized the color and turned to Cadance with hope in his eyes. “She was here! She and Spike were really here!” Cadance said in joy, hugging her partner who hugged her back tightly. “But where in town could she be now? Sh-She could’ve left again by now!” The white stallion questioned with worry. “Shiny it’s a library, she’ll probably be coming back here for comfort!” Cadance explained, remembering how when Twilight had a bad day she’d go and hide in a book fort when Shining Armor or her parents weren’t available. “...Maybe, but I still wanna go look around. Just to be sure, y’know?” Cadance nodded, hugging him again. “How about, I stay here and you go and look for Twilight. That way if she comes back here I can have her stay by me until you get back.” Cadance suggested. Shining Armor smiled and gave her a peck on the lips, making Cadance giggle. She wished him luck as he went out the door of the library, leaving Cadance in the main room. She briefly tapped her hooves idly as she just looked around. Eventually she decided to look for something to read, maybe she could catch up on Dragon Ball- BANG “DO YOU HAVE ANY BOOKS ON NON-DRAMATICALLY FAINTED PONIES?!” Cadance screamed, and instinctually teleported her fake mustache back on her face. Twilight woke to something wet on her forehead over her eyes, as well as a migraine. There was also something up her nose. She was just having this wonderful dream about apples, and then everything was being engulfed in a sea of yellow and she was starting to drown. “Darling? Are you awake?” Twilight’s ears perked up. She lifted the wet rag from her face to see Rarity entering the room she had been laid in. She had a worried smile on her face and her eyes seemed to be flicking from looking all over Twilight and back to her eyes. Twilight quickly remembered what happened. Rainbow Dash was asking her about her cutie mark, and then she freaked out, and then she…somehow got to Rarity’s boutique. Twilight sat upright fast enough to make the head pain worse, which brought rarity to her side to fuss over her. “Darling be careful! When you appeared here you passed out and popped a nosebleed! The latter was caused by magical strain from what I read so you need to rest for the pain to subside.” “I-I’m sorry for making you worry-” “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. If anything, someone must owe YOU an apology for the strife you’ve suffered!” Rarity declared, now sounding a bit disgruntled. “I-I huh?” Rarity looked at Twilight sympathetically. “Sparkling, I can tell that you and Spikey were…abandoned.” Rarity said hesitantly, afraid to trigger anything unpleasant in Twilight. Twilight did look uncomfortable, but more because the claim was completely wrong and she knew that she might have to run with it. Rarity looked a bit awkward and decided to change the subject. “B-But in much funnier news, you’ve seemed to have dyed yourself red and green in your sleep! Hahaha! Ehhhh…” Rarity said with a forced laugh, but cringed at the sight of Twilight’s light green mane. “I WHAT?!” Twilight shouted. True to Rarity’s word, Twilight was now a similar shade of red to Big Mac and had a light green mane and tail. Twilight had read about what was going on with her before, and after seeing the path from outside that was now fused into the floor in the main room of the boutique, Twilight knew what happened. She sprung a leak. She must’ve done something that not only strained her magic, but put a hole in the proverbial balloon that was her magic reserves. Meaning that use of even levitation spells would cause magic to leak and do almost anything. Lucky for her, she didn’t seem to have a big leak! Only enough to dye her fur weird colors. “Thanks for walking me back Rarity, I must’ve scared Applejack and Rainbow Dash when I took off like that. A-Again.” Twilight said as she was escorted to Big Mac’s stand. The colt saw them coming and perked up with surprise and then looked relieved as she saw them approach. “Again, think nothing of it! Anything for a friend!” Friend…huh. “This ain’t gonna be a common thing with ya’ is it?” Big Mac said as he walked out from behind the stand. It looked like he sold most of the apples and other treats for sale. He began to check her off-colored body over, tilting her head around. He took note of Twilight’s horn flickering between the grooves. “Rainbow said you’d up an’ exploded. Glad to know for sure that was an exaggeration.” He said, patting her on the head. Twilight looked disturbed that Rainbow had said that she just blew up. “How’s about we head on back to Granny fer’ some lunch.” Big Mac said, about to lead her by her hoof. “Ah ah ah! Please carry her if it wouldn’t be too much Big Mac. She’s overstressed herself and needs rest!” Rarity interjected. “Eeyup, would ya’ like ta’ join us fer’ lunch Rarity?” Big Mac asked the white unicorn as he put Twilight on his back in a smooth motion despite her protests. “That’s quite alright Darling, I’ll be having to get back to Sweetie Belle since her nap will be ending soon. Take care!” The unicorn filly said, trotting off. “...I’m sorry I ran off again.” “It’s alright, yer’ goin’ through a tough time. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were worried, but Ah’m sure they’re fine.” “Now you quit yer’ cryin’ Applejack Ah’m sure she’s fine! You’ve got the foals comfertin’ ya’ instead of the otherway around!” “BUT WHAT IF RAINBOW’S RIGHT GRANNY? WHAT IF SPARKLIN’ DID ‘SPLODE! SHE’S GONE GRANNY, GOOONE!” The farm filly wailed on the floor as Applebloom patted her on the head and Spike rubbed her back. Neither of them really understood beyond them seeing someone crying. “Oh u-um, please stop crying Rainbow Dash-” “SHE BLEW UP! SHE BLEW UP AND IT’S ALL MY FAAUUULT-” Rainbow Dash continued to definitely not cry and wail on about Twilight “exploding”. “O-Oh dear, I-I’m sure she’s fine!” Fluttershy weakly assured. “...Maybe we should hurry back.” Big Mac said. He then bumped into a stallion. “Sorry sir.” “It’s fine, I wasn’t paying attention. Hey, have you seen a filly named Twilight Sparkle around?” Shining Armor asked, not paying much mind to the bug-eyed red and green filly on Big Mac’s back. “Hm. Can’t say ah’ have sir.” “Ah, thanks anyway.” Shining then looked at Twilight. “Dawww, aren’t you cute. Riding on your bother’s back!” He said, patting her head as he continued on his way. Big Mac looked at her panicked expression. “If ya’ didn’t wan’ ‘im to touch ya’ ya’ coulda said sumthin’.”
Plans Awry“Found ‘er. She was with Rarity.” Big Mac said, opening the door to the main house. Spike cooed happily at the sight of the red-dyed Twilight. Apple Bloom giggled at the sight of Twilight as she was let down from Big Mac’s back, though she was cut off from the action by Applejack hugging her. “Ya’ scared me! Why d’ya run off like that again!” Applejack questioned, trying her hardest to not look like she was just crying over her exploding. Twilight’s face turned apologetic. “Sorry…I was just a bit overwhelmed for a moment.” “”Overwhelmed" is an understatement from what Ah’ saw. If you really are okay though, then Ah’m glad!” Applejack said as she gave Twilight a heavy pat on the back. She walked to the living room, and let Spike crawl his way over to nuzzle her. “You should work on that runnin’ habit of yours Sparklin’. It ain’t gonna help ya’ with all yer’ problems’!” Granny Smith said as she got up from her rocking chair. Twilight just muttered to herself as Granny went into the kitchen to start on lunch. She played with Spike, happy to see him again after all the panic she just put herself through. She just hoped they would be able to sleep in the library again, they might have books on magic! After all, she needed some way to keep up with her studies. After being treated to some lunch by Granny Smith, Twilight decided to depart and look for the other filly that thought she blew up to clear the air. Although it was a bit harder since unlike Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, she didn’t know where she commonly hung around or where she lived. Which meant she had to put herself at risk of being found by her brother. Who was DEFINITELY looking for her because now she was wanted in Canterlot dead or alive and he’s a part of the royal guard and- Her vision was suddenly obscured by Spike's little hands. He began to make cute babbles that vaguely sounded like numbers, but she understood what he was trying to do. She took a deep breath in, and let Spike count to ten. Or at least five before Twilight took over counting. She let her breath out. “Thank you Spike. Not as good as Cadance’s but it works.” She returned back to her task, finding Rainbow Dash. Now that she wasn’t panicking, she realized that she could ask Pinkie Pie if she knew! Man, she should also find some way to thank Pinkie for throwing her a party. She skipped over to Sugarcube Corner happily, and bumped into someone coming out of the door. It was a pink pegasus with a fedora and a mustache. “S-Sorry.” “It’s fine, I’ve gotta get back to the library!” “Carl” said in a fake-dep voice, rushing off to said tree. A cake also floated behind her for some reason. It appeared neither party recognized each other through their disguises. “W-Wait was that magi-” “Sparkling!” She was suddenly hugged by the pink earth filly tightly. She patted Pinkie on the back. “You met Carl just now right? He’s new in Ponyville too! Ooh, I’ve gotta throw another welcome party, this is amazing! So many new friends are popping up, I wonder who’ll come to town tomorrow at this rate!” Pinkie Pie spoke rapidly as she bounced around Twilight. Twilight’s eyes followed Pinkie as she moved. It must’ve been difficult putting together the party for Twilight, maybe she could help Pinkie today? “Maybe I can help? I’d love to do it as a thanks!” Twilight offered. The party pony halted mid air and smoothly drifted to the ground, doing an exaggerated “hmmmm” as she thought it over. Twilight stood smiling awkwardly until Pinkie proceeded to say: “Okay! First things first, cake!” The earth filly said starting to lead Twilight into the kitchens of Sugarcube Corner. Back at the library now, Cadance gleefully indulged in a piece of cake. She didn’t have a borderline need for it like Celestia but it was still nice to try, especially from such a nice town. It was going to take a while for Shining Armor to search the whole town, and hopefully he wouldn’t forget he’s supposed to search only the town. Shining Armor pushed aside a bush as he scavenged through the forest. His baby sister HAD to be somewhere here… So while she waited it would do her some good to at least enjoy her stay while she waited for Twilight to come to her. She just wished she could fake being a librarian better until Twilight eventually came here. She only got in one bite of her cake before she had to start faking her job again. “FLUTTERSHYSHESGONESHESSUPERGONETHISISTHEOPPOSITEOFAWESOME-” “E-Excuse me, M-Mr, can you help me f-find a book…” Fluttershy mumbled, somehow barely audible over Rainbow Dash’s totally-not-wailings. Cadance blinked bewildered and gave a small nod. After a short explanation about why the multicolor filly was crying, Cadance gave a snort. “Well Rainbow Dash, I think you’ll be happy to know that it doesn’t sound like your friend has ‘gone kablooey’, more like she panic-teleported. And honestly, that sounds really impressive! Sounds like she’s got some real power to her!” The alicorn said to the prismacolor filly. Fluttershy gave Rainbow a hug of reassurance before she turned back to her book about shed construction. But why does it recommend a shovel? “R-Really?” Rainbow Dash sniffed. “W-Well y-yeah of course she isn’t dead! She said that she likes m-magic and stuff so of course she knows what she’s doing!” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to pretend she wasn’t just sobbing on the floor a moment ago. “The only problem is where she ended up, but in these situations a pony is likely to end up where they feel safe.” Cadance added. Rainbow Dash thought hard on what she knew about ‘Sparkling Cider’, aside from the fact that she thought her coat was a pretty color, and that her magic was pretty cool, and that she was handing out flyers. “Well, she did come from Applejack’s farm and was with her. Maybe she’s at Sweet Apple Acres!” She said triumphantly, fluttering into the air. She was quick to zip off to said farmland with a quick “Thanks!” Echoing behind her. Cadance got up. “Maybe I should go with her. Will you be coming along sweetie or are you okay here?” The alicorn said, turning to Fluttershy. “Oh, that’s okay. I’ll stay here, I’m really enjoying this book.” She responded. Cadance nodded and turned to leave. “Oh um, one question Mr. Carl, if it isn’t too much to ask.” “Yeah?” “Why do you sound like, um, a girl?” Well, Twilight now knows that she couldn’t bake to save her life. The worst part was that SPIKE COULD! “Wow Sparkling! Spike’s a natural, and he’s just a hatchling!” Pinkie Pie commented. Spike had managed to make a decent looking little cake, it was a little misshapen, it was decorated in a crude image of Twilight and the word “Mama”. Twilight was both proud and touched. “You may not be good with the baking part, but your measurements are on point! I’ve already got the cake done!” Pinkie said to Twilight, presenting her with the two layer cake with a little figure of Carl that Pinkie somehow had made already. “That looks amazing! Sooo…guessing by what happened when you threw a welcome party for me, we have to decorate this place now?” Pinkie shook her head. “Nope! We aren’t having it here!” “What? Then why was my party here?” “Because you’re homeless!” Twilight grumbled to herself at that. “But Carl isn’t from what I can tell, I’m pretty sure she lives at the library now! So we’re gonna set this all up over there!” Pinkie explained. Twilight nodded. “I guess we’ll have to stop by the supply store on the way then-“ “Nah I got it.” Pinkie said, pulling a ton of streamers out of her mane. Twilight stared at Pinkie. Then took a hoof and lifted her mane so it didn’t cover her forehead. She let her mane drop. “Hhhhhhow?!” “I dunno! C’mon Spike!” The hatchling babbled as Pinkie put him on her back. Twilight was careful as she carried the box all the way back to the library. She was honestly happy they were coming back here. Once they did the invites, she might have time to read a little! The door was opened, Fluttershy eeped from the noise. “Oh, hi Fluttershy! I didn’t know you wanted to throw a party for Carl too!” Pinkie bounced over and grabbed her hoof. “O-Oh no, I wasn’t I-I-I was just-“ Pinkie dragged the poor Pegasus to help her decorate. Twilight found herself giggling at the pink pony’s antics. Twilight decided that she could get started on the invites, and even let Spike help! Maybe he had more hidden talents. Once she had made the first card, her first instinct was to try a duplication spell. By the time she stopped herself, she had casted it and made one extra invitation. However now Twilight was gone, and Spike was alone. “Oh! Sparkling Cider, can you run and ask Carl if he would like blue or red hearts better- hey Spike where’d Sparkling go?” Author's Note aw man, and she was doing so good not using magic so far too!
Shining Light in the ForestTwilight was too scared to open her eyes for the longest time. Who knows where she just ended up? Then again, if she wanted to leave wherever she went to get to Spike she would need to open her eyes. She shakily parted her eyelids, looking around at the stone walls. They were faded and had vines growing up their sides. She could see tapestries and paintings hung up, and a long carpet under her hooves. She turned around, finding herself standing in front of a twin set of thrones. “T-The castle of the t-two sisters?” She said, confused. She was REALLY lost now. She quickly began to employ proper breathing to stop herself from panicking. All she needed to do was get out. Then she could find her way back to Spike. That would be easy! She just…needs to find the front door! She quickly clopped down the hallway looking for the exit. Said task proved easier said than done, the hallways were long and winding. In their age any easy identification of passages had faded, and being a little filly in such a big castle didn’t help either. After going in a circle for what was likely the 4th time, Twilight found herself in an open room, with an organ in the center. “Hm?” Shining Armor knew he took a wrong turn by that funky tree. Because now he was facing an old decrepit castle. Then again, if the balloon he found out in the forest was anything to go by, it’s possible Twilight ended up here. “Don’t worry Twily! B.B.B.F.F. is comin’!” He said, rushing in toward the castle. Only for a trapdoor to suddenly open under him. “AAHH!” Twilight wasn’t sure, but she was pretty sure her book-repressed childish tendencies were starting to override her. She was senselessly mashing keys on the instrument, stringing together a disorganized tune that resonated through the castle walls. She was trying to play a tune she heard back in canterlot, but then again her talents weren’t in the musical category. But the more childish parts of her weren’t gonna be stopped. “Oof!” Shining came to a stop against a stone wall. The trap door led down a winding slide that sent him rolling into a wall in a dim corridor. After nursing his aching muzzle he got back to his hooves and looked up and down the hall. He took a breath in and snorted, and took out a bit. He flipped it and waited for the coin to settle. Heads. Left it is then. At least it would’ve been if he hadn’t been swept up by a wall flipping and suddenly placing him into an old kitchen. He shook his head to clear the dizziness from the motion. This castle was messing with him. The only reason it would do that would be if it didn’t want him here, and from what he could tell it was abandoned. Meaning no one lived here. UNLESS! The castle found someone, and now wanted to keep them. There’s only one person he could think of that would be in here willingly. “I’LL FIND YOU TWILY! THIS-” “CASTLE WONT STOP ME!” Twilight froze in horror. Her brother was here. Oh god. Oh god how did he even find her moments after a sudden teleport. He sounds pissed. That didn’t matter, she needed to get out of here now. No magic whatsoever. She quickly started to scramble away from the organ. But zipped back and mashed a few keys, reasoning to herself that if he heard them Shining would come to this room first rather than catch her in the halls. But in reality Twilight still wanted to play with the instrument. She took off down the halls, frantically. She was quickly making turns, looking out whatever hole she could to check her progress. Frustratingly, she somehow only got higher up the towers. She grumbled as she looked for some stairs that led downward. She descended a spiral staircase, and found herself in a large room with 5 stone orbs. They looked like some kind of weird statue on their pedestals together, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. She was about to make her way through, but accidentally knocked one of the stone balls off its pedestal. She scrambled to pick it back up, making the effort to use her hooves, and put it back in its place. The second the purple-turned-red filly got it back in its place she heard a set of hooves running up the staircase she was going to descend. She squeaked in terror and hid behind the largest pedestal in the center. Everything was quiet except for the sound of her brother’s hooves. They roamed across the room, searching. She then heard the shimmer sound of magic and could see a pink glow expanding around the room. A translucent wall passed through her, and she held her breath. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you- oh whoops.” Shining Armor said as he walked around to her hiding spot. Twilight internally sighed in relief, realizing that she was still the wrong color- wait she’s blue and yellow now. Twilight allowed her brother to escort her through the castle and down to the exit. They were both quiet, as from Shining Armor’s perspective he didn’t really have anything to say to a random lost filly. Twilight however was waiting to see how long it would take for him to look at her cutie mark and connect the dots. As they reached the entrance, Shining finally posed a question. “Hang on…” ”OH GOD” “How did you get out here?” “Uh…field trip.” Shining Armor stared and the blue filly. Twilight blinked. Shining Armor blinked. “That checks out. C’mon! Let’s get you back to Ponyville!” Cadance was sure how she got roped into it, but now she was helping buck apples for the afternoon. To be honest, as the apple filly would put it, by golly she was lovin’ it! “Wow Mr-” “Ms.” “Ms. Carl! Yer’ a natural! But please don’t shake out too many of tha’ leaves.” Applejack said to Cadance as she went to town on tree after tree, the orange filly kept pace catching the apples that would fall from every tree. Rainbow Dash sighed in exhaustion as she returned to pick up a bushel of apples. She didn’t even understand how she got roped into helping with chores, she was here looking for “Sparkling Cider”! “Man, this blows! How’d you even drag me into this!” “Ah’ didn’t. Ya’ got bored of watchin’ carl and started helpin’ out yerself.” Oh. Right, dang it Rainbow. Wait a second is that Pinkie Pie? “Hey, what’s going on with Pinkie?” Rainbow said as she pointed at the pink earth filly, who currently had her nose to the ground as she moved forward past the orchard. Fluttershy walked behind her, with Spike on her back playing with her mane, making Fluttershy giggle. Applejack’s attention was brought to the pair, leaving Cadance to get carried away and continue bucking the section of the farm they were in. Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached them, walking along the fence at pace of the other two fillies. “Howdy! What brings y’all out here?” The apple filly asked as they all walked on. Fluttershy clammed up, but Pinkie was fine to fill them in. “Well first, me and Sparkling Cider were gonna throw-” She looked back where “Carl” was going to town bucking apples off trees gleefully. “Carl a surprise Welcome to Ponyville party!” She said in a whisper. “Then we baked the cakes for it, though Sparkling isn’t too good at it. Actually she’s kinda bad, like reeeeeeeaaally bad, but she’s trying though and that’s what counts! But Spike is really good at baking and he’s only a baby then I told her-” “Pinkie, focus.” “Right! Then we went to the library to get ready for Carl’s surprise! Then I took Fluttershy with me to put up decorations, and left Spike and Sparkling to make the invitations!” Spike brandished the two hoof-made invitations Twilight had managed to make. “Then when I got back Sparkly was gone and there were sparky bits on the ground! So now I’m sniffing her out!” Pinkie concluded, sticking her snout back into the ground and continuing to sniff-snoff a scent that she logically shouldn’t have been able to find. Applejack facehoofed and let out a small sigh. “Ya didn’t overwhelm ‘er with anythin’ didja’? We just had an incident with that earlier an’ it sounds like she panic-teleported again.” Applejack said, hopping over the fence to follow the trail Pinkie Pie was picking up. “Nope! But I noticed that her horn was a little leaky.” “Her horn was what?” Rainbow Dash asked, following above the others as the scenery began to change to the fields just outside Ponyville. “Whenever she was trying really hard while baking her horn would leak sparkly-magic-stuff.” “That sounds like magic leak.” Everypony except Pinkine looked at Fluttershy, who proceeded to “Eep!” and engrossed herself with Spike again, who was happy to get the attention. Eventually everypony found themselves standing on the edge of the Everfree Forest. They stood in terrified silence, just staring into the magic infested woods. All except Pinkie were highly reluctant to go into the cursed forest. “A-And you’re sure she’s i-i-in there? I-In the E-Everfree Forest?” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly. “Yup! Absolutely, positutely!” She said, trotting right into the woods. Twilight wearily looked around the forest she and Spike had gotten lost in before. Now that sun would shine through some of the trees, she noted that the forest was…strange. The fauna was incredibly unique, it had to be the highest concentration of magical plant-life she’d ever seen! Aside from the potion ingredient stash at the school. It was also…a bit eerie. She saw in the distance a few times small ponds, with four legged trees around the edges. There were trees with horrific faces in denser woods enveloped with shadow. Twilight was glad she and Spike had gotten out of these woods safely, one of the BRANCHES had snapped at her! “Uh, Shi- AHEM -Mr? H-How much longer until we’re out of here?” She asked Shining Armor, the faintest sparks raw of magic leaking out of her horn in response to her anxiety. “Uhh…I have no idea! I think I took a wrong turn by those monster-trees. This section isn’t familiar at all.” Twilight, could only let out a strangled squeak. She was stuck in these stupid woods again. Author's Note Feel free to tell me what you think!
Sparkles of LoveTwilight walked alongside her brother with her head hung low. She can't believe she was stuck here again. Even worse, these woods were actively dangerous, and she was just lucky to have gotten out with a hatchling the first time. Her leg was suddenly ensnared by a vine and she let out a scream. With only a quick flick of his head Shining Armor’s horn fired a beam that vaporized the offending plant, dropping door Twilight face first into the dirt. “Man, that’s the third one in the past half an hour!” He said as he set the blue filly back to her feet. Twilight just groaned, she looked up to see the sky in the gaps between the trees. The sun wasn’t directly overhead anymore, the sun could be setting any minute now. She looked back toward the path ahead of her, there was only one direction she could really go. “Forward girls!” Pinkie said, pointing a hoof out in front of her as she marched through, still on Twilight’s trail. “Eeyaaaah!” Fluttershy! Cried out as a tree had snatched her and was flailing her about, Rainbow Dash had found herself holding Spike as he had fallen off when Fluttershy was grabbed and Applejack was rushing in to do what she was meant to. “Let ‘er go!” She yelled as with a powerful set of kicks, she bucked the tree hard enough to put a crack in its trunk that ran halfway through it. She immediately felt the recoil, as her legs now felt like she had hit their funny bone, these trees were definitely studier than normal ones. However it did prove effective as a deterrent, as the tree let Fluttershy go and let her fall right on top of the recovering apple filly. Pinkie peeked her head back through some bushes. “What’re you guys messin’ around for? We gotta find Sparkling Cider!” Applejack tiredly looked at Pinkie. “Fluttershy almost got eaten by a tree!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Fluttershy confirmed this fact with unintelligible sounds. Applejack gently slid Fluttershy off and began to quickly rub her legs to make the strange pain in them go away. “Weeeeelllll, you guys won’t have to worry about icky trees for much longer! I think we’re getting closer to Sparkling!” Pinkie said with glee, bouncing in place. Her tail twitched and she quickly sidestepped a giant mango falling where she was standing before. Rainbow Dash just groaned as she got down on to her hooves and set Spike on to her back. “At least I’ll get to say I’ve gone to the Everfree forest before. This place isn’t too bad anyway.” The prisma-color filly said as she trotted after Pinkie Pie. Spike meanwhile was lightly tugging her feathers. Fluttershy nervously followed along, with Applejack following at the back, occasionally kicking her legs to shake off the lingering pain. Twilight breathed in and out through her nose rapidly. Shining Armor held a hoof over her mouth as they hid behind a tree. Just on the other side a manticore of the wooden obscurity skulked a manticore. Shining Armor gently let go of her mouth, and signaled for her to remain quiet. She nodded fearfully as her brother shifted to peek around the edge of the tree. He held there for a few seconds before quickly whipping himself back behind the tree. He seemed to be holding his breath for a long 10 seconds. He bolted suddenly, and held Twilight in a foreleg, as behind them the tree was bashed aside as the manticore gave out a roar that shook Twilight’s core. Shining was quick to use his magic and affix the filly onto his back as he continued running. Twilight looked back at the assailant, and made the mistake of making eye contact. The beast let out a roar and lunged for them. Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs and her horn began to spark to life. Shining Armor conjured a barrier, causing the beasts fangs to bite into the protective magic with enough strength to crack it. However, that was the least of any of their concerns. Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized she had just used magic again, right on time for the all to fall into the ground as if it were a pool of water. “WOA-“ Shining was cut off as he found himself swimming in dirt as if it were a pool. He thought fast and made a bubble shield above the earth and made it airtight before bringing it down and allowing his head to be able to pass through. He took in a deep breath and looked around. Everything was murky, like water that had a lot of, well, dirt. But flailing about in a panic and sinking fast was a little green and purple figure. “Hang on! Stop panicking!” Shining said as he quickly swam down to catch the filly, catching another bubble of air in a shield before descending. He was almost there when he was reminded of the manticore’s existence by it coming up under the filly. He worked his legs to swim as fast as they could as it opened its jaws around the filly. “NO!” Only for it to clamp down on dirt as the filly began to uncontrollably flicker from place to place under the water/earth. Shining Armor brought the bubble of air he had gotten for her in front of him, and the second she reappeared nearby she was caught in the shield and gasping for the air inside. She still flickered about inside but was pushed against the walls of the shield. Good, whatever was making her teleport, it was only working linearly as long as nothing was in the way. So more of a “blink” teleportation spell. He swam back upward with the filly in tow, away from the manticore that struggled to ascend the dirt. Shining armor gasped as he breached the surface and wrapped his around the tree that was someone still in place despite the dirt underneath being liquid. He was running out of air in that bubble. Speaking of which, he made a small hole in the previously blue, now green filly’s bubble. She greedily gasped the air up before blinking again and mashing her face against the bubble. “Ow! What the-” Twilight blinked again, mushing herself against the top of the bubble. “Oww!” “You’ve gotta magic leak, how’d ya manage that?” Shining Armor bringing her bubble closer, and putting a foreleg around it. Twilight gulped. “I-I dunno-” She was mashed against the bubble again. “I-I didn’t even know I had it…” She thought for a second. “How do you even know I have a magic leak?” Shining Armor, who was now on top of the bubble, pointed to his horn. Twilight brought a hoof up and yelped as something shocked her hoof. “Yow!” Oh jeez it got way worse. From what Twilight could see, her horn was actively sparking a bit hazardously and just letting off excess magic. “Hey, don’t worry! It’ll fix itself up in a day or two if you hold off on using magic!” He began to use his magic to pilot Twilight's bubble forth and above the earthy sea. “Also why are you green now? No, wait. Yellow now.” Twilight’s pupils shrunk. “Oh hey! You match me now!” “And Twilight’s vanished again you say?” “Eeyup.” “How dreadful! This time she didn’t appear at the boutique, I hope she didn’t end up anywhere dreadful!” Rarity said, putting a hoof over her mouth in shock. Big Mac pulled in a sharp breath through his teeth. “…” “Uh, they were headin’ in tha’ direction east a’ town.” “…as in…toward the everfree?” “Eeyup.” “Hm…” Rarity sniffled, before starting to run off eastward. “Ah’ should prolly’ go an’ make sure everyone gets out okay.” Big Mac muttered to himself. “YEEHAW!” “Or I should gomakesureMs.Carldoesn’tbuckdowntheorchard!” Twilight sat miserably, now a deep blue in matching her mood, in the bubble, the blinking had calmed down but occasionally she was still mashing against the sides of the shield. Meanwhile Shining Armor was drifting them over the watery ground, periodically checking if it became sold at any point. Shining Armor’s eyes flicked down to the “mysterious” filly he was transporting. “Y’know, you look a lot of my little sister.” Twilight’s body tensed. “You look almost as adorable as she does!” He said gleefully. Twilight was then surprised, looking up in confusion. “She’s a filly about your age, and really smart for her age too! Everyday my mom and dad are writing to me about her and how much she’s been learning, recently we even got a new little brother! They don’t even have to write to me about that stuff though, they don’t really live far from where I have to stay for royal guard training.” He rambled wistfully, as Twilight listened patiently and quietly. If you disregard the small thumps that come from her being shot against the shields by her blinking. Shining Armor then sigh. “Two days ago she got herself into trouble.” Twilight controlled her breathing. “There was an accident at her school. Officially it’s unclear what caused it, but I think it was my little sister. Now, we can’t find her and she could be out there anywhere alone with our little brother.” He idly dipped his hoof in the ground, watching it ripple as they traveled. “Normally I go up to a few weeks at a time without seeing her but…knowing she’s out there somewhere, scared, without someone to care for her…I can’t help but be worried. None of us back home can.” Twilight could feel tears beginning to build in her eyes as she stared at the ground passing under them through the bubble. She scratched at the magic orb below her, watching as her feltlocks began to lighten from their blue into a purple color. Her lips quivered as she opened her mouth. “But people back home are mad, and I dunno what to do if I bring her back.” Twilight's fur turned white again as she clamped her mouth shut. “If she goes back we’ll have peace of mind, but people will still want just punishment. A-And I know that she got people hurt, but I know Twily! I-I know that however it happened that she didn’t mean it! …I dunno. Uh, sorry. Y-Your just a filly and I shouldn’t have dumped all that on to you. Just forget the second part, just know that…I love my little sister no matter what.” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to quietly breathe in and out, her breath shuddering. Her coat was a light blue, a perfect reflection of how badly she wanted to cry right now. Shining’s hoof touched shallow “water” and he dismounted in front of a bush. He hovered Twilight at his side not noticing how she held her hooves over her mouth with tears running down her cheeks. The girls trudged through the shallow liquid earth. Rainbow Dash hovered above them while Pinkie was somehow diving deep enough to snorkel in 2 feet of water. “Ooh! She’s close guys! And she’s sparklier than ever!” Pinkie said, her head popping up out of the ground. She pointed ahead of her as the girls just stared confused. “Pinkie, what does that even mean?” Applejack asked confused. Spike began to sniff the air before he started chirping happily and bouncing on Rainbow Dash’s back. “Woah- hey- calm down! You’ll make me drop you!” Rainbow said, having to readjust the hatchling so he wouldn’t plummet into the ground below. The girls began heading in the direction Pinkie pointed when they heard rustling in the same bushes. They all yelped and quickly stepped back. After a few tense seconds, Shining Armor emerged from the foliage. “Oh! There’s more of you to pick up!” He said in surprise at the number of fillies out in the strange woods. He pulled himself out of the bush fully and allowed Twilight’s bubble to pull out from the bush. Now. This painted a very bad scene for Shining. The girls all viewed an unfamiliar stallion who had shown up in town that day, now holding a filly/friend captive in a magic bubble, who seemed to be distressed trying to use magic. ”GET HIM!” Shining Armor found himself tackled by 3 fillies, with one shy filly having caught a baby dragon that was tossed to her. Author's Note Updated the cover image!
Hatchling SittingTwilight shook her hind leg off as tingles went up it. A few apples fell into the barrels set up by the trees. Her coat took on a red color closer to her feltlocks from the pain she felt, while the rest of her stayed her natural colors. “There ya’ go! Just give it a bit an’ you’ll be able to get ‘em in one! I’ll keep goin’ on’, you just keep workin’ ‘ere!” Applejack said as she continued her part of the field. Twilight nodded dutifully, reeling her legs back again and giving a kick to the bark. Almost immediately, apples collapsed atop her in a heap. Making her groan as she would now have to pick them up and put them into the barrels by hoof. She almost thought about cheesing the workload by using magic, but a reminder of the hectic afternoon she had yesterday squashed those thoughts. She groaned and just did her best to scoop the apples by the forelegful without bruising them. Twilight suspected she was about halfway done after about two hours if Applejack bringing her water twice so far was an indicator of an hour passing. Which just meant two more hours to go if she kept up the same pace. … “Oh-” Twilight quickly looked around. “-frick-” “ -that!” She shouted as she formed the determination to finish faster. “All I’ve gotta do is kick a bit harder, then I can finish with this, and hopefully do something a little less taxing.” Twilight said as she began stretching. She turned around to face her hind legs to the tree and did a small trot in place to warm up her legs. She reeled back, and mustering all the force she could she let loose a set of kicks to the bark of the tree, and heard a sharp crack. She froze. She carefully pulled her legs back and stretched them one by one. Maybe it was the tree bark that had split. Nope, it looked fine, and all the apples were in the barrel so what happened? The answer was revealed when she settled her weight onto her hind legs fully. Then pain exploded in the right leg. Applejack was walking out a cup of apple juice for Twilight when she heard a shrill whinny of pain. She dropped the cup in a panic and ran out to the fields where Sparkling Cider was supposed to be working. When she found her, the filly was twitching in pain and foaming at the mouth a little with one of her hind legs held in the air, colored a pale yellow. “Oh Celestia, looks like ya’ cracked yer’ hoof!” The orange filly said, taking the hoof on her own and inspecting it. Twilight made unintelligible noises of pain on the ground. Applejack gently touched where the split was, lighting teasing the wound. Twilight twitched in pain every time. “Sheesh. Alright, don’t you move one bit sugarcube! I’ll bring somethin’ back ta’ help!” Applejack said trotting back toward her house. “eeEeEeEehhhh…” The pale mare whimpered. Shining Armor stretched as he sat up on the air mattress he and Cadance setup for the night. Mare, his head hurt, he was really hoping that little pink filly didn’t have cider ready at the party last night and that someone snuck it in. Even worse he feels like Twilight may have just said a swear word wherever she is. As he got off the rubber bed he looked over to the smaller air mattress that was set out for Spike, and the kind little filly who had taken to caring for him. It was about time for little fillies to be up by now anyway so might as well wake them. “Her, Sparkling, time to wake uuuup~!” Shining Armor said with an amused tone as he nudged the lump shaped like a little pony. He nudged it again. Then a third time. Then a fourth. “Ok, come on! Up lazy pone- what.” It was a lamp. It was a stupid lamp conveniently shaped like a filly. “Why would anyone even- THEN WHERE’S SPIKE?!” The white unicorn said in panic, now rushing through the library in search of the dragon. Cadance woke up from the clatter of books, groggy and confused. “Wha? W-Why did someone put a lamp to bed…” She muttered, rubbing her eyes and reapplying her mustache. “Cadance! The filly and Spike are gone!” “WHAT?!” Twilight inspected her right hind hoof after Applejack finished. The orange filly had spray something that stung like hell on it and then bandaged it. “There we go, it’ll be better in no time! Though granny says it’ll take longer than it does for me.” Twilight hummed in response. She was then suddenly lifted and held atop of Applejack’s back. “Wh- put me down!” “Nope! Granny says you should walk on that leg as little as possible for ya’ ta’ heal up fast!” Applejack said as she trotted Twilight back toward the farm house. “Then, can you take me to Rarity’s? I wanted to give her a visit later today anyway.” Twilight said with a sigh. Applejack obliged and they changed directions. As they walked the streets toward Rarity’s boutique Twilight couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed as some older ponies looked at them and chuckled. Twilight’s fur turned as pink as her cheeks as they trotted their way past Sugercube Corner, where Pinkie was outside. “Hiya Sparkling! Pink’s a good look on you!” “Th-Thank you.” She muttered at a barely audible level. The sooner they got to Rarity’s the better. The thumping of hooves rapidly approaching brought the filly-corn’s attention to her side, where she suddenly found herself being tackled off her friend’s back. “WAAUGH!” “WHERE’S SPIKE-” Fluttershy was grateful for the peace she had in her cottage this morning. She had a sleepover with a friend, and was left just the cutest baby dragon to learn about! “O-Ow! O-Okay Spike, we don’t throw food in other ponies' eyes please!” She said softly to the hatchling who had his hands covered in foal food. Spike was about to throw another glob, but settled for listening and decided to stuff his hand into his mouth, sucking off the mashed pears. Fluttershy sighed in relief. Spike wasn’t very high maintenance, but she should’ve remembered what Sparkling said about feeding him a bit earlier so he wasn’t in such a playful mood when he ate. She looked around her kitchen that had more globs of food. As well as a chicken that had wandered in who was caught in the crossfire of the assault. Her squawks weren’t happy. “Oh dear…I think it’s time to clean up a bit.” Fluttershy muttered as she lifted Spike out of a high chair she used for some animals, mainly rabbits. She fluttered the hatchling into the living room after getting him wiped up, and set up a makeshift barrier of numerous pillows around the baby dragon. “Alright Spike, give me a moment and I’ll be right with you. I promise. In the meantime, I have a very special job for you!” She said going back into the kitchen, and retrieving the chicken that was attacked by his food fight earlier. “Can you watch Ms. Eggtilda for me Spike?” The baby crawled closer, outstretching his arms for the chicken. The hen didn’t look too pleased as she looked back at Fluttershy. She knew that the subjects in the sentence were reversed and the request was really meant for her. Eggtilda gave her best impression of a sigh as she gave a cluck of resignation to the role of babysitter. Spike giggled as the chicken was put into his arms and he held it carefully. Its feathers tickled and it smelled like pears! Fluttershy zipped into the kitchen and got to cleaning as fast as she could, already nervous about taking her eyes off the baby. And right she was because Spike somehow was already outside and locked in the chicken pen. “Whew, okay. You really should stop disappearing on ponies! You’re just a filly, and even though this place is pretty safe, something could happen! In fact, where are your parents? I think somepony should talk to them about how long they’ve left their daughter unattended!” Twilight fidgeted where she sat on the floor, pawing at the ground, her colors having shifted to a dark blue. “C-Canterlot…” “Hm?” “Excuse me Ms. Carl but uh…” Applejack interrupted and brought her aside. “M’Granny says they may have, um, ‘not wanted’ her anymore.” The farmer whispered into her ear. Cadance’s eyes softened as she looked at the blue filly that was scratching words into the dirt. “U-Um, Spike is being watched by Fluttershy. She lives in a cottage that way, I’m sure he’s safe!” Twilight spoke up nervously. She outstretched a hoof in the direction that Fluttershy lived. Simultaneously she began climbing back onto Applejack’s back. “I’ve gotta go, when you get Spike make sure to bring him to the Carousel Boutique though!” Twilight said, patting Applejack to let her know to continue moving. “Spike? SPIKE?!” Fluttershy whisper-yelled in a panic when she returned to her living room. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! I-I couldn’t have lost him! Sparkling Cider and Shining Armor will be so mad! And that poor baby dragon! How did he even get out?!” She said in a panic as she inspected the area, finding the pillow barrier had been breached. Then she noticed the chicken door she had. Ah. That wasn’t good. “Spike! Spike, please be a good little dragon and come here!” Fluttershy said as she made a swift exit and looked around the outside of her cottage. She rushed over to the chicken coop only to find the gate open. The chickens inside were all fine, but there was no sign of the hatchling. “Oh heck…” Meanwhile residents of Ponyville were treated to the amusing sight of a chicken walking a baby dragon attached to some rope in the form of a makeshift harness. Eggtilda had a very bored expression fixed on her beak as she allowed the baby to lead her around town for the time being, planning to start leading him back to Fluttershy’s cottage once Spike seemed to be losing steam. Though she was already starting to regret it because the baby seemed very energetic. A sharp yank and change of direction snapped the chicken from its thoughts as Spike began crawling toward a particular bakery. The door was pushed open with the ring of a bell, and bouncing to the front counter was Pinkie Pie. “Hi, Ho, hello! What can I- oh! Hi Spike!” She said, getting down on the floor to the baby dragon’s level. Spike giggled as he grabbed her mane and began gently tugging. The chicken huffed as this clearly meant that this little excursion would be taking a bit longer. “Wow! Looks like you’ve made a new friend there Spike! Isn’t she just the cutest little chicky-chick-chicken!” She said, picking up the chicken and nuzzling it, much to Eggtilda’s dismay. Fluttershy trotted through the town, frantically looking through for the missing hatchling. She was mentally bucking herself for losing a baby so fast. She didn’t even get to bathe him! She had to find him fast before he got hungry, or worse! Hurt! “Sparkling Cider, darling are you sure you’re fine to walk? Applejack said-” “I’m fine! I can just walk on three legs, I said I wanted to help and here I am!” Twilight and Rarity emerged from around the corner causing the butter yellow pegasus to gasp and hide behind some boxes swiftly. She waited until they passed before peeking out. “Or even worse, Sparkling Cider or Shining Armor finds him before I do! She’ll be so upset with me and so disappointed!” Author's Note Feel free to leave a comment! I like to hear from you!
RunaroundTwilight scrambled around the messy dressmaking room as she looked around for an aubergine fabric. She doesn’t even know what color that comes from! Didn’t help that she would occasionally have to tend to Sweetie Belle, who seemed to like watching Twilight scramble from one side of the room and then back to her whenever she threw a toy. “Darling, are you okay back there?” Rarity asked as she stitched a piece of a costume on. “Never bette- A-“ The poor filly was attacked by an avalanche of fabrics that barreled against her head. A ton of fabric had cascaded around her, surrounding her in a rainbow of surprisingly soft clothes. Twilight just laid there for a moment, contemplating the things that led her to this point. With a sigh, she quickly took out her diary while Rarity wasn’t looking and jotted down the event. Twilight rolled back up the fabric mess dejectedly. Recently it feels like she’s done nothing but ruin things. She intrudes on ponies' homes and makes them care for her. She worries them by disappearing, she can barely even try to help out with anything without completely messing it up! And that was without any magic. She put up the roll of fabric, only to have it slip right back off and smack her in the nose. Twilight took a shuddering breath as she calmly tried once more to store away the fabrics. These ponies were so nice, perfect for Spike to be around. “I should’ve stayed in the forest alone…Spike doesn’t deserve this.” She thought darkly. Fluttershy trotted in a panic around the market space. Spike had to have come through here, right? There were all sorts of things that would draw his attention! Like…food! There were even a few toy stores! He was old enough to want those upon seeing them right? “Spike! Spiiiike!” The butter-yellow filly said, barely getting her voice above a whisper. She carefully kept her eyes trained on the ground for the little hatchling in case he had managed to fall asleep somewhere. This proved fruitful as she did spot something related to the missing hatchling. Tracks. Tracks of knees dragged through dirt, and little claws. Also Eggtilda’s chicken tracks! The filly happily bounced and scampered off following the lead to find her charge. Her searches had brought her all the way to Sugarcube Corner. This was perfect! Pinkie Pie had to have seen Spike come through, and was likely now playing with him inside. The shy filly entered the establishment, slightly wilting when eyes turned to her. She lowered her head as she walked up to the counter where Mrs. Cake smiled. “U-Um, h-hi…have you seen a b-baby dragon…” The timid filly stuttered out at a barely audible level. Mrs. Cake smiled but looked confused. “Uh, I’m sorry, could you repeat that sweetie?” The baker said, leaning in a bit. “A-A b-b-baby dragon.” Mrs. Cake leaned in closer and tilted her ear toward the filly. “I’m sorry, one more time? A little louder?” “B-b-baby d-dragon.” Mrs. Cake was trying her hardest to piece together what the Pegasus was trying to say. She didn’t want to ask her what she said AGAIN! Poor thing looked like she might explode from anxiety. ”Flake Naggin’? No no, drake stabbin? No, cake wagon? No- hold on, maybe she was trying to find Pinkie? Yes, that must be it!” Mrs. Cake thought, her face lighting up. “Oh, you just missed Pinkie sweetie! She had a baby dragon and a chicken with her and said she was going to take him out to play!” The baker mare said happily. Fluttershy however withered a bit, but still had a strained smile. “T-Th-Thank you…”The butter Pegasus said through grit, anxious teeth. She quickly exited the bakery, running to hopefully catch up to Pinkie with hopes the pink filly was still on her way to her destination. “…Plank chew? What does that mean?” Mrs. Cake said as she watched the Pegasus skitter out. Pinkie happily pronked into the local park with the baby dragon on her back giggling happily every time she hopped. Meanwhile the chicken was less amused and was keeping track of how long they’d been out now. Pinkie stopped in her tracks. “Oh! Guys look! It’s Rainbow Dash! Hiiii Rainbooooow!” Pinkie said, rushing over with her guests…to the swings where Rainbow Dash was sleeping herself draped over the top bar like a wet towel, somehow comfortably asleep. Even Spike and Eggtilda understood that it had to be murder on the spine. The multicolored filly snorted as she woke up and slipped off the swings and landed in the mulch. “Ugh…hi Pinkie.” She groaned as she stood back up and shook the loose wooden chips from her mane. “What’s up with ya?” “Babysitting!” “Oh man, glad IM not stuck with- is that Spike.” “Yup!” Rainbow Dash quickly did some mental calculations. If she could prove she could take care of Spike, her crush would totally wanna hang out with her…a-and maybe even…hold hooves. “Ahem, as I was saying. GLAD I’M HERE TO HELP!” She said triumphantly. How hard could watching a kid be? She was a kid, legally allowed to move out yeah, but she was easy to take care of. 7 Years Ago “BOW HAVE YOU FOUND DASHIE?!” “NO! I EVEN TRIED THE WONDERBOLT TRICK!” Meanwhile, a blue filly fluttered down the street with a bag of candy. “Oh man, mom and dad are gonna love this! Hey where’s the house again?” Present “...wait did I tell my parents I moved out?” Twilight stood by Rarity’s side in a depressive mood, holding out a roll of fabric for her. The white unicorn couldn’t help but notice, and glanced at her worried. Twilight had turned a shade of blue, which made how the fellow unicorn was feeling obvious. “Darling, I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been a bit quiet, a-are you alright? You don’t feel faint do you?” She said, turning to look at her. “Rarity, am I a screw up.” Okay BUCK, right out the gate with that one. Sweetie Belle had let out an ‘Uh oh’, but Twilight didn’t seem to hear it. “Darling! Of co-” Rarity watched as Twilight changed colors to an even deeper shade of blue, her mane turning a black color. The filly’s eyes had begun to water, threatening to spill tears as Twilight shivered, trying to keep herself from breaking into a sob. “Sparkling Cider, listen. Yes, you’ve been having…er…issues, but! uh, how did it go again, it’s not about how you fall, it's how you get back up! Right now, you’re simply underway of getting back up!” Rarity said using the best supportive tone she could while giving Twilight a short pat on the shoulder. Twilight’s color seemed to lighten a little, which Rarity assumed meant that Twilight would be okay. They resumed their work on the costumes with Rarity making an attempt to keep Twilight’s mind off darker thoughts with idle chatter about things from school. Her efforts were futile however. ”Then maybe I’ve fallen in a ravine…” Twilight’s coat darkened a little further. Fluttershy panted as she came running into the playground. Her body ached from the physical activity, but she felt relieved when she saw Pinkie Pie and Eggtilda. “P- wheeze P-Pinkie Pie! W-Where’s…” “Spike? He’s with Rainbow Dash!” The party point answered happily. Fluttershy looked around, not seeing the aforementioned filly. “Um, where?” Pinkie Pie’s mane straightened out into an arrow, pointing in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The yellow Pegasus whimpered and did a cute little stamp of frustration as she started to trot off to the farmlands. Rainbow did another loop in the air, letting Spike fall for a second before zooming in and catching the whelp. The baby dragon cheered with joy and the ride he was being taken on, and Rainbow couldn’t feel any better about it. “I am AWESOME at this! You’re pretty cool too, kid!” She said, holding Spike up to her eye level. He just stuck his tongue out and drooled. Rainbow Dash chuckled and zoomed off to their target destination, an apple tree. The pair landed gently in the leaves. Spike hungrily eying the fruit. He grabbed one and started gumming on it as Rainbow just watched relaxing in the leaves. “Whew! Almost done with mah chores! Just one last tree!” An earth pony filly said walking up to the tree the two occupants were in. With a swift buck, everything came down, including a Pegasus and a dragon. “Ow!” “What the- Rainbow what’d I say about goin’ up there! Yer gonna bruise the apples sittin’ on ‘em!” “I was on the branches, it's totally fine!” Aside from the apple she had just crushed by falling on it. Spike meanwhile had lost his apple and began to fuss. “Look what you did AJ! You made him mad! Don’t worry I’VE got this.” She said, confidently trotting up to the hatchling. “You know how ta’ take care of a baby?” “Well…no, but it’s a baby! I’ve done great so far!” She picked up Spike as she spoke and began to toss him in the air to cheer him up. The unexpected result was Spike just getting angrier and starting to cry and wiggle. “Uh- okay, feathers, uhh, i-it’s okay little dude! No need to cry! Hehe, uh, there there!” She said awkwardly, rhythmically patting Spike’s back to try and get him to calm down. Applejack watched unimpressed. She walked over. “Need some help there?” “What?! No! I-I can do this-“ Spike cried louder and began beating his little hands against Rainbow’s shoulder. “Okay fine! Yes…” she said in defeat, holding the baby out for Applejack to take. The duo were inside the kitchen, a sniffly Spike being distracted by spoons the Rainbow clinked together. “Alright, here we go! Applesauce!” Applejack placed a small jar on the table in front of Spike. They all just stared at him waiting until the two ponies facehoofed and realized they would have to feed him. Shining Armor had to admit that Ponyville had a very diverse set of ponies. He and Cadance were currently on the outskirts on their way to Fluttershy’s cottage, when a white unicorn with a blue mane and sick shades had come up to them. Weirdly enough she didn’t speak a word, yet somehow Shining understood her, which greatly confused Cadance. “She says she wants to be a DJ and wants us to listen to something she just came up with, her name is Vinyl by the way.” Shining explained. Vinyl smiled and nodded vigorously, her shades almost being shaken off her snout. “Oh, um, sure why not! Spike is being babysat so it’ll be fine if we don’t get him right away.” Vinyl smiled and pranced in place in excitement. She took the couple’s hooves in her magic and began leading them to her house. Which weirdly enough was half undecorated. She wheeled out a set of turntables to the front yard and posed with her hooves in the air. “Get ready, to have your. Horns. BLOWN!” Shining narrated for the filly. “Uh, maybe choose a different word there sweety-“ She barely finished before she was being blasted by some sick beats. “Thank you again darling, it’s always a pleasure to have you around, but your help is much appreciated! Isn’t that right Sweetie Belle~” the Foal cooed and giggled in response, reaching out for Twilight. Twilight’s mouth twitched upwards as she reached a hoof or for Sweetie to take. She said her goodbyes and began a slow walk down the road. For the most part she was just quiet, the ambient noise of Ponyville to fill her thoughts. From what she could tell, her magic leak was closing up. She might be able to use her horn again by the end of the day or maybe tomorrow. But who’s to say she won't just do something else to spring another leak. Or blow something up. Or destroy even more. The spiral of thoughts just continued endlessly, making her miss Rainbow flying over head and back to the park. She just walked, kicking aside rocks as the thoughts brought her further into a pit of sorrow. By the time she stopped moving she sat on the edge of Ponyville, staring at the forest ahead, mind racing with contemplations of her actions. So she stepped forward, and trudged through the foliage, wincing at the thorns that jabbed her, biting against the bits of vine that got in her way. She found herself standing in a nice little clearing in no time and looked around. She sighed, using her tail as a brush and cleaning off a patch in the middle, and just lying there. She closed her eyes and just hoped that things would get better if she just left for a bit. Author's Note Feel free to leave a comment!
