Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

by KobaloiJ

Chapters

In an Ivory Tower
Thirst for Knowledge
Sharing is Caring
Off on a Tangent
The Root of the Problem
Indecision Breeds Mistakes
Meanings Undiscovered

In an Ivory Tower

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

"Y'know, I don't think that would be such a bad idea."

"Pfff, duh! Honestly, Twilight. You should know by now that all of my ideas are awesome."

"Mmmmm yeah, don't push it."

"Hey, just because-"

"Still pushin' it, Rainbow."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the pegasus said, seeing that as the end of the conversation and thus, the perfect time to fly off and call it a night.

Twilight simply sighed, smiled, shook her head, and opened the door to her library. It was actually pretty clean inside: the books were all put away, the shelves and tables were dusted, and the dishes had been done. Twilight stuck a mental note onto her mental fridge to give her number one assistant an extra large gem or something tomorrow. Or later today, she corrected, noticing how high up in the sky the moon lay.

As she passed the dragon, peacefully asleep in his basket, Twilight gave him a quick kiss goodnight on his scaly forehead before retreating under the covers of her own bed.

"Alright, alright, let's see here..." Twilight said to herself, rifling through a stack of books. "So if that 'super awesome destroyed castle-lookin' thing' Rainbow brought up yesterday- Aha!"

There was a shoddy journal in her hooves now and she opened it excitedly, almost frantically. The rustling of paper shattered the near-silence of the library for a moment, a faint murmuring replacing it soon thereafter as Twilight read aloud an entry.

2274: Methinks this broken tower is now, unfortunately, to forever be my true, final Sanctuary. I shan't know how nor when Failure will dawn unto the shadows hidden in this ghastly, decrepit place, but only that attempting Retreat... 'Tis impossible. To inevitable reader: with whatsoever's been happening here, you let it be widely known just what He have wrongly brought on to me. He have created what mustn't, can never rightfully be deemed true Life: a ghastly leech. Constantly, it saps the

Twilight's brows furrowed and she rubbed at her chin, both out of sheer habit and to combat the slight tingling she felt there. She flipped back a few pages in the journal, plucking a map from its clutch.

"Starswirl's map, there we go. So, if he started here..."

She repeated to herself what entered her mind as she followed Starswirl's written journey, translating his vague travel log into mapanese, since Rainbow's unhelpful directions were... unhelpful. She couldn't exactly translate 'just ride the higher winds for a few minutes and then take a left and then just keep going straight and after a while look kinda to your right and down and it's right there' into any kind of intelligible non-pegasus directions. It took her three hours to mark the general location of where the tower may or may not be, so she ate a quick lunch and shoved a few supplies into her saddlebags.

Her trip out of Ponyville was conspicuously uneventful, for usually when Twilight attempted to set out on some intellectual adventure into the forest, somepony in town would attempt to come with or stop her. Usually one of her five best friends would be up to the task. Yet that day, there was no pony who stepped up to her and for that, she was grateful.

Of course, she had to pass Fluttershy's cottage to get where she was going. And of course, said pegasus happened to be watching a certain other pegasus fly in the air around a nearby hill. And, of course, both pegasi had to notice Twilight when she failed to stealthily avoid their lines of sight.

It took a while for Twilight to persuade Rainbow not to tag along, but in the end all it took was bringing up the scholarly purpose for her expedition. As for Fluttershy, she seemed perfectly fine with not heading off into the dark, spooky forest in search for a dark, spooky tower that may or may not be filled with dark, spooky creatures.

As it turns out, the dark and spooky forest wasn't as dark or spooky as it used to be, Twilight having spent quite a bit of time documenting various species of wildlife throughout her stay in Ponyville. It was actually much like the Whitetail Woods, only more... Everfree-ish, which meant it was just a little bit more dark and creepy than the Woods, but only marginally so, once she got used to it.

Her hikes through the Everfree always calmed Twilight, surrounded by new things to discover and research. She found it hard to believe that an entire ancient tower went undiscovered for over 1,000 years, especially with an entire town situated right along its border, but that may have been due to the nonsensical myths about the forest. Granted, she herself would not have ventured into the Everfree were it not for the fate of Equestria hanging in the balance, but she knew better now.

The sounds and songs of the forest were relaxing in their own dark and mysterious ways. Maybe they reminded Zecora of her homeland; maybe that's why the zebra lived in the Everfree. Twilight really hadn't looked into zebras in-depth, so she didn't know where they lived or what their culture was like. She told herself to remind herself to tell Spike to remind her to add zebras to her research list when she got back to the library.

It didn't take very long for the unicorn to arrive in the general vicinity of where the general location of the tower might've been 1,000 years ago, but the structure was not in sight. It didn't really matter, though: Twilight had a plan.

So, after twenty minutes of searching the area around her general area of where the tower might be, she got sick of trying to find it. That didn't really matter either, though. Twilight had a backup plan.

Opening her saddlebag, Twilight pulled out the map and eyed the circle-shaped sticker she had stuck on it. No point in drawing all over a relic such as that, after all. She took out a larger, clear sticker and stuck it onto the map, very carefully drawing a larger circle around the existing sticker. She could now effectively search a larger area of the forest, which meant a higher possibility of reaching her destination.

About fourty minutes in, she had nearly exhausted the last area of her new general area of where the tower might be. Her patience was running thin; she didn't want to bother with Plan C anymore. She just wanted to get back home and maybe re-read Starswirl's journal to better retrace his steps and come back some other day. So that's exactly what she decided to do.

An hour or so of searching didn't really help with her coordination, and she ended up tripping on a semi-well-hidden root. Twilight being somewhat tired and frustrated, adding on to her natural clumsiness, found her tumbling down a grass-infested hill, skidding to a stop at the bottom.

A groan escaped a small crack in the researcher's lips. She didn't feel like getting up. She just wanted to take a nice, short little nap right on the ground. Her face and hooves and body in general hurting didn't exactly let her doze off in the middle of the forest, though. A quick little fixer-upper spell and Twilight was all fixed up, yet still she couldn't fall asleep. The ground simply wasn't comfortable enough.

Twilight waited a few minutes to see if she could somehow will herself to sleep, only to find her efforts were all in vain. She decided to just go home, plop down onto her bed, and pass out. It was certainly better than doing nothing. Much more efficient, time-wise.

Her plan was immediately forgotten when she finally picked her head up.

Laying right in front of Twilight, as if existing for the sole purpose of mocking her, was a very misshapen, crumbling tower. In fact, the only reason she knew it was a tower was because of the journal. If any other were to happen upon it, it would look more like just a bunch of rocks and vaguely brick-like shapes scattered around a small clearing. There were mosses and grass growing out of the cracks in the bricks, broken planks of wood strewn about the area. How Rainbow recognized the mess around her as tower ruins was a mystery. It was a mess, it was crumbling, it was destroyed.

It was perfect.

Twilight failed to suppress a girlish squeal that would make Rainbow Dash cringe. She bounced up and down as she traversed the wannabe ruins, taking in the sights of a newly discovered discovery. Her mind was bombarded with questions she would try her hardest to answer: What happened? How come nopony ever found this place? What's that over there? Is that a trapdoor? What did this place look like before it was destroyed? Why is that squirrel looking at me?

She stopped bouncing. There would be plenty of time to be excited and hop around later. It was sample-gathering time.

She hadn't really expected to not find any samples of anything. The rocks were just regular ol' rocks; the bricks were cut straight from plain ol' boulders; the wood was just boring ol' oak and pine, with a few bits of maple here and there. There were no remnants of past spells, no magical traps gone un-sprung. It was infuriating.

A thought flickered through her mind: Starswirl had been here. If Starswirl was here, surely he left something behind. Some tomes or scrolls or- Is that- she cut off. There was a very indistinct shape half-hidden underneath a mossy brick.

Twilight lifted the offending brick off of the precious material and ran a hoof over its surface. It was just like the other journal, only more... old. She was half-surprised that it had survived the elements of nature, but then realised she didn't even care. It was Starswirl's journal, he probably just cast a few spells on it or something. It was Starswirl's journal. His last journal.

She couldn't read it right then and there, though. She quickly cast twelve protective spells onto the book, wrapped it in several layers of paper, and slid it gently into her saddlebag. If something as valuable as his journal was left behind, maybe there was something else in the ruin.

With energy and spirit renewed, Twilight began her search in earnest.

Turns out the journal was the only thing there... she thought to herself, returning to Ponyville under the veil of night. Still, there should be plenty of stuff in this for me to read through and learn and research and... she rambled on to herself in her thoughts until she bumped her nose against the library's door.

She opened it wide and stepped in. The library, if possible, was even cleaner than the day before. Everything was spotless, the books were all at near-perfect 90-degree angles with the shelves, everything shined. Oh, that's right. I forgot to give Spike his thank-you gift... Twilight thought, resting her bags against a wall and making her way up the stairs to her room. Maybe he can have two tomorrow...

With her mental promise made, she gave Spike a kiss goodnight and snuggled up under the covers with her new book.

The first thing she had to do, of course, was remove all the protection spells she'd placed on it, and her horn glowed as she did just that. She examined the book next. There were only five pages with writing in them, out of approximately twenty-eight and a half pages total. A few of the pages had sizable tears on them.

The first page was comprised of two short journal entries, numbered 2275 and 2276. That meant, since the last one she had read was 2274, she hadn't missed out on anything from his journey. She opted to read those after she finished a quick skim of the other pages. She flipped the page to study the second and third. They were covered in drawings and diagrams and at the top of the left page, a title.

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere: Alicorn Unification

Thirst for Knowledge

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere: Alicorn Unification

The formation of an "Alicorn" (as there is no official term for the princesses' species) is not quite as simple or complex as one may imagine. I have delved quite deeply into the history of the two Alicorn Sisters and, with substantial assistance from both Parties involved, it have dawned that they be, in the most generalized of statements, a Union of the three species of ordinary pony: Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth, with the unique Attributes of each of the three amplified to approximately six-point-five times that of a common specimen. The Princesses seem to be the embodiment of Harmony itself.

As the Princesses epitomize Harmony, what, then, do their subjects represent? Chaos, to counterbalance the nature of their rulers? Nay, that be the role of the Draconequus, Discord, before his supreme banishment and imprisonment. Mayhaps the commonfolk of Equestria have taken up his Mantle, each containing, within themselves, a bit of Chaos? While that may be a particularly true indulgence indeed, I believe that is not what they represent.

But this is a subject to continue throughout both this page and the next. Back to the simplicity or complexity of the issue of this entry.

Many tales of the Princesses' origins have made their way to my memory. Some say the Princesses been simply born through centuries of meticulous breeding, until finally the children had the Qualities of each tribe of pony. Some say the Princesses been not born, that they existed since before the beginning of Time, that they created the world as we know it. Some say the Princesses be Goddesses, who left their Alicorn world to come to their new home and create life.

I choose to see it with a more logical approach: That the Alicorns be, again in general terms, a Union of the three species of pony.

What, then, caused the Alicorns to be? Or if the Alicorns be the originals, which I am wont to disbelieve, what caused the division of the Alicorn into Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus? The answers to these questions is not of importance in this Study, yet they make themselves known in my head on occasion. I fear I may not have time sufficient to answer them.

But with the existence of Alicorns, 'tis obvious, in my mind, the three species may be united in a singular Subject, thus creating an artificial Alicorn. How does one go about it, then?

Let us begin with the subject of Genetics, of alleles and genes. Earth be dominant over Unicorn, Unicorn over Pegasus, Pegasus over Earth. A triangle to ensure the three species remain relatively equal in population. Two Earth ponies may have Unicorn parents, an Earth and Unicorn may have one Pegasus and one Unicorn parent, et cetera.

On to the subject of sex. Male and Female both be mutually exclusive, in most cases. There have been few I have met that have both Male and Female parts, thus making neither sex dominant to the other. Colour seems to favor one sex over the other, yet that is an extremely generalized observation. Warm colours tend to find themselves on Females, Cool colours on Males. The areas where the two meet seem to split evenly between the sexes, and there be numerous exceptions to the Warm and Cool sex tendencies I mentioned previously.

White and black, however, be recessive to all colours. In the Royal City, many Unicorns be white due to selective breeding or inbreeding. Black is extremely rare in all areas of Equestria. As the Princesses be white and nearly-black, respectively, and if they been born as regular ponies be, 'tis safe to assume that selective breeding or inbreeding were occurred.

How, then, does one breed an Alicorn? Inbreeding is not a viable option, as the children would be wont to acquire various diseases and irregularities. Perhaps the combination of two species, and then the inclusion of a third, would be such an irregularity. Alas, as I have no family in life, nor do I have centuries of Time with which to test the theory, I must look to more immediate ways.

On to the nature of the Princesses themselves, and not of the Genetic variety. The Princesses rarely fly. A trivial observation to be sure, yet true nonetheless. They rarely fly, yet they have wings more large and more powerful than even the greatest of Pegasus fliers. They live high atop a mountain, yet spread their wings only for show and not to enjoy the breeze filtering through their feathers.

As for the mountain itself, I have researched the history of the city resting atop it. Though many believe the city grew around Canterlot Castle, various records would argue otherwise. I can safely assume that the Princesses lived in the Everfree Forest in their castle and, abandoning it for unknown reasons, moved to Canterlot some time later. When questioned about this, both Princesses had no explanation for their sudden move.

This causes me to believe that the Princesses prefer the mountainside over the ground and trees, and over the clouds as well. The Princesses be Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth all combined. With their apparent dislike of flying, comfort in the mountainside as opposed to solid ground, and immersion in Canterlot events as opposed to previous isolation, I believe the Sisters be dominantly Unicorn, in mind if nothing else.

This, on its own, is very trivial information. With the addition of the idea that one can create an Alicorn, I believe that a particularly powerful Unicorn may cause the Union alone.

Transmogrification of living things is exponentially more difficult than that of the nonliving, as it involves genes and tissues rather than minerals and elements. An apple, for example, would be much more difficult to Transmogrify than, say, a rock.

The creation of living tissue is extremely simple once Transmogrification be mastered. Simply take a sample of what you want to Duplicate and a sample of what you want to Transform, and turn the object into that of the living tissue sample. This is what be done with Healing magicks, though 'tis not conspicuously so. With Healing magicks, the Unicorn turns the air around the wound into unflawed tissue found elsewhere on the body. This is why ponies may not be revived with Healing magicks: 'tis simply the reforming of tissue, not the imbuing of Life.

How, then, does one imbue Life into a subject? Simple. Take Life from one being and bestow it upon the other. Perhaps this is why the Princesses do not Revive ponies. Take Life from an Immortal, and the Immortal could possibly have it limited as a result. 'Tis to be forever an untested theory, as the Princesses be unwilling to take such a risk.

To reach the wells of Life, metaphorically, a Unicorn would simply have to locate the magick within. Simple. Magick is an extension of a Unicorn's Life, somewhat. This is why, when a Unicorn's access to magick be cut off, the Unicorn feels as though their very soul been ripped from their body. A similar event happens with Pegasi: remove the ability of flight, and the Pegasus will feel as though their entire purpose in life was torn asunder.

Removing Life from one's body is as simple as drawing upon magick, only in a slightly different location. 'Tis difficult to explain where the magick is found, and I have discovered the exact location differs from pony to pony.

Once found, simply take the Life from yourself and direct it to a deceased, sickly, wounded, or aging pony. Said pony will have their ailments healed, proportionate to the amount of Life given to them.

A deep understanding of each species of pony is required for the formation of an Alicorn. The Unicorn casting the spell is likely to fully understand the nature of a Unicorn, yet they must also know the Attributes of Earth and Pegasus. Not just physical: psychological, magickal, metaphysical, et cetera. Only then can you create an Alicorn.

The next step is for the Unicorn to create both an Earth and Pegasus version of his/herself. This is not easy; my own magick was drained constantly for several weeks forming the necessary tissue for two ponies, keeping in mind to create them in my likeness. After creation is done, you must draw Life from yourself. I have withdrawn one-third of my own Life for each of the two I have created. Thus, all three live for an equal amount of time, eliminating one of a number of variables differentiating each from the other. One does not simply grant themself wings and the magicks of each race to become an Alicorn, as I have tried already to do so.

The next part is the most difficult: The Unicorn must join, in body, mind, and soul, with his/her creations. As the Pegasus and Earth be individual beings, they will not want to join. They will believe themselves to be individuals in every meaning of the word, even if they seem to have been triplets at birth. In fact, if done correctly, the only things differentiating the Pegaus, Earth, and Unicorn will be the cutie mark, horn, and wings. Personality, memories, et cetera, they will all belong to each of the ponies involved.

They may believe that when you ask them to join with you, you be trying to kidnap them, assault them, or enact some other villainous deed, and will disallow your attempt. In my case, when asked, they began actively

Twilight read the last line again, perplexed at the sudden ending in the entry. She flipped a few pages, even though she knew she had read the last written text in the journal.

Her eyes now focused on the ceiling, she began to prepare a mental checklist, subconsciously writing on a scroll exactly what she thought. There were many things for her to do. She wrote for the nearly twenty minutes before she rested her quill atop her nightstand.

If I can become an alicorn, just think of all the possibilities! I could study clouds and weather and wind and agriculture and- Oooooo, there would be so many new avenues for research!

Twilight, a goofy grin plastered on her face, hugged the journal close to her body as her excitement forced herself to sleep.

The sun was high in the sky by the time the librarian stirred beneath her covers. The journal was still pressed against her chest. Twilight removed the book from her embrace and levitated it over to her nightstand, idly rubbing her eyes as she headed downstairs for breakfast.

The library smelled nice, like pancakes. Which made perfect sense, considering there were two plates of them on the table, with Spike devouring his own stack on the other side. Twilight remembered her promise to herself to give him some thank-you gems, so she levitated a nice, big emerald next to his now-empty plate. He eyed the gem curiously, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do with it.

Twilight chuckled. "You eat it, Spike."

Said dragon looked up at Twilight even more curiously than he did the gem. "I know that, but why're you giving it to me?"

Twilight got up from her seat at the table and nuzzled her suspicious assistant's cheek. "I don't need a reason to give you a gem every now and then, do I?" Her question was met with an incredulous stare. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I just thought I'd reward my number one assistant for being such a great help!"

Of course, the mention of his helpfulness and assistantly-ness got a smile out of him. He rushed over, hugged Twilight around the neck, and devoured the emerald.

"And, y'know..."

Spike waited for a few seconds for her to continue, yet she didn't. "Know what?"

"Oh, nevermind. It was nothing. But I think I remember Rarity needing some help at the boutique, but I'm just gonna be so busy today I don't think I'll be able to make it!" Twilight pouted and looked at Spike with wide, sad eyes.

"Oh,oh,I'lldoit!"

The librarian walked over to her assistant and wrapped him in an embrace. "Oh, thank you, Spike. I just don't know what I would do without you!" She broke off the hug and pat his head with a hoof. "Now go, you shouldn't keep a lady waiting."

Spike gave a mock salute and rushed out the door, giggling with childish glee. Twilight walked back into the library, proud of her magnificent acting skills. She threw her thoughts of potential greatness as an actress out the window, for the time-being. It was time for research.

Sharing is Caring

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

"Ummmm, I dunno. I just like flying."

"Well yeah, I know that, but is there any reason you like flying so much?"

"I dunno, I just... do."

"Well, what about you, Fluttershy? Why don't you like flying?"

"Oh, umm. It's not that I don't like flying, I just like walking more."

Twilight sighed and looked at her notes, or the noticeable lack thereof. "Well thanks anyways, you two. I don't wanna take up any more of your time."

"Oh, it was no problem at-"

"Yeah, no problem. C'mon Fluttershy, let's go."

"Oh, bu- eep!"

The unicorn watched as Rainbow dragged the poor, defenseless mare off to her untimely demise at a nearby lake. She looked once more at the blank paper in front of her, then trotted off to Ponyville to find more pegasi to interview.

So far all she'd figured out were that pegasi liked flying, that they wanted to fly simply because they had wings, and they liked clouds because they were in the sky and they were comfortable. It seemed to be pretty similar to how unicorns were: they liked magic, they wanted to learn magic because they had horns, and they liked mountains because of the gems and minerals inside of them, which could be enchanted much more easily and reliably than anything else.

Her books hadn't helped all that much, either. Turns out very few were written on the subject of race-specific psychology and even fewer on the properties of earth and pegasus magic. Probably because their magic wasn't something that could be enhanced or changed from study or something. Twilight wasn't sure, but that was the only reason she could come up with.

Starswirl said in his journal that a deeper knowledge of pegasi and earth ponies is necessary, but just how deep is deep enough? Twilight had no clue, so she just decided to ask a whole bunch of questions to any pegasus she could find.

Thunderlane was conspicuously ground-bound over in a diner not far away. With quill at the ready and paper in tow, she walked over for her next interview.

Turns out none of the pegasi she questioned were able to explain their love of flying. They all said pretty much the same things as Rainbow when asked about various topics. Flight? We have wings, so we fly. Clouds? Nopony else can touch clouds since they're in the sky, so we do. The sky? Our cities are in the sky and we fly in the sky, we live in the sky and we work in the sky.

Pretty much the same ideals went for unicorns as well, but it still frustrated Twilight to not get any tangible answers. Seemed like she couldn't understand pegasi unless she was one of them, so how did Starswirl do it? There was only one way to find out: Research.

There weren't any books detailing Starswirl's research process or his life and the only journals Twilight knew about were the two in her possession. There wasn't even anything of use in the Starswirl the Bearded wing in Canterlot, if the guard she'd contacted was being truthful. She opened up the journal she'd found and flipped to the two pages covered with drawings and diagrams. If there was one key to unlocking the mind of a pegasus, it was on one of those pages.

Twilight spent the next two hours drawing each and every figure on a new sheet of paper, to the smallest detail. She also decided to rewrite the entirety of the other two pages, detailing Starswirl's logic and the steps to the spell, even copying the crossed-out words and grammatical errors. After that, she read over what she wrote and studied each of the drawings before copying the more important parts on another page. After all, repetition is the greatest teacher.

She had gathered quite a few things from the drawings. The anatomies of pegasi and earth ponies were detailed and drawn to scale, different types of tissues were drawn and there were a few spells that would aid in Twilight's research. One in particular would be extremely useful in her current step: The ability to enter another's mind for a day.

Finding a pony willing to let Twilight in their mind would most likely be a difficult task. Fluttershy would, of course, offer to let Twilight in, but she wasn't exactly a normal pegasus. Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly a normal pegasus either, and Twilight wasn't sure she would even want to help.

The librarian left in search of a pegasus who would want to help, but was also an ordinary, typical specimen. The fastest, most efficient way to do that was to roam Ponyville and ask just about every pegasus she came across, and most of them just turned her down halfway through the question. Granted, "Hey there, can I enter your mind so I can understand how pegasi think?" wasn't exactly the best way to ask, but there was no point in beating around the bush.

Twilight returned to the library late at night, nopony willing to give up a part of themselves for the sake of research. It may have been the whole "pegasus pride" thing Rainbow brought up that one time, maybe. She sighed, walked up to her room, and levitated her checklist over to herself. Item number one on the list was scratched out and moved down, leaving earth ponies as her top priority. Satisfied, she laid her list down and fell asleep.

Twilight only had to ask two earth ponies, the second one finding no problem with letting the unicorn run around in her head for a day. Twilight actually felt the need to ask a few more times just to make sure Carrot Top was sure she wanted to let another pony invade her mind.

It took the mare four "yes"es and an extra nod of approval before Twilight was willing to decide she was sure she could conduct her research. Carrot Top seemed like a great subject: she had her carrot patch, she had flowers on her windowsill, she had a stall at the market, she was healthy without being visibly muscular. She was just a perfectly great, perfectly willing earth pony to study.

Twilight wasn't exactly sure how much of an intrusion she'd be, or exactly how much of Carrot Top's mind was open for her to explore. She swore to herself that she wouldn't dive into memories or secrets or anything that the other mare hadn't knowingly signed up for.

The mind-moving spell, as Twilight liked to call it, was relatively simple. After getting comfortable on her bed, Twilight rested a quick note for Spike on her chest telling him that she wasn't dead, just that she was inside of another pony. After that she withdrew from her body her consciousness and deposited it inside Carrot Top, who was watching nearby. It was a manner similar to magical sedation, only instead of numbing the mind she was moving it. Which actually wasn't at all like sedation since sedation numbed the physical and not the mental, but Twilight couldn't think of a better example.

Twilight didn't know what she expected, just that she didn't think she would see out of Carrot Top's eyes the instant the spell was cast. Seeing herself through the eyes of another was unlike looking in a mirror, somehow. She decided not to focus on minor details such as that, instead focusing on thoughts and emotions.

Is that it? she heard somepony say. Except it wasn't spoken. It was a thought. She could apparently hear whatever Carrot Top thought, which would prove extremely helpful with figuring out how earth ponies think. But what if she thought something? Would Carrot Top hear it? Huh, she isn't moving. Guess that's it, then. Heh, she actually looks kinda cute li-

Carrot Top?

Huh? What? Twilight?!?

Twilight sensed her cheeks getting warm, only she knew they weren't her cheeks, since nothing about her had changed. They were Carrot Top's then, which still didn't make any sense- the temperature in the library was still at its usual, after all- but revealed that senses seemed easy enough to pick up. The thought-speak was pretty useful as well.

It seems like communication isn't a problem. I wonder if I can move you...

Twilight attempted to move Carrot Top's hoof, and it refused to budge. She tried harder to move it, yet still it would not give. Twilight gave up after the fourth try, realizing they could transmit their thoughts and feelings to one another, but anything beyond that was impossible.

Well, I guess I can't.

Yeah, this is gettin' pretty weird...

Oh, sorry. Just... pretend I'm not here. I'll try and focus on remembering stuff so I can write it down when I'm back in my body later, so I shouldn't be thinking too much, probably.

Y'know, I can just write stuff down for you.

Oh, nonononono. I don't wanna be a burden on you. Just go about your day like any other, like I'm not here.

Alright, just don't go diggin' around in my head.

Don't worry, I won't. Cross my hear-

Yeah, that's alright.

Okay then, I'll just be... Wherever I could call this place. I guess. I'll try and think as little as-

Twilight.

Huh?

Stop thinking.

Oh, right. Sorry. It's just so-

Twilight.

Sorry!

Carrot Top waited a few moments before she was certain that Twilight was silent. She turned from the librarian's bed, traversed the steps leading out of the librarian's room, and trotted out of the library. The urge to hum a light tune hit her as she headed off and she had no reason not to, so she hummed as she walked through town, waving and greeting various ponies all the while.

After arriving at her stall in the market and doing a quick inventory check which she knew wasn't necessary- Ponyville wasn't home to many thieves or ne'er-do-wells- she flipped the closed sign around. Almost immediately, a nearby stallion walked up to buy some carrots.

Twilight was bored. Immensely, terribly bored. She figured out a way to think to herself without Carrot Top hearing- after all, they were still two separate ponies- but thinking and watching a pony selling carrots through the salesmare's eyes got dull after a few hours.

It was a rather redundant process: Greet pony, wave hoof at carrots, sell carrots, wait for next customer. The monotony was only broken up when the mare decided to eat some dinner back at her place. It was nothing special, just a regular ol' sandwich with various fruits and vegetables on the side, and it only lasted long enough for Twilight to realize that she wasn't actually eating anything herself.

After dinner, it was back to selling carrots. And selling the carrots on the other side of the stall. And selling some more carrots stashed underneath it. Twilight picked up a few tricks of the trade from watching Carrot Top do her thing. When somepony wants only two carrots, tell them if they buy four they'll get a fifth one free. Chances are they'll jump at the offer of free anything without much thought. The same thing went for when somepony thought the prices were too high. Free samples can go a long way for business.

The sun was beginning to shrink behind the horizon when Twiliight noticed Carrot Top packing up her things with a deft skill that she was instantly jealous of. Her yellow hooves went from carrots to bag to box to bag and back to carrots with speed and accuracy Twilight never thought possible without magic.

She tried to focus on Carrot Top's peripheral vision. From what she could tell, the other earth ponies were packing up just as fast as Carrot Top was, if not faster. The few pegasi shopkeepers, however, were progressing at a much slower pace. Twilight realized the large possibility that it was earth pony magic at play, so perhaps the speed and skill she observed was impossible without magic. Or at least, without years of practice.

Carrot Top's things all packed up, she began to fold up her stall with some kind of hidden strength from within, judging by the way the rusted hinges protested against being used. Twilight decided it was earth pony magic at work once again, and tried her hardest to find any difference in Carrot Top, as there was with unicorns. She could vaguely sense some kind of pull in the mare's chest, but didn't have enough time to pinpoint its exact location.

Twilight at first thought to ask Carrot Top to do some more strength tests so she could find out where the tugging was coming from, but decided against it. She refocused her attention on the world around her and saw, through eyes not her own, parts of the stall resting atop her head. Is she carrying her stall?!?

Instantly, the yellow mare jumped back, the stall on her back falling to the ground. Huh? What? Oh, right. Heh. Forgot you were there, Twilight.

Oh, I'm sorry! I was just thinking about how earth pony magic worked and then you were carrying your stall and it was so-

Wait. You said you were thinking?

Yeah. I figured out a way to think without thinking... out loud, I guess? You just kinda... hmm...

Twilight continued to think of a way to phrase it as Carrot Top picked up her stall once again, walking through the streets towards her home. The ponies walking by seemed accustomed to seeing an ordinary mare carrying a miniature shop around, not gawking or pointing at what Twilight would deem a strange sight.

Ah, I got it! You just think like you would normally think, but like... Wait, that doesn't make sense. Hold on a second... Okay, think like you'd normally think, but think it like you're reading, I guess. Wait. I mean, you know sometimes when you're thinking to yourself and not really- Ugh. This sounded a whole lot better in my head. Did that make any sense to you?

Nope. But I think I know what you mean, kinda. I'll maybe try it later sometime, maybe.

There was silence in her mind as Carrot Top opened the door to her house, placing her stall in a corner before heading into the bathroom. She closed her eyes; she didn't want anypony watching her heed the call of nature. The lack of sight didn't really tune out the sounds, though. After brushing her teeth she walked lazily over to her bed, yawned, stretched, and climbed up, snuggling under the covers for a good night's sleep.

Twilight was at a loss. Carrot Top was asleep. Twilight couldn't do anything except think, but she'd done a whole lot of that already. She didn't want to invade whatever dreams Carrot Top was having; that would be like looking into her memories and secrets, maybe even worse. It totally had nothing to do with Twilight not knowing how to sneak a peek. It just completely went against her morals, not to mention her not even being curious as to what went on in the mare's dreams. Not even a little bit.

That still left Twilight with having to find something to do, so she looked around Carrot Top's room. The only things in it were the bed she was in, an armoire against the wall there, a nightstand to her left, some shelves by the other wall over there, a desk underneath the shelves, a chair, a door, and a couple of curtained windows. She focused her eyes on the shelves, looking for something that might help her pass the time while Carrot Top was asleep. The shelves had nothing on them, save for a few dusty vases and boxes.

There was absolutely nothing to help her pass the time. Twilight looked up at the ceiling and rubbed her chin, humming as she thought. If I could just do something other than think and look at stuff, maybe I- Wait a second... She looked at her yellow hoof and waved it around in front of herself. As if she couldn't believe it, she rubbed her eyes and waved it around one more time.

But this- This doesn't make any sense! I couldn't do anything earlier, so maybe Carrot Top was pushing me away so I couldn't? Or maybe she didn't know she was pushing me away, so she couldn't do anything to let me do anything? She propped Carrot Top up so she could look around the room again. But if I'm using Carrot Top's body, why isn't she awake? Hmmmm, I'm gonna have to look into this some more later. But for now...

Her thoughts were halted when she suddenly yawned and slid back under the covers, wrapping them around herself and smiling at the new comfort. What's going on? I didn't- Oh. Right. She's asleep, so she wants to be comfortable. Of course.

Keeping a blanket wrapped around herself, Twilight slowly slid out of bed. The sound of hoofsteps reverberated through the otherwise silent rooms as she walked through Carrot Top's home, retracing her steps back to the front door. She took off her blanket-cloak and placed it on a nearby table, refocusing her attention on the door. It opened easily enough, the crisp night air causing Carrot Top to huddle close to the ground as though she were still in bed. She turned to her side and wrapped herself in a blanket of dirt and grass, hugging her hooves tightly against herself in a ball for extra warmth.

As Carrot Top struggled against the lack of warmth in her sleep, Twilight found herself unable to do anything to retake control of their shared body. She herself couldn't sleep for whatever reason, so she waited for Carrot Top to get comfortable and warm enough to complete her quest for optimal sleeping conditions. All it took was around ten minutes of tossing and turning and four very thick layers of dirty goodness.

Twilight could finally open her eyes. She looked at Carrot Top's dirt-covered body and immediately stood up to dust herself off. Once she did, however, she fell to the ground once more and spent the next few minutes reapplying her dirt bath. Once that was in order, she found herself curling up under the "covers" and yawning, smacking her lips and scratching her flank as Carrot Top fell asleep. Even though she was already asleep to begin with. Maybe there were layers to sleep, with varying levels of consciousness. Twilight decided to add that to her growing list of research topics.

She knew she couldn't stand up or get out from under the dirt, so Twilight resorted to very slowly crawling towards the library, even after receiving a couple strange looks from the few ponies still out. Fifteen minutes later, she realized there was no pain in her hooves from pushing herself on the ground, nor was there pain anywhere, despite the roughness of the dirt and the various rocks, twigs, and that one screw or whatever it was she'd slid over. Definitely magic at work here...

Another twenty minutes of slithering across the ground and Twilight was finally at the library. She didn't dare get up to open the door the normal way, instead reaching up and pushing it open with one hoof. Her muscles were just barely starting to ache, whereas normally she would've been exhausted after about ten minutes. Which definitely had nothing to do with her being out of shape, since she exercised regularly. At least once a week. If she had time.

After a moment of consideration, Twilight dragged herself in to the library and shut the door behind her. Only then did she dare stand up, certain the library was warm enough to not bring on another comfort-seeking fit from Carrot Top. Her first instinct was to rush upstairs and wash all the dirt off herself, but she decided against it. Water was definitely not a good thing to be covered in while dreaming. Neither was dirt, but it was too late to do anything about that.

She vaguely wondered what she would say to Carrot Top when she woke a complete mess. Hopefully she wouldn't be mad. It was her body, and she didn't say Twilight could use it. But then again, she hadn't said Twilight couldn't use it, even if she thought she couldn't anyways.

Twilight shook the self-argument from her head and went over to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and decided to test the earth pony magic that was now at her disposal. There were plenty of plants on her window sill, most of them wilting slightly for some odd reason that she knew wasn't a lack of water, and they would make perfect test subjects. The test itself was rather easy: Water plant, record results, move on to next plant.

Whenever she watered them, the plants looked slightly less wilted. Ordinary results from watering plants to be sure, except for the fact that when she watered them as herself, they never seemed to get any healthier. Which meant earth pony magic sped up plant growth. It made perfect sense, considering most farmers and gardeners were earth ponies.

But where's the magic stored? Twilight asked herself. If earth pony magic was anything like unicorn magic, there should be a reserve somewhere in the body. She remembered a slight pull at her chest while she was exerting herself earlier and memorized the location of that magical reserve, yet she hadn't felt anything at all while watering her plants. If she could just heighten all of her senses she would be able to, but she didn't have access to her magic.

But I don't wanna have to ask her again tomorrow and... Hmm... Twilight paced across the floor as she thought, wondering how she could locate the agricultural magic inside her. She could ask Rarity, but it was late at night and she was probably asleep. Twilight ultimately decided that her research couldn't wait and Twilight didn't want to have to awkwardly ask Carrot Top again another day. She didn't exactly want to ask anypony else either, considering how awkward being inside somepony else's head was in the first place. Her mind made up, she threw on a coat and headed for Rarity's boutique.

The coat, though it seemed like a good idea at the time, didn't help all that much. Instead of stopping Carrot Top's need for warmth outside, it caused her to want to curl up into a ball and bask in the comfort of the newly-dirty fabric. Which was a bit of a problem while she was walking, because she would trip over herself and land face-first into the dirt, then rub her cheeks all over the groove while she wrapped the coat around herself. Of course, it hadn't taken nearly as long as it would have if Twilight had to push herself the entire way, but it was a hindrance nonetheless.

She didn't bother knocking; Sweetie Belle was a light sleeper. Paired with the Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover that was going on that night, it would have probably woken up Carrot Top and given both she and Twilight a headache, not to mention Rarity. Besides, she knew where the key was. The door creaked slightly as Twilight opened it, the way doors usually do when they're opened slowly. She walked as quietly as she could up the boutique's stairs and walked along in the dark until she reached Rarity's room.

The door to her room, just as the front door did, creaked slightly when Twilight tried to silently open it. She couldn't help but wince and grit her teeth, thinking Rarity would wake prematurely. Rarity didn't move an inch, thankfully, so Twilight began walking over to her bed.

And then she tripped over herself, yawning and rolling on the floor, spreading her limbs every which way as she tried to remove the coat-blanket she had on. The tossing and turning went on for a good minute or so before it finally stopped, Twilight picking herself up off the ground and staring frightfully at Rarity's bed. She seemed to still be asleep, considering nopony was screaming in terror at the random thumping in the middle of the night.

"Hello? Who's there?"

Twilight froze. Rarity's voice wasn't coming from her bed or anywhere in the room, for that matter. The lights turned on and she raised a hoof over her eyes to protect them from the relentless attacks of the sudden brightness.

"Carrot Top? Whatever are you doing here? And just look at your coat! It's filthy! And that's to say nothing about you, dear, you're covered in... in filth!" Rarity looked Carrot Top over and tut-tutted, shaking her head as she walked over. "Now come along, let's get you cleaned up."

"Rarity, wait!"

"Yes, dear? What is it?"

"Look, I know you're gonna think I'm crazy, but just hear me out."

Rarity stood silently, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head as Twilight's sign to continue.

"Alright, good, just hear me out. I'm not Carrot Top."

Rarity's eyebrows shot up in their attempt to escape Rarity's face.

"I'm actually Twilight. I'm just kinda... 'borrowing' Carrot Top's body. For research."

The rebellious eyebrows gave up their struggle and returned to their normal resting place above Rarity's eyes. She stayed silent, however, prompting Twilight to go on.

"And Carrot Top's... mind, I guess, is still kinda asleep, so I can't really get cleaned up right now."

In a full circle from their surrender, her eyebrows shot up once again, this time with a new recruit: her mouth. It seemed to no longer want to live on the planet anymore and attempted to jump off Rarity's head in a sudden suicide attempt. Thankfully Rarity's hoof, ever vigilant, caught up to the wannabe-self-murderer-and-victim, pushing it back up to where it rightfully belonged. Her eyebrows sensed the failure of their comrade and, out of respect, returned to their homes.

"Hmm, yes. I understand. So what did you need, Twilight?"

"Oh, right. I need you to- Wait, you believe me? Just like that?"

Rarity nodded and, turning off the lights, began walking out of her room. After passing the door, she flicked her head as the signal for Twilight to follow. "Yes, Twilight, just like that."

"Oh, well, I need you to cast a spell on me to heighten my senses."

"Which-"

"All of them."

"Oh, of course. And why-"

"I'm kinda not in my body right now, remember?"

"I know that. I meant, why-"

"For research."

"Ahhh, yes. Right. Very well, I'll see what I can do."

Rarity's horn lit up as she called forth her magic. Carrot Top soon glowed a bright blue as the spell began to take hold, every fiber of her body sensitized to new heights. A few moments passed before the glow faded into nothing and Rarity decided it was the perfect time to shout into Carrot Top's ear.

"THERE, IS THAT ALRIGHT?"

Twilight didn't even have time to scream before she covered her ears, shutting her eyes to keep the sounds away. Because shutting her eyes helped, not because her instincts took over and made her do something stupid.

"Oh, right. Heightened senses. Don't worry dear, I'll whisper from now on."

The ringing in her ears was almost gone, so Twilight reopened her eyes and nodded to Rarity in thanks. It was a mystery how Carrot Top didn't wake up from all of that, but Twilight decided to be thankful and not question it.

"Yeah, thanks Rarity. But what are you doing up so late?"

"Oh, just finishing up a little something. Was there anything else?"

"Oh, no, that's it. Thanks again!" Twilight called back as she headed outside.

"You're welcome, dear."

It was time for Twilight to pinpoint where an earth pony's plant-growing magic came from. She had a spring in her step up until about halfway back to the library when, mid-hop, her body curled into itself and she fell face-first into the ground.

Scathing pain from her fall to the ground aside, Twilight's trip to the library was quick and uneventful. The library was dark and desolate, just like she left it. The plants on her sill were already watered and she didn't dare over-water them; not yet known to her were the limits of earth pony magic. Besides, they were doing fine. She didn't want to risk killing them right after they started growing again.

She stuck to watering the bushes and flowers outside the library. Each and every time, she felt a tugging at various places on her body. Her hooves, her tail, her mouth, they all housed the magical pull at some point. The only consistent areas were her chest, slightly below and to the right of her heart, and her head, between her brain and eyes.

It was when she stumbled mid-watering that she realized why the location was changing. She tested her theory. Only when she held her watering can in her mouth was there a magical strain there; likewise, there was a pull at her hooves when she held it with them.

It was clear to her that any contact with nature or an object that was connected to a plant would cause magic to spring forth from the area, which meant the source of an earth pony's magic was either mobile or covered the body entirely. With no way to prove either theory right or wrong, Twilight decided to test them both on something and use the easier of the two when the time came to create her other self.

With earth pony magic thoroughly investigated, Twilight headed back to Carrot Top's house, barely noticing the sun peeking out from beyond the horizon.

Twilight walked into the building and shut the door behind her. The stairs rose up to meet her and she valiantly ascended them. Even the mighty bedroom door was no match for Twilight's new-found earth pony strength. She was nearly to the bed when she fell, raising a hoof to her mouth and yawning into it as Carrot Top woke, ready to begin her morning.

Off on a Tangent

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

Carrot Top woke up, on the floor, covered in dirt. Twilight found herself unable to do anything to prevent the barrage of insults and the rampage that she thought would ensue. She stuck to repeating, "I'msosorry I'msosorry I'msosorry," for a while, even though the rage and the frustration never came. Carrot Top realized Twilight was going through a mental breakdown or something, so she simply shrugged and cleaned herself up, heading downstairs for breakfast after she was done.

Upon returning to her body, Twilight was immensely hungry. Going 24 hours without food wasn't exactly foreign to her, but she was usually too distracted to notice. The first thing she did was eat, then she spent the rest of the afternoon and evening documenting the information she gathered.

The next day came and when Carrot Top asked about what happened that night, Twilight went into another apologetic breakdown. She threw herself at the "violated" mare, apologizing and wishing they could still be friends, until Spike and Carrot Top managed to calm her down and convince her everything was fine. The unicorn then went into everything from the sudden control, to the trip to the library, to the experiments and tests, all the way to when Carrot Top woke up.

Deciding simply apologizing wasn't enough- messing with another pony's body was one of the worst things she had every done-, Twilight invited Carrot Top to an apology dinner at any restaurant she chose. The latter found she couldn't turn down the offer after the fifth time and reluctantly agreed. They chatted about all kinds of random topics, one pony eating while the other spoke, one speaking while the other ate.

Carrot Top practically lived in the library on her days off; she decided after their dinner to become Twilight's research assistant. Spike wasn't pleased with that particular arrangement at first, believing the mare sought to become his replacement, but was ultimately reassured when both the intruder and Twilight swore to never let him be left out of anything research-wise. Carrot Top ended up letting Spike in on the daily schedules and plans, as Twilight consistently forgot about everything except her research once she got started.

As it turns out, Carrot Top was the only pony in all of Ponyville willing to let Twilight perform her spell. It was weird, though. Twilight was certain that a little persuasion from her assistant about how perfectly safe and non-dangerous it all was would take for another pony to jump at the offer, but they didn't. Except Fluttershy. Twilight knew Fluttershy didn't actually want to, so she decided to just pass her up. It was pretty disheartening for a few days, but then Twilight sent a letter to Princess Celestia asking if she knew anypony willing to let her do her thing.

Of course, she came to regret the letter the instant Spike sent it off. She even went so far as to tackle Spike to try to stop it, successfully grabbing the written question before it burned in the dragon's fire. Twilight realized asking Celestia to let her invade somepony's mind was a bad idea and Celestia would not approve, maybe even punish her for asking such a thing, so it was good that she managed to grab it before it was sent off.

Everything else in the letter was fine; just a report on the journals and her project; a few things she could do, should she successfully become an alicorn- she had written a few pages, front and back, detailing the intellectual benefits she would receive from such an endeavor-; and a short addendum asking Celestia about Starswirl's life and research techniques.

Twilight was still collapsed on top of Spike, who was trying unsuccessfully to push her off. She was beginning to form a mental list of everything Celestia might ask and a reasonable response for each when Carrot Top rescued the dragon from beneath her. Said dragon immediately walked off into another room while grumbling about Twilight's antics and the earth mare decided to just leave her be.

Seven sheets of paper were soon covered in bulleted lists of every foreseeable positive and negative aspect of Twilight's project. That way, should Celestia actually be partly open to letting her pupil invade one of her subjects, Twilight could show her the lists for some extra convincing.

The library was filled with the scent of food by the time Twilight had finished her list-making. She set them aside and turned to where Carrot Top and Spike were in the other room, walking over to join them for dinner.

Dinner was interesting, as it had been the past few days since Carrot Top signed on as Twilight's assistant. Spike went on and on about this, Carrot Top would change the subject to that, Twilight would throw in some extra information on both, then Spike would go off on a tangent and the cycle would repeat.

Spike headed into the kitchen to do the dishes, leaving the two mares alone in the library. Twilight decided it was the perfect time to resume her research, so she turned and started looking through her bookcases. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for, just that she would know what it was when she found it.

"So, umm... Twilight..."

"Mmhmm," came the librarian's reply, barely paying attention to the newly-created conversation.

Carrot Top idly scraped the ground with a hoof as she talked. "So, I was wondering..."

"Yeah?" The book she was looking for- even though she wasn't exactly sure what it was- was somehow evading Twilight. She moved to the next bookshelf.

"Well, since you don't really... get out much... I mean..."

Twilight decided to stop her search for a while and looked over at Carrot Top. She was staring at the ground, rubbing it with a hoof, glancing up every once in a while.

"Carrot Top?"

Said mare looked up at Twilight with such speed that her neck cracked from the sudden movement. The unicorn noticed Carrot Top's rosy cheeks, which was pretty weird; it wasn't very hot in the library.

"Oh, nevermind. It was nothing," said Carrot Top unconvincingly, looking just about everywhere except at Twilight. She unicorn was about to press the matter further when Spike ran into the room.

"Twilight! Twilight!" he shouted, trying to catch his breath after the tiring run all the way from the front door. His legs were nubby; it wasn't his fault the short run had that effect on him.

She waited a moment for her assistant to catch his breath before Twilight responded. "Yes, Spike?"

"Derpy's at the front door, says she's gonna let you cast your spell!" Spike exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face.

Twilight, however, was just confused. She tilted her head and looked at the little dragon inquisitively. "What spell?"

Carrot Top decided it was her turn to enter the conversation. "The-"

"Oh, right! The mind-moving spell!" Twilight exclaimed, clopping her hooves together and rushing to the front door. Derpy, as Spike had said, was waiting just outside the door. She was idly staring at the candle atop it, as well as one of the flowerpots inside. Upon noticing Twilight, she turned and smiled.

"Hi, Twi-"

"Hi, Derpy! I'm so glad you could make it! Come in, come in!" The over-eager librarian began gently nudging Derpy into the library. The pegasus wasn't sure what was going on, but offered little resistance. "Are you responding to the ad I put out?"

"Yes." Actually, Derpy's presence was only half-influenced by Twilight's ad. She half-wanted to help the mentally insane unicorn when Carrot Top ensured the safety of everything, but she was much too busy. A twenty-five bit payment was all it took for her to jump at the offer.

Twilight was happy. She had a pegasus to study! Derpy was pretty normal aside from her vision, which was trivial to the nature of pegasus magic, which made her a great pony to study. Of course, it was pretty late at night, which meant Twilight wouldn't have much time to document any of her actions. Then again, she had told everypony that the spell would allow her to take control of the body once asleep. Maybe Derpy had planned it. None of that really mattered. She began heading to the stairs, half-listening as Derpy talked about the thing she'd done.

Once at the top, Twilight hopped onto her bed, got comfortable, and cast the spell. She didn't have to leave a note this time; Spike and Carrot Top already knew what she was doing.

At first she thought she cast it wrong, that everything was blurry because she made a mistake, but then she remembered Derpy's wall-eyed-ness.

Oh, wow, I never realized how hard it must be for you to see...

Huh? Oh, yeah, you'll get used to it, Derpy mentally replied, starting to traverse the stairs. She noticed Carrot Top at the bottom, so she smiled and waved. Carrot Top waved back, following next to her when she passed by.

"Hey, Derpy. How is it, having Twilight in your head?"

"I dunno. It's weird, I guess." Derpy was out on the streets and began her walk home, Carrot Top in tow. She wasn't really sure if it was weird or not. There wasn't anything noticeably different about anything, so it was hard to tell.

Okay, but I'm gonna research some sight-enhancing spells once I get back in my body.

"Hehe, yeah. Pretty weird. But hey, Twilight said you can think to yourself if you try. Just thought I'd let you know," Carrot Top said, turning to head back to the library.

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that. It's alright."

Carrot Top stopped and turned around. "What?"

It was Derpy's turn to stop and turn, confused. "What?"

"You just said-" she cut off, promptly introducing hoof to face. "Nevermind. I'll see ya later, Derpy." She walked back to the library as Derpy resumed her journey home.

Twilight was having a hard time focusing on emotions and thoughts. She was too distracted trying to focus on things she could barely see. She knew she would have to research some kind of sight enhancements or something similar, or she would never be able to live with herself. It was actually pretty surprising to her when Derpy successfully opened her front door on the first try. Now that she thought about it, she began to wonder how she managed to walk down the stairs back at the library.

"Mommy's home!" was heard in the house the second after the door opened. A pale purple filly sprinted towards Derpy and tackle-hugged her neck.

"Hello, Muffin." Derpy smiled and wrapped a hoof around the filly as she walked deeper into the house. Dinky released her grip on her mother's neck and Derpy, in turn, let go of the filly.

"So where's Twilight?" she asked, running back to the front door in search of the unicorn.

Twilight lost track of everything that happened after that. Her mind hurt too much from Derpy's eyes focusing on two things at once, everything lost in a blurry haze. She decided to forgo her research until she could figure out a way to fix eyes. Nopony deserved vision that poor.

She spent the remainder of the time Derpy was awake focusing on anything she thought was detrimental to vision. Her eyes moving about independently was pretty much the only thing she noticed. Every once in a while the eyes would align, and Twilight would be graced with a perfectly clear picture. The next moment, everything would be back to vaguely object-shaped colored blobs.

Once Derpy was asleep, Twilight tried to focus on random objects. It was pretty difficult; every time one eye moved the way she wanted it to, the other would go off in some random direction just to spite her. She wasn't exactly one to give up, but she couldn't even see anything. No way was she going to be able to conduct her research. Eyes closed, Twilight willed herself to sleep.

Twilight returned to her own body the next evening. She'd actually learned quite a bit about pegasi and wings from Derpy. She was sure there was plenty more to learn since she was only able to focus for a few hours before the spell wore off, but the restoration of vision was her top priority. Right after eating. And bathing.

Since Spike and Carrot Top knew when Twilight would wake, dinner was just being finished when she descended the stairs. It was the usual affair: Twilight told the two about her new plans, Carrot Top mentioned something, Spike said something almost completely unrelated, and the conversation continued from there until Spike decided he was full and excused himself. Twilight bid him wait, so he waited and received the ruby-encrusted sapphire she owed him from almost a week ago. Not that she forgot, it just slipped her mind.

Once that was done, Spike went off to some other room in the library. Twilight noticed Carrot Top's plate was empty but decided not to comment, instead focusing on eating and striking up a new conversation.

"So, about that-"

"Twilight, can I ask you something?"

If she was asking to ask something, Carrot Top was probably nervous. As if the hoof-rubbing, avoidance of eye contact, looking around everywhere, lip-biting, and awkward repositioning didn't make it blatantly obvious already.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, um... Nevermi..." she trailed off, having spotted something off to her left. It apparently left the moment before Twilight tried to look at it, and Carrot Top continued. "I mean... Do you-"

The now-sweating mare was cut off as a bright light entered the room, both ponies and the peeping dragon shielding their eyes. The mares simultaneously regained their vision and, upon opening their eyes, bowed to Princess Celestia. Carrot Top stayed in that position as Twilight got up and walked over to her mentor.

"Princess Celestia! What're you doing here? Not that I don't want you here, I was just-"

Celestia chuckled and shook her head. "Twilight." The pupil shut her trap and calmed down. "I'm afraid I don't have much time to spend here. You have Starswirl the Bearded's journals, correct?"

"Yes, they're up in my room," she said, and the two headed off in the direction of the stairs. When Carrot Top gathered the nerve to raise her head she saw Celestia turn, smile, and wink at her. She didn't know for certain what it meant, but couldn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks.

The two journals floated their way over to Celestia and she grasped one of them in her own magic, examining it to ensure its authenticity. She was apparently satisfied with what she saw, for she nodded and thanked Twilight before vanishing in a flash of light.

Twilight was confused, but chalked it up to Celestia being busy and went back downstairs to look up some sight restoration spells.

"So what did Celestia want?"

She turned to her draconic questioner, unsure of why her mentor needed the journal so badly. "She just came over to pick up Starswirl's journal."

"And you just gave it to her? After how long it took you to find it?"

"Yes, Spike. I can't just deny the Princess for no good reason. Besides, I already copied everything down," Twilight explained, walking over to one of her less-cluttered tables. "See? '2275: 'Twas my final and dearest hope for Sanctuary. No, 'tis my-'"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it," Spike rudely interrupted. He really needed to learn some manners.

Carrot Top poked her head in, flicked her eyes this way and that, then reluctantly entered the room. "Where's the Princess?"

"She left a while ago. I was just telling Spike about-" Twilight was cut off as Spike loudly coughed into his hands, over-exaggerating to great lengths once he realized he had an audience.

"Oh, geez, you two. I think I'm sick. I should just go upstairs and take a nap. Bye!" The moment his foot hit the first step, he turned to Carrot Top and failed to inconspicuously nod to Twilight. When he saw Twilight's half-confused, half-annoyed face he turned back and rushed up the stairs.

Once that weirdness was apparently settled, the unicorn turned to her earth pony assistant. "What was that all about?"

This snapped Carrot Top out of her apparent reverie. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs and thought of some way to avoid any conversation she didn't want to be in. Twilight loving books, she decided to take a chance. "So... what was that you were reading?"

Carrot Top could've sworn Twilight's eyes sparkled the moment those words came out of her mouth.

"Oh, right! It's Starswirl's last journal entries. They don't really say that much, other than he was chased and probably ended up being killed by some Everfree creatures or something. Here, I'll read it to you!"

It was at this moment Carrot Top realized she was doomed.

Nerd Mode engaged, Twilight levitated a small stack of papers in front of herself. "2275: 'Twas my final and dearest hope for Sanctuary. Now, 'tis my grave. My Shield, this spell, is daily, hourly weakening. Know that I do not Fear the inevitable: They most surely will overpower and break through this, through my Heart soon as well.

"Now, this entry is a lot shorter than most of his other ones. In the last one, Starswirl mentioned a "He" that created something terrible, but the "they" really threw me off."

Yes ,Carrot Top was certainly doomed. Wherever she went, Twilight would somehow manage to follow, read, and avoid any obstacles in her path. Carrot Top even jumped over a table hoping crashing into it would knock Twilight out of her rant, but it was no use.

"At first I thought "they" were the things "He" created, but Starswirl only ever mentioned him creating one thing. And then I read his last entry.

"2276: Now, to the Heavenly Celestia, I pray. My final, futile Sanctuary is lost. I can not, will not, shall not at all survive. I now know. I believe that, excluding Heavenly Luna and Sister, is this Forest corrupted with, and by, magicks of Darkness. The two, they both never are short of coming. They both never seem to let into themselves any pain, nor other emotions. They follow while closing in my room, my body, my folly, my regrets.

"Now, I thought that was really weird. Not only is his writing style completely different from his other two- his journal writing and his research documentation styles-, but this is the only entry where he mentions either of the Princesses. At first I thought he was living somewhere the Princesses had less influence, but..."

Carrot Top gave up after that. Her mind went blank, her body went numb, and her eyes closed as she fell asleep.

The Root of the Problem

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

Twilight rambled on and on about Starswirl's journals for a good half hour before she realized Carrot Top was asleep. Fuming silently, she set her reading material back on the table and looked for a book on the subject of vision.

It didn't take very long; the library was relatively organized and the medical section was actually where it was supposed to be. She plucked out book after book, placing those that had anything to do with sight in one pile and the rest of them in another.

After that was finished, she placed the stack of unneeded books back into their shelves and seated herself beside the remaining five. Opening the topmost one, she settled down to read.

The sun rose the next glorious morning. The early birds were chirping, animals were frolicking, young fillies and colts were playing happily in the streets. It was with baggy, bloodshot eyes that Twilight absorbed the bright sunlight, immediately shying away into a darker corner to protect them.

After breakfast and a brief, hushed conversation with Spike, Carrot Top left to open up her stall for the day. Spike decided to start his day with chores, cleaning up the books piled on the floor and tables. Upon passing his unicorn roommate, she began muttering to herself.

"I just don't get it, none of this helps! There's plenty of information here, but none of it details any practical uses or spells or anything to fix vision! Can you believe this?"

Or maybe she was talking to Spike. He could never really tell after she pulled an all-nighter. He intended to ignore her for a while to see if she would pull herself together on her own, until he realized it was completely silent. Turning from his cleaning, he looked back at the messy unicorn. She was actually expecting an answer from him.

His mind went into overdrive, thinking back on anything Twilight had said that could help save him from the situation. "Uh... I dunno. Can't you just, like, make some new tissues or something like you're doing with the other thing?"

Twilight immediately went about analyzing, refuting, and supporting Spike's suggestion, all at the same time. Spike was right, in a way. If there was any functional tissue in Derpy's body, she would be able to replicate it and replace the dysfunctional tissues.

She remembered the way Derpy's vision was perfectly fine when her eyes aligned, which meant she probably had severe strabismus or exotropia or esotropia or similar and something was wrong with her extraocular muscles. Of course, since she tended to think out loud, she wasn't surprised to see Spike staring blankly back at her.

She groaned. "Her vision's messed up because her eyes don't move right."

Spike, apparently satisfied, smiled and walked off to continue his cleaning. Twilight, on the other hand, decided to head over to Derpy's for some medical examinations.

The door opened. Little Dinky was on the other side, excited to have a guest over for lunch. Twilight didn't know it was already lunch time and decided to come back later. Once the little filly's shouting reached Derpy's ears, however, she was suddenly bombarded with two overly kind ponies trying to get her to eat lunch with them. A difficult offer to refuse, for a normal pony, but Twilight was often too considerate for her own good.

Excuses such as "Oh, I don't wanna be a bother", "I really need to get back to studying", and the oh-so-subtle "No, I really really don't want to intrude" were met with Derpy equally subtly nudging her into the house. In a manner similar to friendly kidnapping, Twilight found herself seated at the table, a freshly made sandwich in front of her.

Twilight wasn't one to give up so easily, but Derpy and Dinky would surely have kept her there for forever until she ate her sandwich. Conversation ensued and after a while, Twilight decided to start eating her food. It was actually pretty tasty.

Throughout the meal, Twilight found herself subconsciously watching Derpy's eyes. Once, when she caught herself staring, she noticed Dinky giving her a look. Not a mean "is there a problem, bro?" look, and not even a "staring is rude, knock it off" look. It was more along the lines of "please oh please oh please help her", if Twilight could read facial expressions correctly.

Once the three finished eating and Dinky ran off to wherever, Twilight made her move.

"So Derpy, I was wondering..." she trailed off to make sure she had the other mare's attention. Definitely not because she needed to figure out how to word her question, that would be silly. "Can I examine your eyes?" Yep, smooth.

Derpy, unfortunately, seemed confused. "Is this about fixing my eyes?" she asked, obviously rhetorically. Before Twilight could answer, she continued. "It's fine, Twilight. You don't have to go out of your way to help me."

"But I'm not!" she half-shouted, then realized she half-shouted and calmed down. "I'm already researching vision and everything, so this would just be... additional... field research! Please, Derpy?" she asked, trying to put on her best sappy pleading face. "It would really really help my studies."

Derpy's natural kindness, paired with an obviously desperate unicorn asking for help, only allowed her one answer. "Alright. Let's go into the living room first, though."

Twilight made a noise that definitely didn't resemble a squee as she followed the pegasus into the living room. Her examinee seated herself on the couch and Twilight eagerly plopped herself down beside her.

"Okay, so what do I need to do?"

That was a good question. The over-eager unicorn knew what she had to do, but when it came to Derpy's role she had no clue whatsoever.

"Umm, I dunno, just... Lie down and relax, like you're gonna take a nap."

The pegasus did as she was told, placing the back of her head on the couch's armrest and closing her eyes.

"Okay, you're probably going to feel a sort of rubbing sensation around your head, so try not to let it surprise you or anything," Twilight said. 'Probably' was right, since she had no idea if the other pony could feel anything while she looked around.

"On second thought... Is it alright if I cast a sleep spell on you? I don't want to lose track of where I am if you move or something." A nod from Derpy was her answer and she cast a quick 10 minute long sleep spell, watching as Derpy's body relaxed.

It was time. Twilight's horn glowed and she closed her eyes. In a manner similar to moving her "astral body" into another pony, she projected her sight outside of herself and maneuvered it to Derpy's head.

She ended up overshooting her destination and back-tracked to the back of the left eye. She looked around at the various muscles, locating the six most important ones that control eye movement. The lateral rectus was slightly contracted, which was odd considering Derpy was asleep.

The two oblique muscles were behaving even more strangely. They were contracting and relaxing seemingly at random. She moved closer and examined them. Some parts of the muscles were weak and beginning to detach, and the others were receiving the blood that was supposed to be sent to the weak muscles. As they got too much blood they contracted or relaxed, and the blood stayed there for a while before being sent off to other parts of the body.

She decided to check the other eye and the extraocular muscles were behaving in much the same way. Sometimes both of the muscles contracted halfway through and stayed that way several times longer than otherwise, but Twilight had hope. Since the main problem was the slightly detached muscles, she could just go in and reattach them and everything would be fine. In theory.

Before she knew it, the ten minutes was up and Derpy began to move around again. Parts of the head flashed by for a few moments before Twilight was able to reorient herself and get back to her own body.

"That was fast," said the pegasus, who could apparently tell the passage of time while she slept.

"Yep, that's it. But I think I see the problem now." Twilight saw the problem, indeed. Fixing it would be relatively easy. In fact, Twilight was beginning to wonder why Derpy never got her eyes checked before. "I should be able to fix your eyes right up!" she exclaimed, happily clopping her hooves together. Oh, she wanted so badly to help. Derpy would no doubt be happy, too. After all, she was being offered-

"Oh, no, that's fine. You don't have to."

Or maybe she wouldn't be happy.

"But, Derpy! You can have your eyes fixed! Just think about it! You'll be able to see everything clearly now, you can-"

She was cut off as Derpy's hoof decided Twilight's mouth looked like a suitable home. The interior was decidedly inadequate for the needy hoof, and it left shortly afterwards.

"No, it's fine, Twilight. You don't need to do that for me."

"But, I'm not doing it for you! I mean, yeah, I'm doing it for you, but still! I just wanna help!"

The two kindly argued with each other for quite a while. Put two overly considerate social outcasts into one place, dish out a problem that needs solving, and nothing will ever get done. Until you introduce a filly who knows how to get what she wants.

A pair of big, teary eyes introduced themselves to Derpy's face. "Pwease, Mommy? Pwease wet Twiwight fix yew," she whimpered. She could pronounce words perfectly fine, but pretending she couldn't always helped. Her eyes expanding to even greater size worked wonders, too. If her mommy could have seen them clearly, it would have surely melted her heart.

"Now Muffin, I know you want Mommy to get better, but she can't afford any treatments right now," Derpy replied in a soothing voice, hoping to relax the little filly wrapped around her neck.

Twilight decided to intervene. "Oh, money isn't a problem. I'll do it for free, just for you!"

At this, Dinky's demeanor went from desperate hopefulness to determined happiness. "See, Mommy? She'll do it for free!" She removed herself from her mother's neck and threw herself at Twilight, hugging her tightly.

Derpy caved. Like a stallion hoping to please his marefriend in every way possible, she caved. "Alright, Twilight. I'll do it."

Dinky decided just then to hug her mother again and run somewhere else in the house, having completed her mission.

"Well then, I guess I should let you know that you won't be able to see at all for a few days, to let your body adjust."

Derpy didn't like that at all. She didn't have time to secure a foalsitter or anything. "But-"

"Don't worry. I'll get Carrot Top or Spike to stay over to keep you company and watch Dinky," came Twilight the Mind Reader's interruption.

"But-"

"But nothing. It's only for a few days, then you'll be seeing perfectly fine!" she finished, beaming at Derpy, who was now unable to come up with any type of argument whatsoever.

Derpy could tell when she wasn't going to get anywhere, so she relaxed on the sofa and closed her eyes. She heard Twilight say something that she couldn't quite make out, then drifted off into dreamland.

The little filly walked into the living room with the two mares on the couch. She walked over and poked the unicorn guest with her hoof a few times, hoping to wake her up.

"Pssst, Twilight. Psssssssst," she added for good measure. It took her a few tries, but Twilight eventually groaned and opened her eyes.

"Mmmmhhhhh, what time is it?"

"I dunno, nighttime?" Dinky replied. She looked out the window to make sure. "Yeah, nighttime. So how'd it go?"

Twilight fell off the couch and landed on the rug below. Groaning once more, she got up and looked at Derpy.

"Oh, right! I did it! It went perfectly! Thinning out the blood vessels to ensure proper blood flow took longer than fixing up the muscles themselves, but I did it!" she quietly cheered, bouncing around the filly.

The big words confused the little filly, but she just ignored them and moved on to the big picture. "So she can see now?"

Twilight stopped bouncing and looked over at the pegasus. "Well, no. Not for a few days. I'll have to put some bandages around her eyes so she doesn't try to see," she said, turning back to give a reassuring smile to the filly. "But after that she should be fine."

Dinky jumped over and hugged Twilight around the neck. Tears began to spread through the unicorn's coat, but she didn't mind. The filly stuttered a few times trying to form words, but eventually gave up. They sat there for a while in silence before Twilight gently removed herself from the hug.

"I'll be back in a few minutes with some bandages, then I'll get back to the library. Will you be okay?"

Dinky settled on the couch and wrapped her mother's hoof around herself. With a yawn and a smile, she nodded and thanked Twilight for everything she'd done.

"...And now I need one of you to go to Derpy's to take care of them," Twilight finished. She looked expectantly to both Spike and Carrot Top, who were both thinking for whatever reason.

It was Carrot Top who spoke first. "But wait. Why can't we all go? That way we can all be together and help you with your-"

"I'll do it!" Spike so rudely interrupted. Twilight would have to teach him some manners some time soon; he was starting to get some bad habits.

Carrot Top looked at Spike. Spike looked at Carrot Top. Then he flicked his head to Twilight and mouthed something. Then Carrot Top looked away and muttered something. The whole thing was terribly awkward, so Twilight had to remedy the situation.

"Ummm, yeah... So Spike, you shouldn't have to take anything with you to Derpy's. I'll come over if I need to send a letter or something." Twilight was completely oblivious to the hushed conversation/argument going on. "Will you be alright?"

Spike ended his argument with Carrot Top. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he said, taking the opportunity to leave before Twilight went into overly-protective parenting mode.

Deciding the matter was settled, Twilight turned to her checklist and levitated a book over. The other mare in the room decided to just leave without saying anything. She had to continue her argument with Spike, so she hurried to catch up with him.

"Are you crazy?!?" she yelled when she reached him.

"What? I just want to help Derpy out. You're the one who's crazy." He added a wink at the end to see if she'd get defensive. Which she did.

"I am not crazy! Look, I don't know what you're planning-"

"Oh, yes you do. You have a few days with Twilight all to yourself. She better not be the only pony in Ponyville who's completely oblivious to you when I get back."

Carrot Top stopped walking and looked at the ground. "The only... pony..."

"Yep. It's pretty obvious you like her when you can't even talk to her without stuttering," he said, turning around when he finally realized the mare wasn't next to him.

A pair of sad, hopeless eyes looked up at the dragon. "It's that obvious?"

"Duh. Even Celestia knows, and she was only here for a few minutes!"

"Celestia knows?!?"

"Yeah. She even sent me a letter asking me how you two were doing. She thinks you're together, Carrot Top."

"But- but why would she think that?"

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe because she saw you were over for dinner and your cheeks were redder than a tomato!"

At this, she had no reply. She simply sat there, mouth hanging open, unable to shut it or speak. Spike decided he won, so he turned to resume his walk.

"And don't chicken out like the other times. No way she can say no with all you've been doing for her."

She watched the little encouraging dragon as he walked off and entered Derpy's house. He was right. Either she swallowed her nerves and talked to Twilight now, or she'd never get herself to do it. With newly found determination, she headed back to the library.

The door opened and the librarian herself was on the other side, a slight frown on her face.

"Where were you?" she asked.

Carrot Top couldn't tell her she chased Spike to argue with him, so she stuck to the most general answer she could possibly give. "Somewhere."

Twilight facehoofed and was about to speak, but Carrot Top did first.

"Look, Twilight. We need to talk."

The unicorn didn't know what Carrot Top needed to talk about. She just really hoped she wasn't mad at her. Whatever it took, Twilight was determined to fix their friendship. And so, with the absolute worst idea possible stuck in her mind, she spoke.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"Twilight," Carrot Top said, effectively silencing the unnecessarily apologetic unicorn. "You didn't do anything wrong. In fact..." she cut off. She didn't even think about how she was going to word her confession before barging into the library.

"Uh... In fact, what?" the ever-curious mare asked.

"Well, I kinda..." she stopped again, humming as she thought how best to say it. A simple "I like you" would lead Twilight to think of it as friendship, but an "I love you" would give Twilight a panic attack and she would start looking through all her books for something completely unrelated.

"Okay, well, I kinda- mmph!"

Time stopped for the two ponies. They stood there, wide-eyed, as their mouths introduced themselves to one another. Neither knew what to do, simply staring at each other in awkward silence.

"There, now get on with it!" came a voice from behind Carrot Top. Both ponies jumped back and looked over at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was smirking triumphantly at them.

"Rainbow?" she asked, wiping her mouth subconsciously. "What- Did you do that?"

"You're dang right I did," Rainbow replied with yet another triumphant smirk. "Neither of you two were ever going to do it, so somepony had to step in."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie agreed.

"Pinkie, you- What? What's going on?" Twilight was so confused. First there was Carrot Top being all awkward and everything, then Rainbow suddenly pushed her and their lips met, then Pinkie popped up out of nowhere- which wasn't actually all that confusing- and now Carrot Top was just petting the ground and her cheeks were all- Oh...

Twilight couldn't look at any of them, choosing to simply stare at her floor instead. "So, you..." she trailed off, unable to finish her question.

Carrot Top couldn't finish or answer it either; she was too busy examining the interesting specks of dirt on the ground. With an overly dramatic facehoof, Rainbow flew down to Twilight's level.

"Yes, she likes you. Now hurry up and-"

"Rainbow! That is not how a lady treats one's friends!"

Apparently Rarity was there, too. When Twilight lifted her head up, she noticed Applejack behind her. She instantly began wondering if they just happened to all coincidentally pass by the library at the exact same time, or if they planned on being there to ruin her life.

"A lady treats one's friends with dignity and respect. Pushing two mares into doing something neither of them want to do is not-"

Twilight silenced them all by slamming her bedroom door shut. Fluttershy finally joined the five mares gathered in the library and awkward silence ensued.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I must get back to the Boutique," came Rarity's excuse after a few minutes of thinking.

"Err, yeah, Ah gotta go and... Apples."

As the mares who completely ruined her chances with Twilight filtered out, Carrot Top just sat there. She stared at the point where Twilight was just minutes ago for a while before standing up and walking out the door. With a final look up to the librarian's window, she headed home.

Indecision Breeds Mistakes

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

Twilight didn't want to deal with it. That's it, end of story. She didn't want a headache, she didn't want to worry about anything, she didn't even want to study for once. All she wanted was a nice, relaxing mid-morning nap to push the recent events out of her mind.

She couldn't help but be relieved that nopony followed her up to her room, trying to talk to her to sort things out. Twilight didn't want to talk things out, she wanted to sleep on it. Dreams always helped, sometimes. No reason for them to stop being so helpful. With that completely flawless logic lodged in her brain, Twilight slid herself beneath her blanket and shut her eyes.

Only to stay there, unable to fall asleep. Try as she might, she couldn't. She tossed and she turned to no effect; she read a short story that did nothing to aid her endeavor; she even tried to just lay there for a while, hoping the lack of movement would cause her to sleep. Nothing worked; her brain seemed to be most active the one time she wanted it to just shut up.

She groaned. She moaned, and she groaned, then she forced herself up out of her bed. Warm milk had been said to help one sleep, so Twilight decided to get some. Perhaps the whole psychological effect of warm milk would prove successful, even if she knew it really did nothing. Which pretty much eliminated the entire effect it had, but still. She could hope.

A few minutes later, she discovered that warm milk wasn't the best-tasting thing in the world. She gagged while drinking it; not because of the particularly not-very-good-but-not-very-bad-either taste, but the texture. Not really the texture, per se, but the something else. She couldn’t really place why she gagged, actually. Her body was weird.

Upon leaving the kitchen for another attempt at sleep, she heard a faint noise. Not really anything distinguishable, but a noise nonetheless. It was fairly consistent, too.

Turning to where it seemed to be coming from, Twilight entered her living room. Carrot Top was huddled in a ball on the couch and the sound, now a noticeable sobbing and sniffling, reached the librarian's ears.

She instantly knew that she was the cause of it. Why else would Carrot Top be crying, other than the mare she liked running away when her feelings were thrown out in the open? Twilight knew that she was the only pony who could truly help, so she slowly approached the crying pony.

"Carrot Top?" she asked, tentatively walking closer. The sobbing stopped and Carrot Top turned to face Twilight. She sniffled once and wiped a tear from her eye as she gazed upon the face of the unicorn she so desired. Then, she jumped off the couch and ran out the front door.

The sounds of hooves impacting soil thundered through the streets as Twilight chased after the mare, hoping to fix what she had done. "Carrot Top, wait!"

Carrot Top halted in her path, eyes locked straight ahead, unblinking. Her unicorn pursuer took the opportunity to slow to a stop beside her. She took a moment to catch her breath, sweat dripping from her forehead.

"Car... ahh... Phew! Okay, Carrot Top. Look, can we just relax and talk things-"

"Talk?!?" The sheer magnitude of Carrot Top's voice caused Twilight to fall to the ground, instinctively raising a hoof in front of herself for protection.

"You wanna talk?!? Well, I've got news for you, buddy! I'm done talking!" She pushed Twilight to the ground, denting the earth beneath her. "Ohohoh, I am way passed talking, Twilight."

Twilight shut her eyes when the hoof came down. She waited frightfully for the impact, but it never came.

"Twilight."

She knew that voice, but it didn't make any sense for her to be hearing it. Twilight opened her eyes to look up at the smiling visage of Princess Luna.

"P-Princess? What are you doing here?"

Luna laughed. Not an overly hearty one; more of a subdued affair. "Now why is that what everypony asks me when I come to visit?" Her smile faded, replaced by a concerned frown a moment later. "You are having troubled dreams, Twilight. Tell me, what is the matter?"

"Oh, it's just that- Wait." Something Luna had said just caught up to her. "Dream? This is a dream?" Luna's mouth opened, but Twilight raised a hoof to silence her preemptively. "Wait, don't answer that. Of course this is a dream. Carrot Top would never do anything like that. But why are you here and not doing something… I dunno, royal?"

"I am the Princess of the Night, Twilight. Dreams- and romance, to a degree- are a part of my jurisdiction. As few ponies have nightmares during these peaceful times, it gives me a bit of free time to directly involve myself with the few who do."

That made sense. Ponies slept at night, so dreams came with the whole nighttime princess package. And romance? No way she just happened to coincidentally bring that up. "Well, it's just that Carrot Top kinda... y'know..." she let her sentence die there, waving one of her hooves around in a circle as an indication.

"Yes, I do know. But if you cannot bring yourself to say it, you will not be able to do anything for her."

"Okay, Carrot Top..." She took a deep breath. "...Likes me." There. She said it. Easy enough. It was pretty obvious that saying it out loud was supposed to make it easier to deal with everything else and think clearly and solve everything once some sudden inspiration smacked her in the face, but Twilight just felt silly for repeating what she already knew.

Luna was obviously unhappy with the pathetic excuse for a revelation, but did not push the matter further. "Now then, Twilight," the alicorn said. "Do you like Carrot Top as well?"

Good question. She didn't really know if she did, nor did she think about it. The whole 'sleeping on it' thing pretty much gave her an excuse not to.

"Well yeah, but not like that, I think. I mean... She's really nice and everything, but I don't think-"

The subtle lowering of Luna's head caused Twilight to break off mid-sentence. She looked up at the princess inquisitively, knowing something was up.

"I am afraid I must go now, Twilight. A word of advice: if you are unsure of what you feel for her, give her a chance. It may come to pass that you will develop feelings of your own."

With that, the princess vanished into the now-present full moon in the distance. Twilight woke a few moments later, sunlight striking her eyes. She knew what she had to do.

The front door did little to impede Twilight’s rush, easily opening and slamming shut behind her as she went out into the streets. She was in a hurry, but did not go much faster than a brisk walk. Ponies giving her weird looks or asking her questions weren’t things she wanted to deal with.

Three knocks on the door and a few impatient seconds of waiting flew by in a matter of seconds. Twilight decided Carrot Top didn’t want to talk to her. Which meant she had to knock a few times and call her name to make sure. When no response came and the answer was clear, Twilight did the best thing she possibly could and walked in uninvited.

“Carrot Top?” she called out, walking from room to room. It seemed as though nopony had been there the entire day, and after a quick search of each room she left the building. “Now where could she be…” she thought aloud, raising a hoof to rub at her chin as she pondered.

She wasn’t at the library, she wasn’t at her house, she wasn’t tending to her stall- it was tucked away in the storage closet in the house-, which only left one place Twilight could hope to find her at.

“Couldja get that, Dinky?” Spike called. He already had a good idea of who was at the door, but still. Dinky was starting to get on his nerves, trying to help all the time.

The door opened and Twilight walked in, an obviously forced polite smile on her face. “Hi there, Dinky! How’s your mother?”

She hugged Twilight, for whatever reason. “She’s getting better, thanks to you!” Dinky finished with a smile, breaking off the hug to run off somewhere. That filly had way too much energy.

Twilight turned the corner and entered the living room, fully expecting Carrot Top to be crying her eyes out and Derpy to be holding her close, promising her that everything would be alright. She wasn’t very far off. Carrot Top was there, only she wasn’t crying, and instead of Derpy holding her, it was Spike.

The little dragon turned his head and nodded at Twilight, removed Carrot Top from his arms, and hopped off the couch. He raised a claw to his lips and flicked his head at the apparently sleeping mare before walking off into the kitchen.

Great. All the nerve and determination she’d gotten from Luna was all for nothing. Waking Carrot Top was out of the question; she deserved to rest for a while. Twilight would just have to wait for her to wake, then. As there wasn’t enough room on the couch for two ponies, she settled on the floor and wrapped her tail around herself, closing her eyes as she fell asleep.

Twilight was abruptly woken up. Somepony hit her side and collapsed on top of her, promptly flailing about wildly and rolling around in a frenzied attempt to get off. It took a few seconds, but Derpy managed to pick herself up. As the mare couldn’t exactly see anything, Twilight was then treated with a hoof rubbing her face. Said hoof retreated a moment later, and the temporarily-blind pegasus turned to face her.

“Sorry, Carrot Top. What were you doing on the floor?” she asked, completely oblivious to the fact that she wasn’t actually addressing Carrot Top.

Twilight wasn’t sure if she should just walk away like she was never even there or if she should speak up. She was still half asleep though, so she chose to do both. “Hey Derpy, no problem. I’m not here, bye.”

Derpy wasn’t buying it, if her face told anything. “Twilight? What are you doing here?” came her half-rhetorical question.

“Oh, I just came by to-“

The pegasus began gently pushing Twilight to one of the walls, most likely thinking she was headed for the door. “No, sorry, but you need to leave for a while. I don’t think Carrot Top wants to see you right now.” Perfectly reasonable request, if she weren’t talking to one of the more stubborn mares in Ponyville.

“No, I can’t. Sorry Derpy, but I have to wait for her to wake up so we can talk.”

Derpy stopped. “Talk about what though? Neither of them told me when Carrot Top ran in.”

Ahh, great. No way to wiggle out of that one. Of course, Twilight had to answer the question as positively as possible so Derpy wouldn’t get mad and kick her out. But then again, getting another pony involved before anything really happened didn’t seem like the best idea.

But then again, Derpy was already starting to get impatient. How Twilight could tell, she would never know. Given that impatience turns to frustration turns to anger she would have to answer as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

“Okay, Carrot Top kinda likes me and then Rainbow Dash pushed us together and then all my other friends showed up and started pressuring me even though they probably weren’t trying to and then I ran and hid in my room so they’d go away and I never got to answer so I went to her house but she wasn’t there so I came here so I could answer her but she was sleeping so I decided to wait for her to wake up and then I fell asleep and then you woke me up and-“ She gasped for breath, having said all that with no pauses whatsoever.

“So…” Derpy started, trying to get the gist of what she’d just heard. “She likes you and you rejected her so she went here?”

“What? Rejected her? I didn’t reject her, I just kinda…” Ran away when she was completely nervous and embarrassed and was waiting for me to answer, she thought. Hmm. Kinda makes sense that Derpy would come to that conclusion. “ Okay, I can see why you think I rejected her, but I didn’t.”

“So, you…” she paused, doubting whether or not she was right, “…accepted her?”

“No, I didn’t accept her! I mean, I didn’t back at the library, so I came over here so I could, but-“

“You do?!?”

Twilight’s scream got stuck in her throat, so she ended up coughing as she jumped back and spun to where the voice was coming from. There was Carrot Top, wide awake, standing just a few inches away. As Twilight coughed, a few droplets of spit flew out and hit the mare in the eye. She then squeezed her eyes shut and began furiously rubbing to clear them up.

The first thing Twilight did was apologize and offer a helping hoof despite not knowing how she could possibly help. A few seconds of rubbing passed and Carrot Top reopened her eyes.

“Ahh, no problem Twilight. Thanks Derpy!” Said pegasus smiled, hummed an acknowledgement, and pranced off to where Spike and Dinky were watching attentively.

“Wait, what?” Why did she thank Derpy? And how long have they been watching? It’s like she… No… She didn’t… “Carrot Top? Did you plan this?”

A semi-agitating smirk answered her and along with it, a nod. As if that wasn’t enough, Carrot Top decided to answer directly. “Yep! When you got here I pretended I was sleeping so you’d wait for me to wake up, then once you fell asleep I got Derpy to pretend to trip on you and ask you everything. Pretty good, right?”

Yes, it was a pretty good plan. Cruel and convoluted, but good all the same. No way she was going to let Carrot Top in on that, though.

“No, it wasn’t! You can’t just mess with somepony like that! If you wanted to know my answer you should’ve just talked with me about it, not get somepony else to wring it out of me!”

“Yeah, you know it was good. Else you wouldn’t be getting so defensive.”

Defensive, huh? Twilight decided to switch to offensive, putting on her best angry grouch face possible. “Oh, yeah? Well, what about when… What about when…” She couldn’t think of anything. She wasn’t very good at pretending to be angry, apparently.

Carrot Top raised her hooves in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. But hey! You said yes, kinda, so that makes us a couple! Yay!”

Twilight soon found herself wrapped in pony. And then a dragon and filly came over to join in on the fun. She did say yes, and it wouldn’t be right to turn around and reject her just from the surprise of everything. After a few moments of careful consideration, she hugged back.

“Alright, see ya tomorrow guys!”

“Bye, Spike! Don’t forget to-“

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Sheesh.”

Yep, Twilight would definitely need to teach that dragon some manners. Given his poorly-kept secret, she would probably have to enlist Rarity’s help in that most noble of missions. No way he would object to a course on etiquette then. Carrot Top’s scheming was already starting to rub off on her.

Speaking of Carrot Top… Twilight was beginning to get annoyed by her touchy-feely-ness. It wasn’t unwanted, but it wasn’t wanted either. It was just… It was like going to the spa with Rarity that one time Fluttershy went to watch the butterfly migration. She didn’t really want to go to the spa, per se, but she also wanted to go at the same time. Sort of.

Twilight pushed against the constant contact known as Carrot Top a little bit, hoping she’d get the hint to give her a little personal space, but her agitator apparently took the act as a sign to move even closer.

The door arrived to save the day; Twilight was finally able to break away from the crazy mare. She climbed up the stairs and hopped in bed, lying on her side and snuggling under the covers.

The sound of conspicuous throat-clearing reached her ears. She opened her eyes and flipped herself around, facing Carrot Top.

“What?”

Carrot Top looked at the ground, unable to meet Twilight’s eyes. “I was just wondering if I could… sleep with you, tonight?”

As much as Twilight wanted to decline, Carrot Top’s awkward shuffling and complete lack of conviction made it so she just couldn’t. Until she did.

“Look, Carrot Top. I know we’re together now, but could you hold off on the lovey-dovey stuff for a while?” Carrot Top’s ears flopped lifelessly down and she began turning to leave. “Just… Just give me a bit to get used to all this, okay?”

A pair of sparkling eyes rose to look up at Twilight as she descended the stairs. Then they disappeared.

It was quiet. Carrot Top and Twilight, alone in the library, silently ate their breakfast. They’d both glance up every once in a while and look straight back at their food if they happened to catch the other looking.

Twilight wanted to bring up something. She would do just about anything to break up the awkward air hanging around them, and conversation seemed the best choice. The weather wouldn’t do; that was too plain and boring. Her research would probably be a good topic, but Carrot Top didn’t understand it past the basics. Everything she thought of, she shot down. There was no middle ground; it was either definite salvation or on to the next one.

Carrot Top, on the other hand, was too nervous to speak up. She’d gotten what she wanted, but now she was too hesitant to do anything. Especially after the previous night. She didn’t know just how much space or how much time Twilight would need, so Carrot Top was just waiting for Twilight to make the first move.

Of course, Twilight was too unsure of everything to make that first move. The near-silent munches and nibbles continued for a while before they finished their food. They both tried to get to the kitchen at the same time and consequently bumped into each other, having been watching their dishes instead of where they were going.

The crashing of ceramic against wood flooded the library, and silence followed. Both mares stared at the broken bowls in surprise, too startled to do anything. Twilight was first to regain her composure and she floated the pieces into the trash can. It was the perfect opportunity to break the silence, so Carrot Top seized it.

“Sorry.” Yep. Perfect silence-breaker.

Twilight was surprised by the sudden apology, moreso because Carrot Top actually spoke to her than anything else. She turned her head just enough so she could see the mare out of the corner of her eye. “No problem.”

It was quiet once again. Neither could push the conversation any further. Twilight was completely certain it was her fault everything was so weird now. If only she’d worded things better the previous night.

“Look, Carrot Top, about last night…” she started, unsure of how exactly she should word things to lighten the mood.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to push things so fast, I just-“ Purple hoof met yellow mouth, and Carrot Top was silent.

“No, it’s fine. Really. I just need a little bit of space, y’know? Just… Less huggy, touchy-feely stuff for a while, okay?”

Twilight removed her hoof from Carrot Top’s face after she received a nod in reply.

“So… ‘less’ as in what?” was the first thing that was asked.

Twilight facehoofed and sighed. “’Less’ as in ‘none at all’, for a while. Okay?”

“Okay,” Carrot Top said, thinking a bit before deciding to continue the conversation in a totally logical direction. “So what’s next for the research?”

“Hmmmmm…” the now perked-up unicorn hummed, trying to recall exactly what she was going to do next. She couldn’t remember, which was completely fine. She had her checklists for a reason, after all.

It was one such paper that she subconsciously floated over to herself, skimming through all the checked items.

“Right. Derpy and Pinkie convinced Thunderlane to let me cast my spell, so I should probably head on over to his place before he gets any second thoughts.” Twilight started to head out the door before remembering something she read in a book once, so she turned back to address Carrot Top. “Wanna come?”

Carrot Top dismissed the thought with a wave of her hoof. “Nah, I’m good.”

And with that, Twilight went on her way.

Meanings Undiscovered

Avisus Gaiuni Psychuarere

“I mean, I know he was just doing all that stuff to try to impress me or whatever, but still. It was fun! And I learned a whole lot more about pegasi with Thunderlane than I did with Derpy,” Twilight rambled, still riding the high of her previous stunt flying.

Carrot Top listened half-attentively, more interested in eating her food than hearing about what Twilight did with some stallion. Not that she was jealous, she just didn’t wanna hear it.

“Oh, and guess what?” Twilight asked.

Carrot Top hastily swallowed before answering. “What?”

“Okay, you didn’t hear it from me, but Thunderlane…” she paused for dramatic effect, “…likes Rarity.”

The juice escaped Carrot Top’s lips with such vigor that a good portion of it ended up all over Twilight’s face. “Really? Rarity?!?”

Twilight wiped herself clean of Carrot Top’s juice-saliva combo and shot her a half-annoyed glare, causing her target to giggle at the apparently funny face. “Yep. I think. I don’t know, actually. His face got really warm when he got near any mare, but with Rarity it was a little warmer than usual. That means something, right?”

The yellow mare rolled her eyes. “Yeah. That totally means something, Twilight.” She apparently had to work on her sarcasm; Twilight didn’t seem to pick up on it.

“Yes! I knew it!” she exclaimed, smashing her hooves together in glee. Carrot Top decided not to interrupt the strange display, instead focusing on her food. Or the lack thereof.

She got up and plopped her dishes by the kitchen sink, then walked to the front door. “Welp, thanks for the food again, Twilight. I gotta go set up shop, see ya.”

“Bye!”

The door creaked and clicked shut, then all was quiet. Twilight continued to eat her food excitedly, both from the thrill of high-speed flying and from going 24 hours without eating. In hindsight, she should’ve asked Carrot Top to force-feed her some mushed vegetables or something, but it was too late for that. With Thunderlane being her last pegasus to study, she wouldn’t be able to put her new feeding plan into action.

But as excited as Twilight was at finishing her research, she was hesitant. It wasn’t that she thought something would go wrong- she’d made sure every possible outcome was accounted for-, it was just the kind of hesitation that came with starting the main phase of a project. As with the coming of every magical project’s main phase, Twilight decided to clean up her dishes later and write Celestia a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

The quill clacked against the wooden desk when Twilight dropped it, too excited about sending her letter to care. She almost called for Spike, but caught herself before any sound came out. Instead, she tucked her letter into a saddlebag and left the library.

“Hey, Twilight!” somepony said. Twilight answered cheerily, turning her head but not looking at who she was talking to.

“Where ya goin’?”

“Derpy’s.”

“Why?”

“So Spike can send a letter for me.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Because Spike does for me.”

“But can’t you?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

Twilight was starting to get sick of the questions, so she turned to face her verbal assaulter. Then she facehoofed for not recognizing the voice earlier.

“Look, Pinkie, I’m in a hurry right now. Can we do this later?”

Pinkie looked around, eyes narrowed curiously. After a few moments of searching, she turned back to Twilight. “Sure! But what are we doing?”

“We’re… I don’t know. But can we do it later?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” the pink party pony chirped, prancing away to pester some other pony.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, continuing on her path to Derpy’s. Which just so happened to be right in front of her face, the door already wide open. Dinky was looking off to where Pinkie seemed to be headed, but turned when she heard Twilight approaching her.

“Hey, Twilight! Whatcha doin’ here?”

“Oh, I’m just here so Spike can send a letter to Princess Celestia. I won’t be long,” she said, following Dinky inside. She turned the corner into the living room, where Spike was sitting in front of a game board. Dinky threw herself onto a pillow on the other side, using her hooves to prop her head up as she stared at their game.

“Hey Twilight,” Spike said, apparently not as excited about receiving a visit as Dinky.

Twilight removed the letter from her bags. “Hey Spike, what are you playing?”

“Slides and Stairs.”

“Oh? And how do you play?”

Spike knew when Twilight wanted something to be done, so he decided to stop humoring her. “What do you want?”

The unicorn attempted to feign ignorance, pretending she’d dropped the letter by ‘accidentally’ letting her grip on it loosen. “Oh, right. Could you send this letter to Princess Celestia for me?” she asked, picking up the paper and waving it around in front of her.

“You came all the way here for that?”

“Well, of course I did. How else would I send it?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Oh, I dunno, magic?”

Twilight decided not to answer, instead waving the letter around just a little bit more. She even tilted her head a little bit and smiled. Spike sighed and grabbed it, then burned it and watched as the ashes traveled out an open window.

“There, happy?”

“Yes, Spike. Thank you very much.” Twilight’s business was over, but she decided to just sit there, watching Spike and Dinky play Slides and Stairs. It took her a while to realize that watching other ponies play games she had no clue how to play was boring. She jumped off the couch and picked up her bags. “Well, I gotta get back to the library. Bye!”

“Bye,” Spike and Dinky called simultaneously, not looking up from their game.

Twilight left the room and headed down the hall, conveniently bumping into Derpy.

“Twilight? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just dropped by to send a letter. See you tomorrow!”

“You’re leaving? Without even staying for lunch?”

Ahhh, staying over for food. Twilight’s old arch-nemesis. But Twilight had a few tricks up her sleeve, the major one being Derpy’s inability to see at the moment. Which conveniently disabled Derpy from stopping her. So she left, without saying a word.

Pacing. One of Twilight’s favorite thinking exercises, along with talking to herself while she thought. She wasn’t sure about a whole lot of things.

“Okay, so if I start with the pegasus, then I’ll have the more complicated one done first, which will make the earth pony that much easier. But if I start with the earth pony, I’ll be more experienced so the complicated parts on the pegasus will be easier.”

The rough circle she was walking in wasn’t quite at the engraving or trench level yet, but it was considerably cleaner and smoother than every other part of the floor.

“Maybe I should finish up one of them before going on to the next one, so the other one can have time to adjust to living. But then one will be more adjusted than the other one. Is that bad? Maybe I should just make them both first, then give them some life at the same time.”

If she were paying any attention at all to the outside world, she would be just a little bit dizzy. Probably a bit irritated from the constant clacking of her hooves contacting wood, too.

“But if I’m going to be making both of them first, I should gather up everything I need before I even start. But then what if I need something I don’t have? Should I just get more materials as I go along? But will that mess with the age differences between different body parts? Will that even matter?”

Twilight didn’t even notice when Carrot Top walked in. Not even when the latter tried to get her attention by yelling her name. Carrot Top knew what to do when Twilight got into heavy thinking mode, so she just went about her business as though the librarian wasn’t even there.

“Wait a minute. Can’t I just get one of Rarity’s plastic models to serve as a base? Then I can just reshape it and change all of the plastic into tissues. Hmmm, I’d need her to take some measurements of me first. Or maybe I could cover myself in silicone and use that as a mold.”

Her lunch break was over, so Carrot Top left the library without saying a word. She knew Twilight wouldn’t have even heard her.

“But then I’ll have excess material… I could just give it all to Rarity or somepony else. But how would I convince them to join with me? Why can’t I just give myself wings and more magic? Isn’t that basically the same thing? I already know how to do everything. Why do I need to go through all this trouble?”

Twilight stopped pacing. Her mind pulled a blank. She couldn’t think of any reason as to why she couldn’t do it, other than Starswirl never saying she could. But Starswirl never said she could make a sandwich, and she made one a few days ago. There was one way to resolve that particular problem: another letter to Celestia.

She sat down at her writing desk once again, quill floating effortlessly above the page before her.

Dear Princess Cele

The door slammed open. “Twilight! Twilight!”

She turned to face Spike. “What is it?”

“Letter from Celestia! Here!” he yelled, flopping tiredly to the ground, claw outstretched. Twilight grabbed the letter from him and began to read. Out loud. Because why not.

“My most faithful student, I’m delighted to hear of Derpy’s recent improvements. It’s clear that your magical abilities have grown very much during your stay in Ponyville. Be that as it may, I regret to inform you that I do not support your current endeav- What?!?”

Spike prepared himself for the incoming craziness by fleeing to the kitchen.

“What does she mean, she ‘doesn’t support my current endeavor’? She was just here a few days ago, acting like everything was perfectly fine! Does she- Spike!” she called, apparently now curious as to where her number one assistant went off to. “Spiiiiike!”

The dragon risked peeking out from the kitchen. “What?”

“C’mon, we’re going to Canterlot,” Twilight said, packing up a few things in her saddlebags.

“But why? Can’t you just send Celestia a letter or something?”

That idea was so unheard of and completely off the wall that Twilight dropped her things and walked to Spike. “No, I can’t just ‘send her a letter or something’. This is big, Spike. Big! I have to convince her to let me do this, not just in writing! Now come on, we’re going to Canterlot.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“But… But what about Carrot Top?”

“Yeah, she can come, too. Now get ready, we’re leaving right when I get back.”

Twilight looked from Carrot Top to Spike critically. She supervised Carrot Top’s packing herself- it was her first time to Canterlot, so Twilight had to make sure she was prepared- but didn’t have time to watch over Spike.

“Did you get everything?”

“Yup.”

“Toothpaste? Toothbrush? Blanket? Pillow?” she listed off, receiving a nod and a ‘Yup’ after each one. She decided to have a little bit of fun. “Picture of Rarity?”

“Yup.”

Spike’s eyes shot open after he realized what he just said. “Wait! I mean, no! Well- I mean… How’d you know?”

Twilight and Carrot Top were too busy laughing to answer.

Spike simply rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, laugh it up you guys. Real funny.”

His unicorn caretaker stopped to wipe a tear from her eye and walked over to him. “Oh, come on Spike. You know I’m just kidding.” She threw a hoof around him and held him for a moment. “And look, there’s the train.”

He looked, and there it was. The train. How exciting.

As dull and train-like the train was, Spike was happy to see it. It was the perfect salvation from Twilight’s attempt at an apology, so he hopped in and ran straight for his room.

“Spike, wait!” Twilight turned to Carrot Top, then back to the train, and groaned. Once Carrot Top was by her side, she walked in.

It was just after dinner time, so none of the three were tired enough to even bother trying to get some sleep. Instead, they decided to play Slides and Stairs. Since neither Twilight nor Carrot Top knew how to play, Spike decided to become a teacher.

“Okay, first you pick a playing piece and put it here,” he said, reaching for the blue unicorn colt and placing it beside square number one. Carrot Top and Twilight did the same, Carrot Top with the red unicorn mare and Twilight with the pea-green earth mare.

“Now spin the dial. Highest number goes first.” He spun the dial and got a two. Carrot Top spun and got a five. So did Twilight.

Twilight looked up to Spike for further instruction.

“You tied, so spin again.” Twilight and Carrot Top spun again, getting a four and a one.

“Okay Twilight, you go first. Spin the dial and move that many squares.” Twilight spun, got a four, and moved four squares. “You landed on a staircase, so follow it to where it ends.” She dragged her piece along the staircase, landing on square 14.

“Okay. Now it’s my turn,” Spike said, spinning the dial and moving five spaces.

Carrot Top needed no instruction. She grabbed the dial, spun it as hard as she could, and got a one. Twilight snickered.

“Hey, don’t laugh!” She moved her piece one space and followed the staircase all the way up to 38. “Ha! What’d I tell ya?”

“What?” Twilight went into full-on whining mode. “That’s not fair!”

“Ohohoh, but it is, good madam.”

“Nuh-uh!” came Twilight’s witty comeback, sticking out her tongue and scrunching up her face for added intimidation.

Since Carrot Top was so much more mature than Twilight, she reached forward and grabbed the oh-so intimidating tongue. “Haha, gotcher tongue!”

“Ey! Gibbit back!”

Spike watched the childish fight with mixed emotions. He was intrigued, confused, disgusted, and amused all at once. The thought to intervene and stop the foolishness crossed his mind, but he dismissed it. It was funny.

The tongue-fight turned into a wrestling match turned into something so strange Spike didn’t know what he was even watching. Eventually the war was over, Carrot Top having surrendered after an agonizing magical tickle assault.

“Cheater.”

Twilight poked Carrot Top’s side. “Not my fault you’re ticklish.” Carrot Top slapped the hoof away with mock anger, her smile making it completely obvious that she didn’t really mind.

Twilight, the victorious victor, spun the dial and got a two. She moved her earth pony piece two spaces and, lo and behold, she landed on a slide. “Wait. Do I have to go on the slide?”

Spike answered with a snarky smile. “Yes, you have to go on it.”

“But it goes down.”

“So? Then you go down.”

Hesitantly, she slid her piece all the way down to space four, crossing her hooves and pouting at the way the game was going.

Seven games later, her pout turned into a full-blown frown.

“How in all of Equestria do you go from 28 to 84 seven times in a row?!?”

Carrot Top, who won all seven games, rose her hooves defensively. “Hey, you got on that staircase once, too.”

“Yeah, but then I got sent down to 24 from that stupid slide! I don’t get it! If you go backwards if you go on the slide, why can’t you just, oh, I dunno, not go on it?”

“Because that’s not how the game works, Twilight.”

“Yes, Spike. I know that’s not how the game works. But if I don’t wanna go down a slide, why-“

“Excuse me miss, but could you please keep it down? We’ve been getting numerous noise complaints in this area.”

Twilight blushed and grinned, nodding silently in reply. The stallion who addressed her slid the door shut and left, his mission accomplished.

Door sliding apparently led to yawns, because their room was soon filled with them.

“Alright, I’mma get some sleep. G’night, guys,” Spike called out, crawling into the top bunk of the bunk bed.

Twilight yawned again and got into the bottom bunk. “Yeah, me too. Night, Spike. Night, Carrot Top.”

Carrot Top shuffled her hooves, looking around at the lack of extra beds. And couches. And chairs, for that matter. There weren’t even any friggin’ rugs.

“Umm, Twilight?” she asked.

Twilight spun around, her half-lidded eyes focused on Carrot Top. “What?”

“Well, there’s no other beds, and…”

“Sure, c’mon.”

Carrot Top climbed up onto the bed and snuggled up under the covers, making sure she didn’t accidentally rub up against Twilight. “Thanks,” she whispered, and the two settled down to sleep.

The sunlight bore into her eyes with such intensity that Carrot Top turned around because she didn’t want to wake up. It didn’t even matter what time it was. She was too tired and too comfortable to ever want to get up out of bed.

Two seconds later, she heard a thud and a yelp. Since any noise followed by a yelp was never a good thing, Carrot Top spun around to see what was being so noisy.

“Urrrghhhh…” Twilight moaned, lying face-first on the ground. Carrot Top, being the kind and considerate mare she was, just laughed.

The floor-bound unicorn was confused. She didn’t remember sleeping on the floor. Nor did she remember when Carrot Top got in her bed.

“Carrot Top? What’re you doing in my bed?” she asked.

The all-too-comfortable mare just giggled. “There weren’t any other beds, remember?”

“Oh, right.” Twilight rubbed her head and walked out, mumbling something about early mornings or whatever. Carrot Top couldn’t really make it out.

She was still way too tired and way too comfortable to even bother moving, so she didn’t. Although she knew she wouldn’t be falling asleep any time soon, she closed her eyes and wrapped more of the blanket around herself.

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Spike yawned and stretched, just the slightest bit of fire escaping his mouth as he did so. The fire apparently dried out his lips, because he started smacking them. Carrot Top peeked up to the top bunk and saw his feet dangling over the edge.

A purple blur, a yell, and a thud followed.

Carrot Top couldn’t handle it. She writhed beneath the blanket, struggling to put a cap on her ceaseless laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, very funny.” Spike rubbed his head, which caused his stomach to growl for whatever reason. “I’mma get something to eat. You want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’ll just lay here for a while. Too tired.”

“Alright, see ya.”

The room door slid open, the pitter-patter of Spike’s little feet hitting the floor followed, then the door slid shut.

Content to do exactly what she told Spike she would, Carrot Top didn’t move an inch. The blanket was soft, the mattress was made of that memory foam stuff so it was soft, too. The soft softness was so soft she thought she would never be so comfortable for the rest of her life.

Then there was a scream. One long, agonizing scream from some other train car. Everything was dreadfully silent for a few long moments afterwards, then another scream echoed throughout the train. And another. And soon Carrot Top’s ears were filled with the screaming of the train’s passengers.

The door split in half and a stallion came crashing through, landing in a heap on the floor. Carrot Top flew up and crashed into the top bunk, and all the screams and thuds were replaced by a single, consistent noise. Everything was a blur. She registered herself sliding on the floor, then a wall, then through a window. And everything went black.

Carrot Top woke up, numb all over, her head still ringing. She looked around. There was black smoke coming up from beyond a hill, so she got up.

Pain shot through both of her back hooves and she looked back. They were bruised, cut, bleeding, and broken. A fragment of her bone was sticking up midway down her left hoof. She pushed down on it and it slid back beneath her skin, a fresh stream of blood leaking out from the wound.

She decided then that she should get a move on before her numbness turned to agonizing torment. She dragged herself forward with her front hooves. Up the hill she went, a river of blood oozing out from her body and pooling at the bottom of the hill.

Carrot Top reached the top a few minutes later and looked out at the wreckage of the train. Entire train cars were detached and split into pieces, mangled and burning. The grass surrounding the area was lit up in flames, and she saw small piles of burning bodies littered amongst the metal.

The smell of burnt flesh filled her nose, the screams of dying ponies and foals reaching her ears. There was one in particular that stood out among the rest, and she looked down. Twilight was there, pulling herself up towards Carrot Top. Her intestines were stretched out, her lower body trapped underneath a sheet of metal. Her body was on fire. Her hoof reached for Carrot Top and she coughed up blood, then collapsed onto the hillside.

Carrot Top ran down the hill, tripping over the bloodied body of a young foal. She rolled down and eventually stopped beside Twilight. The fire was covering her entire body, and all Twilight did was smile. Then the flames ate away at her muscles, and the smile faded away.

The earth mare held the dead unicorn in her hooves and screamed at the top of her lungs. She ran out of breath and looked down at the burnt corpse, her tears sizzling when they contacted the hot flesh.

She heard a growl to her left. She turned. There was a timberwolf, dancing among the flames, watching Carrot Top with an undying hunger. Then it leaped.

Carrot Top woke in the dead of night, cold sweat dripping from her forehead. She turned her head just enough to see Twilight holding her close, hooves wrapped around her, a smile on her face.

Leaning into the warmth, a smile graced her lips and Carrot Top closed her eyes to sleep.