Twilight Sparkle twisted and turned underneath her warm blankets, waiting for the perfect moment.
The moon had come up not long ago, and Twilight was waiting for when Celestia might be asleep. The clock struck midnight, and she sat up, throwing the covers off.
She hopped quietly off the bed, adjusting her little black jumpsuit – it had been her Nightmare Night costume last October, she’d been a ninja. She picked up her saddlebags and begun to carefully put things inside.
“Night vision goggles - check.” She placed a pair of tiny play binoculars in the bags.
“Spare food in case we’re stranded – check.” A half-eaten candy bar went in.
“Rope – check.” A long strand of yarn.
“Emergency Marbles – Check!” A jar of colorful marbles.
“Smarty Pants – check! And last but not least…” She then trotted quietly to Spike’s bed, and nudged him.
“Spike, are you awake? It’s time to go!”
She nudged the tiny purple dragon awake, and he curled up tighter. “Come on, Spike! You were supposed to stay awake! You don’t want the enemy to win, do you?”
Finally the little dragon sat up and stretched, eyeing her with big green eyes. “Come on!” she levitated him onto her back, “We must hurry!”
She tip-toed to the door, and slowly, carefully opened it. It let out a high creak as it was gently pushed open. Twilight nosed her head out, peeking in one direction then the other. “Agent Spike, give me my night vision goggles!”
The baby dragon gave her a confused look. “In my saddlebags,” she said quietly, “The left.”
Spike opened her bag, stuck his face in and came out with the goggles in his teeth.
“No, Spike! Those aren’t for sucking on!” she gently levitated it out of his mouth and placed them on, grimacing when dragon drool oozed down her nose. She looked both ways once again, and then put her wrist up to her mouth. “This is Agent Sparkle to Commander 1, the hallway is clear and I am now starting my mission! Over.” She then stepped out of her bedroom, closing the door and crouching low to the ground. She huddled against the wall, hoping to blend in and began forward.
The castle was so much spookier at night, the hallways were mostly lit by the sun shining in through stained glass windows; yet now the moonlight was their only guide forward.
Twilight crouched lower when a guard rounded the corner ahead of her.
She held her breath, he had a flashlight! He walked past, the flashlight never illuminated them and Twilight sighed in relief. “That was close, Agent Spike! Come on,” she headed forward again, and looked both ways before rounding the corner and towards her destination.
“We have a long way to go,” she whispered to herself. Her ear twitched when she heard Spike munching on something and she turned her head. “No, Spike! Don’t eat the candy bar! That’s in case we get stranded!”
Spike tilted her head, staring at her in confusion, and then continued gnawing on the chocolate. “No!” she telekinetically tugged the bar out of his grip. He stared wide-eyed, then started to cry.
“What? No! No! You’ll blow our cover!” She cried as quietly as she could, coming off as angry. The little purple dragon paid no heed and bawled harder, she was mad at him!
Twilight buried her face in her hoof. “Fine.” She handed it back to him, and he happily grabbed it in his chubby little claws. Twilight waited a bit, in case anyone heard the commotion; then trotted forward, making sure to stay on the carpet so her hoof beats wouldn’t echo.
She lifted her wrist up to her mouth again, and spoke. “Commander 1, this is Agent Sparkle and we are close to the Royal Kitchens. Preparing to infiltrate, but there are guards everywhere in this part of the castle. Over.”
She peeked around the corner. True to her words, the door leading to the royal kitchens and beyond that, the dining room was just ahead – and there were guards everywhere. Two guarding the door, one walking down the hall, and another had just left the kitchen.
“Alright Spike, we’re going to need to be sneaky,” she said quietly. She carefully scanned the hall in front of her, looking for a possible diversion.
Aha! “Spike, hand me a marble!”
Spike opened her saddle bags and dug around, but came back up with nothing. “I just need a marble!” she instructed, and he looked into both sides of the bag, confused. Finally Twilight magically pulled one marble out of the jar after opening it. “I’m just trying to help you contribute, Spike,” She said, turning around. She then levitated the marble up and back over her head, then with all the magical force she could muster she threw it hard against the wall on the other side of the dark hall behind her. The sound echoed throughout the hall, and she crouched down, pressing her tiny frame into the wall to stay hidden. She grabbed Spike off her back and held him close under her foreleg. “Shhh.”
Two guards galloped around the corner, both with flashlights yet they ran right past her, looking for the source of the noise.
She then levitated up another marble and threw it in the opposite direction; it hit one of the big windows, breaking a hole into it. “Woops…” She whispered. The other two guards, the ones at the door, looked at each other, and then galloped up right in front of her, then turned towards the window. She took her chance and picked Spike up in her teeth and swinging him up into her back, she galloped towards the kitchen.
Almost there... almost, almost, YES! She blasted through the double doors, and then realizing her mistake grabbed them so that they wouldn’t slam shut. She gently pushed them closed and turned around, joyfully. Luckily, the kitchen was currently empty.
“Commander 1, this is Agent Sparkle. I have succeeded to the kitchens, I repeat, I am in the kitchens! Over.”
Spike crawled over her shoulder and begun to gnaw on the wrist she was talking into. “Hey!” she cried, a giggle passing her lips. She gently pushed him back, and scanned the room. She squinted in the darkness, and finally spotted what she was looking for: The cupboard on top of the massive walk-in refrigerator. Grinning, she grabbed the leg of a stool into her teeth. She started to pull it, and then flinched, ears flattening when a loud SCREEE sounded out. She froze, and Spike looked around frantically as if a monster might appear, but nothing happened and Twilight gulped. “We won’t use the easy way, I guess. I can’t levitate this, it’s too big!” she scratched her chin thoughtfully, the pulled Spike off of her back and set him on the cold hard floor. “Spike, help me look for another way! We need to get to that cupboard!”
The baby dragon wandered off on all fours, and Twilight began to search in the opposite direction. Open a lower cupboard, nothing. No soft-footed stools to use, and no other possible way she could get up there.
Then, an idea hit her, and she smiled wildly. She trotted towards the fridge, “Spike! Come here!” Spike, despite being busy chewing on the leg of the stool scampered over to her, and she pointed up to the counter. “I think you’re small enough for me to levitate you up to the counter, so I’m going to need you to be the one who grabs our target! Okay?”
Spike raised his head proudly, and Twilight prepared her horn. “I think I can only get you up to the counter from here, so you’re going to need to figure out a way to get to the top of the fridge yourself!”
Spike was then enveloped in a magical pink aura, and lifted slowly and steadily into the air. His eyes widened in panic, and he squirmed and struggled in the air, letting out soft squeaks. “Don’t… move like that!” Twilight strained, thrusting her head up, sending him up higher a little faster. Beads of sweat begun to form on her head, and she gasped. This was harder than she thought it would be!
But finally, the little dragon was up above the counter, and she moved him up over it and let the spell go, before collapsing from exhaustion. “Alright… now Spike! Try to find a way up!”
Spike peeked down over the edge of the counter down at her, before cocking his head to look up above the fridge. It was easily the height of a full grown pony, at least from where he was standing up on the counter, and he was in no way the size of a full grown pony. He looked around, and something caught his eye. He scampered towards it on all fours.
“What is it? Did you see something to help?” Twilight got to her hooves, excitement filling her.
Spike stopped at his destination – the massive, two-sided kitchen sink.
“Spike? What are you doing up there?”
The dragon reached out with a claw and lightly scraped the curved faucet, trying to will the water out. It was like a bathtub sized perfectly for him!
“Spike!”
Spike noticed the lever on the side, and curiously he reached over. His little forelegs were too small to reach and he reached further, further!
“Spike, stop that! We need to hurry!”
Spike paid no attention and continued trying to reach, and then he slipped on a bit of moisture on the edge where his feet were and fell in. But not before grabbing the lever to try and break the fall, while also knocking down several things like dish soap, a sponge and a sink-plug.
He let go, and fell in as water begun to pour from the faucet. “Spike! Are you okay? Come on, we don’t have time for this!”
Spike backed away from the stream of water that was disappearing down the drain, he clapped his hands in delight, and reached out a claw to touch the water. He splashed some towards himself, giggling with pure joy.
“Spike,” she whined, “stop ignoring me! And turn that off, you’re going to alert the guards!”
Spike backed up a bit, stepping on the dish soap bottle. The half-open lid popped open completely, and dish-washing liquid squirted at his feet. He giggled and turned around, pressing his claws down on the bottle causing more transparent blue liquid into the sink.
He saw something black in the corner of his eye, and turned to look – the sink-plug. He’d seen bath-plugs, and he could guess what this was for!
He picked it up on his teeth, and placed it down on the drain, then pushed it in. The water that was previously pouring down the drain was now filling the sink, and the soap started turning into bubbles upon contact. Spiked splashed and laughed in the water, and Twilight stomped her hoof. “Spiiike, what are you doing up there? You’re going to blow our cover!”
But the baby dragon paid no attention, too immersed in his play. He was pushing the sponge around as if it were a rubber ducky.
“Spike! Please!” Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes, and she started to sniffle. This caught Spike’s attention, and he paddled to the side of the sink and jumped up, grabbing the edge. The water was halfway up now though, so he could swim up and pull himself up onto the edge, covered in bubbles. This caused Twilight to giggle through her tears, “You’re a mess! But we have to hurry, somepony might hear the sink! Come on!” she pointed towards the fridge, “We need to get up there!” Spike shook himself like a dog, and then trotted up to the side of the fridge. He pulled the toaster out, and Twilight watched in amazement as he crawled on top of it, opened the big cupboard and begun to climb up the shelves. It was filled with several things, crackers and cereal among other things.
Spike climbed up and crawled up onto the top shelf. He then turned and jumped up onto the top of the cupboard door, it swung open completely, its front-side hitting the side of the fridge. Spike climbed up over it, landing on his belly on top of the cool surface.
“Yes!” Twilight cried, jumping up and down, and then realizing she’d been too loud she whispered, “Yes!”
Spike opened the much smaller cupboard on the wall and began searching, nosing his way through various boxes.
“Do you have our target?” She backed away, craning her neck, trying to see. Finally Spike’s tiny form peeked over the edge, and he shook his head.
“No!” the realization hit her. “The enemy anticipated out move! They’ve taken the prize!”
Her ears perked when she heard hooves clopping towards the door, and she turned her panicked gaze back up to Spike.
“Spike! We don’t have any time, quick! Jump!”
The dragon eyed her uncertainly, and then the door.
“Come on! We have to go, quick! Jump! I’ll catch you, I promise!”
Twilight turned towards the door, they were getting closer! She turned back to Spike. “Come on! Quick!
Spike disappeared from her view, and she first thought he’d gone to hide, but then she heard tiny claws clicking on the surface of the fridge and she braced herself to catch.
He jumped off the edge and curled into a ball falling towards her. She sat up, holding out her hooves. “I’ve got you! I’ve got you!”
He crashed into her and she fell backwards into a table, clutching him in her hooves. She had no time to see if he was okay; the door-handle was turning! Grabbing the back of Spike’s neck in her mouth she galloped towards the door to the dining room, nearly slipping on the water which was overflowing over the sink. She blasted through the door – whew! No guards to be seen - and quickly hid underneath the table-cloth.
He laid Spike down. “Spike? Are you okay?” She whispered. He lifted his head and started sucking on his tail, and she sighed in relief; and then giggled. “You’re covered in suds! You’re going to be all itchy later,” she laughed, then immediately silenced when the doors opened. She huddled down, holding Spike close.
Where could they have taken the target… somewhere safe, secret… someplace nopony would dare go without permission… I know! Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted when the guards who’d entered spoke; “Its official, somepony has infiltrated the castle!”
“Should we alert the princess?”
“Not yet, whoever the intruder is its most likely they’re still here, and we’re going to catch them. Water wasting fiends! You see if they’re hiding in the kitchen somewhere, I’ll scout ahead.”
“Aye,” one replied and disappeared back into the kitchen. The other headed forward, looked around once, sniffed the air and headed towards the other door.
Spike sneezed.
Everything went quiet, the guard seemed not to even breathe, his leg held mid-air, frozen mid-walk.
He turned his head and slowly crept towards the table. Slowly he lowered himself, and slipped a hoof under the cloth, preparing to lift. Twilight shook madly, and Spike did with her.
Everyone jumped when the door the guard had previously been walking to blasted open, and in rushed Twilight’s nanny, Red Velvet.
“Oh! It’s horrible!” she cried. The guard looked up to her, “What is it, Miss?”
“Little Twilight Sparkle and Spike are missing from their bedroom! They’ve gone missing!”
“There’s an intruder in the castle,” he informed her, “You don’t think they were…foalnapped?”
Red Velvet placed a hoof to her open mouth, shocked. “We must alert the Princess right away!”
“No, wait!” He stopped her. “She’s had a particularly long day, and specifically asked that we let her alone for tonight. I want to see if we can catch this intruder before we wake her.”
“But this is an emergency!”
“Come on,” he placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “We can go to the foals’-“
“And dragons’,”
“And dragons’ room and look for clues,”
Nodding slowly, Red Velvet followed him out.
Twilight waiting a bit before sighing in relief. “That was close… Come on, Spike! I think I know where our prize was hidden.” She picked him up and placed him on her back. He yawned and stretched, curling up behind her neck.
“Commander 1, this is Agent Sparkle. The target was not where we anticipated, but I think I’ve figure out where it is. Heading there now. Over.”
She reared up and grinning evilly she galloped out from under the table, and out the door. Hopefully they’d make it before the entire castle was filled to the brim with searching guards!
~~~
“Almost there,” she nudged Spike who was drifting off on her back. “Don’t fall asleep yet, I need you for this! You’re going to be my ferocious dragon; I can’t fight the enemy without you!”
She was peeking around the corner, she was now in front of the enemy’s fortress, and it had two guards standing in front of it. Twilight did the marble trick again, tossing it against the wall.
When the guards, who had previously heard there was an intruder on the loose, galloped forward, Twilight pulled out the whole jar and spilled it onto the floor. They two earth ponies couldn’t stop in time and cried out when they rolled across the floor, marbles spinning this way and that.
“Now!” Twilight galloped forward as fast as her tiny legs would carry her. She jumped forward, half using her magic and half using her hooves to shove the big golden doors open.
“THERE SHE IS!” She yelled.
Celestia looked up from where she was sitting on her floor cushion, eyes wide. “Huh?”
She barely had time to react when Twilight tackled her. Celestia cried out, rolling over onto her side. Twilight saw her chance and plucked several feathers from Celestia’s wing with her magic, and begun wiggling them all over Celestia’s belly.
“AH!” The Princess cried, kicking and struggling against the purple menace. She started half-laughing half-choking, crumbs were stuck to her chin and chest. Spike hopped off of Twilight, and begun licking them off of Celestia’s milky white coat.
“AHAHAAH! SPIIIKE! STOP, YOU TICK-TICKLING ME! HAHAHAHA!”
“We will never stop until you give me what is rightfully mine!” Twilight smirked, using her hooves to tickle her teacher’s neck.
“AH! AHA” Celestia was interrupted by her own coughing fit, before levitating up what Twilight had been hoping for. “Alright, alright! The cookies are yours!”
Twilight eagerly snatched the cookie jar from Celestia’s golden aura and jumped off of the alicorn, the feathers lost the purple magic around them and drifted to the ground.
Luckily, there were two cookies left. “Come on, Spike!” Twilight said eagerly. “Our efforts have been greatly rewarded!” Spike eagerly crawled off of the giant pony and jumped onto Twilight’s face, trying to get at the jar.
Celestia got to her hooves, gasping in sweet, sweet oxygen! She swallowed the last remnants of delicious, sugary sweet chocolate chip cookies and hit her chest with her hoof once just in case.
Finally she turned to Twilight, who was munching a cookie, and Spike was draped across her back, nibbling his.
~~~
Epilogue: Twilight and Spike were immediately sent to bed, with tummy’s full of delicious cookies. And Twilight was given the punishment of having no desserts for the rest of the week for sneaking around the castle at night, being up way past her bedtime, and wasting water.
