Ponnequin Relationsby CheerChaptersChapter 1 - The Experiment BeginsChapter 2 - SuccessChapter 3 - Observations and TestsChapter 4 - The Game is AhoofChapter 5 - Observations of a Baby DragonChapter 6 - A Good Use of Time (Super, Majorly Edited)Chapter 1 - The Experiment BeginsChapter One In the only library in the town of Ponyville, there is a very curious unicorn. She was always trying new spells or experiments. Today, was not any different for Twilight, aside from the fact that she wanted no one to know about the specific experiment that will be taking place in the guest room. Sitting on the desk was a scroll outlining today’s experiment. One she had kept very quiet about. Top Secret For the eyes of Twilight Sparkle only. Ponnequin Calming Experiment Due to recent events it has come to my attention that I do not do the best under stress. Worse than that, I have the tendency to often panic and in some cases completely lose my grip on all common sense. I have begun to fear, that one of these times I may completely lose it, if there is no pony around to help me. Worse yet, would be if the cause of the stress was something I wouldn’t, or couldn’t, share with any pony. Since I don’t want any pony to know that, I’m worried about losing my mind, this experiment is to be kept top secret until such time as I deem it reasonable to make public. Thusly, the experiment came about. What the experiment was meant to do was create an artificial personality (AP) inside the body of a ponnequin. The Ponnequin The ponnequin body is necessary, as the mind and body must go together. Thus, a ponnequin is the easily available and morally correct choice. The mind itself is created from my own. It will have the basic knowledge about me that any of my friends would have along with complete knowledge of this experiment. The spell will recharge itself through a (In theory) sleep like experience for the AP, much like how a pony would recharge their body with sleep. If the AP goes long enough without recharging it will be forced into the 'sleep' cycle again, much like a ponies body would do. Communication Communication between myself and the AP will be a mix of vocal and telepathic communication. The AP will speak directly into my mind, as having no vocal chords, makes a ponnequin speaking out loud impossible. Outside noises are directed towards the mind of the AP and through magical translation the sound waves are “heard”. The “voice” of the AP can only be heard within a certain distance and only by those who have the correct magical signal. Namely, myself. The Voice is to sound stern as to capture the attention in a stressful situation, but then able to sound kind and as calm as it’s trying to get me to be. Personality In the early stages there will be little of an individual personality. I hope to progressively help one form through constant communication. Tell it of my days, my friends and the like. Even if it was created, it will still be, in a way, its own pony. End Notes before Experiment. Hide everything. Do not mention this to anypony. I don’t need any of them thinking that I’m going crazy. Give more than enough to Rarity for ponnequin. Quadruple check list. “Right. Previously enchanted, medium sized, high magic and light reflective crystal, spell quadruple checked, three of my hairs, basic sewing learnt, sewing tools and now for the biggest part.” Twilight gave a large sigh at the prospect of the next part of her plan being the most awkward as a whole. “Time to go see Rarity.” It was early in the business day for the Carousel Boutique and, Rarity, its owner was fresh out of things to distract her. ‘No orders, no inspiration, no new books and nothing to do. I wish at the least one of the girls would come in for a small order or just to talk for a while. No, no. It’s far too early for that. None of the girls except maybe Applejack would be up and about yet.’ With a sigh she turned around to attempt to find something to do for what felt like the dozenth time, when she heard a knock at the door. Rushing with a speed rarely seen from her she went to the door before stopping and making sure she looked her best. She then opened the door in the same style as she always had. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.” She then proceeded to notice who was actually at the door. Namely a certain lavender friend of her’s. “Oh Twilight! Do come in, won’t you darling?” She said while pointing a hoof towards the inside of her home, “Now Twilight what brings you around this early?” She asked before finally noticing a slight bit of nervousness her friend held in herself. “Is anything the matter dear?” This seemed to snap Twilight out of whatever funk she had been in at the moment and perked up a bit. “Hm? No I’m fine Rarity I actually came with a bit of business for you.” The light in Rarity’s eyes lit before she continued, “But it has nothing to do with clothes.” Rarity’s face drooped for a micro second before it changed to one of confusion. “But if it has nothing to do with clothes what could you need with me, Twilight? Not that I don’t appreciate you coming by. I’m just a little confused is all.” A little bit of Twilight’s nervousness seemed to have returned after hearing this. “Well actually I need one of your ponnequins.” She stated as she began to shift her weight side to side. “Oh well that’s no problem Darling. I can easily lend you one.” At this Rarity subtly eyed Twilight still confused as to why she would refer to something so simple as “business”. Once again Twilight’s nervousness seemed to increase. “Well Rarity. That’s just it. I would need to keep it. It’s for ...something, I’m working on and I wouldn’t be able to return it. Since…It would be destroyed! Yes, that’s it. I need a ponnequin for this and since it would end up destroyed, I feel it best to buy one of your older ones from you so you could easily replace it.” She explained with an all too large grin on her face. The sight of which slightly worried Rarity. “Well. Alright then dear. I can part with one of my ponnequins I suppose” She brought over one of her them with magic before asking her something. “Now, dear what is this-“ Before she could finish her question both the ponnequin and Twilight had disappeared leaving behind a hefty bag of bits and a fading thank you. “Well, that was a tad rude Twilight.” Getting out a sigh she continued in thought ’Whatever could be so important to Twilight to just rush off like that. But what could she be doing to destroy one of the ponnequins. Wait…’ ”Idea!” With that she whisked herself away to her sketchpad, happy to finally have something to do that morning. Back in the library, a much more nervous Twilight appeared, back along with the ponnequin in the guest room. “Alright. No reason to panic…yet. Even if she thought something was up, the door is locked. Even then, it’s not like she would expect what this experiment is for anyway.” ‘Let’s get this underway before I worry anymore.’ Moving the ponnequin to the middle of the room Twilight made an incision in the back of its head. Just large enough to fit the crystal along with the three hairs which after inserting into it. She proceeded to sew the hole up before finally beginning the spell. The spell itself was a complicated undertaking. A very intricate spell that needed a lot of magic and connected itself to her own mind which could very well leave her unconscious due to the mix of exertion from both mental and magical power. The spell itself actually did just this. Leaving Twilight on the floor of the guest room. She was woken what felt like a couple hours later by knocking at the door. Light at first then growing in urgency and strength. It could only be Spike. Moments later this was proven when he spoke. “Twilight! Twilight, are you okay?!” The jiggling of the doorknob showed his worry and managed to take away anything that suggested that Twilight was anything but alert. Shooting up from the floor she looked straight at the door. Her mind still strained from the spell earlier. ‘What should I do? I can’t let him in or he’ll start asking question about the ponnequin, but if I just answer he may worry about why I can’t let him in. But then if-‘ Her mental ramblings were cut off by a second voice in her thoughts. ’Now, just calm down Twilight.’ Her mental worries derailed from their tracks for the moment she took a second to think about what just happened. She took a glance at the Ponnequin. Author's Note Righto here's the start of this here story. I hope ya'll will like it. Edited by Spaslan and then given a through edit by....dun da da dun! My sister. (she's an english major so it works I guess) Chapter 2 - SuccessAt that moment she had a face that was a strange mixture of confusion, surprise and joy, but before she could voice any thoughts, the voice spoke again. ’Yes, Twilight, the spell worked, but you must calm down.’ Taking some deep breaths she attempted to, at the least, look calm. She spoke quiet enough as to not be heard through the door “You’re right. Calming down is important.” Taking another deep breath, she began to think a little clearer. “First things first, I need to calm down Spike.” Before she could make it to the door, the voice spoke again. ’You should put me away first. That way, when you open the door, he won’t have anything extra to ask questions about’ Letting the thought sink in Twilights’ head for a moment the voice continued. ’Is the closet empty?’ This time the unicorn took action. After quickly putting the ponnequin inside the empty closet she smoothed her mane out and took a couple deep breaths. ‘Alright. Let’s do this.’ As calmly as she could, she opened the door to her distraught assistant. Spike then launched himself at her leg, almost taking her out in the process. “Whoa, Spike. What’s the matter? Twilight asked while quickly regaining her balance. “Twilight, do you know how long you’ve been up here?” He asked, while regaining his calm “I don’t know exactly. Maybe a couple of hours?” Twilight asked, wondering where this was going. “Twilight. You’ve been up here for eight hours, if not more!” “WHAT?! How could I have been up here for that long?” She began thinking of all the possible things that could have resulted in this much lost time and realized quickly that it was likely due to the exhaustion, the spell put on her.’But to sleep for eight hours. Wow. Didn’t see that coming.’ “Yeah. I woke up this morning to the noise of something hitting the floor. Then, I remembered you saying that you would be working on some project or experiment today, so I didn’t really think much of it. Then, I went down stairs to make breakfast and you didn’t come down. I even knocked on the door.” ’Wow. I was out cold, wasn’t I? Usually just the smell of his cooking wakes me up’ she thought, while Spike continued. “But you still didn’t answer me. So I figured you were just really into it. I went downstairs, did my chores and looked after the library, but when I noticed that eight hours had passed since I got up, I started to get really worried. So, I came up here and tried knocking, but there was still no answer so then, I knocked harder and started calling your name and, well…Here we are.” Spike finished up his explanation with a large outward sigh. “I was really worried, you know?” “I’m so sorry Spike” She said, nuzzling the worried baby dragon, “I guess I was a lot more out of it than I thought” At that moment, her body decided to remind her of what she had missed throughout the day with a loud grumble, which quickly lead to a blush of embarrassment. “Heh. What do you say we have a big lunch then?” Spike proceeded to jump at the offer, and rush downstairs with a smile while being followed by a sluggish Twilight, ‘I swear if dragons got Cutie Marks his would be for cooking.’ Sitting down at the table, both of them were currently eating although, Twilight, however, was eating as though starved. She did this as respectfully as possible, with only a few crumbs here and there, when Spikes curiosity finally got the better of him. “So, what were you doing up there anyway?” This prompted a choking fit from Twilight due to the suddenness of the question, which in turn, prompted Spike to hurry to try and help, only to be stopped by a raised hoof signifying that she was ok. After hacking a little more, Twilight finally got herself under control enough to speak. “I’m sorry about that Spike. Now, what were you saying?” “Geez Twi, maybe you should eat a bit slower” Spike said chuckling, which only earned him a roll of the eyes from her. “Anyway, I was wondering, what it was that you were doing that kept you up there for so long. I mean, come on. Over eight hours without a word? That’s a long time for you, even when you’re reading something that you find interesting, you take a food break after a little while.” This started to panic Twilight a little, since she didn’t really want to lie to her number one assistant, but, she also absolutely didn’t want to say anything about what she was doing in that room. In the end, she figured out how to not do either. “I’m sorry Spike, but, it’s really personal to me so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask any more about it.” Spike looked a bit surprised by this and it showed in the confusion on his face. “I really am sorry.” It wasn’t a lie but it was still hard to do. ‘He was worrying so much, and I won’t even tell him what it was about. Ugh. I feel terrible. Please just let it go Spike. Please, please, pl-’ “Ok, I get it.” ‘Huh?’ Which was eloquently followed up with “Huh?” Even in retrospect she still couldn't find better words for a reaction. “It’s a mare thing, isn’t it? Rarity’s told me that, if it’s a mare thing, not only do I not need to know, but I wouldn’t want to know.” Spike sat there with a face that told Twilight he thought he’d figured it all out. ‘If that’s what he thinks, I’m not going to be the one to correct him.’ She went around the table towards him and gave him a hug. “Thanks Spike. I’ll be working on it for the rest of the day though, so, you can have the rest of the day off.” The look on his face was near priceless. “Seriously?! Awesome! Alright Twi, I’ll see you later!” He yelled as he made his way towards the door with Twilight yelling in his wake. “Just be back in time for dinner at ten!” and with a wave of commitment to the schedule, he was gone. “Rarity really earned those bits for teaching him that.” She made a mental note to herself to do something special for her friend while she made her way back upstairs to the guest room. Author's Note So yeah. I ended up just doing my own crap-tastic editing on this chapter since my sister(editor) is being a lazy ass and not even touching this chapter. I need new proof readers. Bad. Commas hate me. I'm going to try to get chapter 3 up by the 27th so yeah. Here's to hoping. Chapter 3 - Observations and TestsAs she headed to the guest room again, Twilight decided to mentally list what she needed to do. ‘Alright. I need to, test the capabilities of the AP, make sure that it didn’t get too much power out of my spell and, after that I suppose, I can begin just talking to it. Finally, I need to figure out something more secure for storing it. Maybe a few securing spells on the room. Soundproofing might be a good idea too.’ Twilight continued to muse on different ideas until she found herself outside of the guest room once again. Before opening the door however she was spoken to once again. ’Twilight? Is that you?’ Twilight thought she heard something like a whisper after that but shrugged it off, as a more prominent thought was in her mind. ‘Was its range always this long? Could it hear me in the kitchen?’ After entering the room, she quietly closed the door and addressed the voice. “Yes, it’s me. Let’s get you out of there, shall we? Twilight took the ponnequin and notes out and placed them back in their original spots. While she was looking around, making sure everything was in its correct place, she was reminded she was not quite alone in the room. Thank you Twilight. How was Spike? The sudden voice made Twilight brake out of her mental checklist. Surprised, by the facts that, she had forgotten about the AP and that it was concerned about Spike. ‘Hmm. Maybe it didn’t hear me after all.’ She mused before answering. “He’s just fine. I sent him off to have some fun while we conduct some tests. Why do you ask?” It felt a little mean to ask since; some ponies might take offence to her curiosity, thinking that she thought of them as uncaring. But, that’s just it. This wasn’t a pony. It was a personality she created that same day. ’I’m not sure really. I just felt like I didn’t want him to feel bad on my part. Was that not normal?’ Twilight was sure that if it could move her head would be cocked to the side. Giggling lightly, she gave a smile unseen by the eyeless ponnequin, “No. It was very considerate of you. Quite kind, if I do say so myself, and after being friends with Fluttershy for so long, I think I’ve learned quite a bit more about kindness than I ever thought one pony could teach me. ’Fluttershy? She’s the yellow coated, pink maned, shy one, right? Bearer of the element of kindness? Twilight smiled, not able to have brought up a better, more natural, introduction to her first test if she tried. “That’s right! Very good! Which actually, brings me to our first test. Who are the elements of harmony, who bares what element and what are they like?” She asked, beginning to fall into a teacher like mode. ’Well, let’s see. You, Twilight Sparkle, element of magic, personal student to Princess Celestia since you were a filly. You tend to be a bit socially awkward, but have a strong bond to the rest of the elements as friends. You have some slightly obsessive compulsive tendencies and are very studious.’ Twilight grumbled a little about being called, socially awkward as she took notes. ’The element of laughter, Pinkamina Diane Pie is an enigma wrapped in cotton candy. Coming from a rock farm, she does her utmost best to spread smiles and laughter. She has a strange ability to sense future events and seemingly break the laws of physics. Your efforts to figure out the pink party pony, ended at a dead end and many headaches.’ Twilight chuckled a little at the memory of that ordeal, the twitchy tail, the hydra, and the rage shift. ’The element of loyalty is Rainbow Dash. Self-Proclaimed fastest flyer in Equestria. Winner of the best young flyer competition and the only known pony to perform the sonic rainboom. She suffers from a large ego, which sometimes blinds her to how she acts. Her loyalty to her friends is easily larger than her ego. In her words she ‘wouldn’t leave her friends hanging’. Her love for practicing her tricks has led her into the walls of not only the library many times, but also many other buildings.’ At that Twilight made a note about and enforcement spell for the room. ’Do I have to go over Fluttershy again, Twilight?’ the sudden question was lost to the unicorn for a moment until it registered that she was asked something. “Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry. Could you say that again?” Twilight answered, a small blush of embarrassment on her face from being so focused on her notes. ’It’s ok. I asked, if I have to go over Fluttershy again.’ “Not in too much detail. Just tell me what she’s like.” Twilight said, as she scribbled away ’Fluttershy is a shy, mainly earth bound, pegasi who takes care of many animals near the Everfree Forest. She is easily frightened and very shy. She has gotten slightly more confident in recent months. ’Applejack is the element of honestly. She works and lives on Sweet Apple Acres. She is physically rivaled only by Rainbow Dash, and constantly has competitions with her. Her ability to tell through lies is countered by her own near complete inability to lie. She is known to be very stubborn about her work and pride.’ Twilight sighed, remembering when Applejack tried to buck all the trees in Sweet Apple Acres and when she went to the rodeo competition. ’Rarity, the element of generosity, works and lives at the Carousel Boutique. She has a strong tendency to overreact to many situations. She is strongly adverse to getting dirty, or doing anything that could be considered rough. However, when properly encouraged, she will slog through mud to do what she had set her mind on, even if she still does complain about it. She is very fashion conscious and apparently, from what I can recall from the information in me, she has a very nice -‘ “O-okay. That- that’s enough about that.” A very red faced Twilight cut off the thought, continuing to write notes. “N-now” She cleared her throat so she could speak clearly. “Let’s move on to my next test. “Do you known any of my secrets?” ’Like what?’ It asked innocently. “Well like how Spike-“ ’Twilight.’ A stern sounding voice stopped her from saying any more. ’Aren’t secrets supposed to stay secret? Wouldn’t giving me an example make it not a secret anymore?’ Twilight for the third time, in far too little time, burst red in embarrassment. This time clearing her throat before speaking. “Right. Thank you for stopping me. But do you know what I was going to say?” She asked, not wanting the test to end abruptly due to a near slip up. ’No, I do not. I know of nothing that could be considered a secret. I only have basic information on things. Except that Rarity has a very nice-‘ “Did you have to bring that up again?” Groaned Twilight, who by now was wondering if her face would ever get a chance to go back to its normal shade. Her ears instinctively perked when she heard something. “Are, are you, laughing?” She asked, more confused than upset. I do believe so. How strange. I apologize. For some reason I thought that making you stammer again was something I wanted to do. I’m sorry if I angered you. It stopped laughing and sounded honest in its apology. Heaving a sigh and a chuckle Twilight turned towards the ponnequin once again. “No, no. It’s fine. I guess it was a little funny. But.” Twilight’s voice suddenly took a serious turn, “It’s a secret where that thought came from, okay? I know you couldn’t tell anyone if you wanted but, I still want you to promise me that you won’t tell anypony. Please? Also you don’t have any information about any of the others like that do you?” ’No I do not. Rarity was the only one and so, I promise I won’t tell anypony that, you are the source of that bit of information.’ Twilight could feel the redness coming back into her face once again. However this time there was a smile on it as well as a blush. “Thank you. Now then, I’m going to copy down these notes. After that, we’ll talk.” She walked back to her desk to copy down the notes she had taken. First Day of Observations and Tests Upon awakening from an unconscious state, caused by exhaustion from the spell used in the experiment, Spike was pounding on the room door in an erratic manner. This caused me to begin to worry about him asking questions about the experiment, which led to a mild panic. Due to this situation, not only was I able to discover that, the spell had worked and the experiment successful so far, but also that it did exactly what I hoped for. It calmed me down, helped me to act in much better manner, so I was able to address the situation calmly. Dealing with Spike became much easier thanks to this. Afterwords, during breakfast Spike had the idea that my experiment was, ‘a mare thing’ which, while I’m not fully sure what he meant, stopped him from asking any more about it. Upon coming back to the room, I began to perform a couple tests. Below are the points I had covered both through the test and otherwise. ”Voice” The “voice” is exactly like I wanted. The stern side can stop me when I’m on a tangent, and the calm side gives me a very soothing feeling. Basic Knowledge of Acquaintances Test The point of this test was to find out if the AP had the information I meant to give it through the spell. There were six points of the test. The six points being, each element of harmony and close friend of mine. Twilight (Myself) -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Pinkie Pie -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Rainbow Dash -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Fluttershy -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Applejack -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Rarity -Information Correct -A small bit of personal thoughts on the subject got mixed into the spell creating a bit of embarrassment. This however, led to the discovery that the AP has the ability to find something funny on its own. It has promised that, if given the chance, it will not let this information slip. Thusly creating a secret between myself, and the AP. Secrets -I have determined that, aside from the secret created before this part of the tests, the AP has no knowledge of any of the secrets that I know. Due to a near slip up on my part, while dealing with secrets I also know that the AP understands the seriousness, or at least the basic idea of a secret. End Notes I will, after writing this out, begin talking one on one with the AP. I believe that I will speak of my life and friendship reports. Ask Rarity where, “a mare thing” came up. -Do something nice for Rarity, for teaching him of this. AP seems to be developing a personality even from the very light conversation between us. However it still seems very rigid when confronting emerging parts of its new personality. Put reenforcment enchantments on the rooms to avoid a Rainbow Dash sized hole and subsequent possible revealing of AP experiment. Find replacement stand for Ponnequin. Neck aches, caused from looking up due to height of stand, becoming quite bad. Turning around, Twilight looked up and smiled. “So, I figure, I’ll just talk about my life in more detail than I gave you through the experiment. Does that sound good?” ’Of course, Twilight. Whatever you want to do is fine.’ “So, what should I start with?” Twilight asked trying to think of what would be the best point to start on. ’The beginning always seems like a good place to begin something.’ “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to bore you. I’m not that interesting.” She near mumbled, not used to someone literally wanting her life story and honestly not thinking that it was worth telling. ’I don’t exactly have anywhere to be, now do I?’ It said with a small laugh which Twilight joined in on. “I suppose not. Wait.” Twilight blinked in realization. “Did you just make a joke?” There was a small silence until the AP broke it ’Did I? Strange. It was just like earlier when I mentioned, you know what. I just kind of did it, without thinking much. I’m sorry, jokes are okay though, aren’t they?’ “Oh, of course they are. I was just surprised is all. Anyway, I suppose I should start. The earliest I can remember is when I was about 2. I had surrounded myself with books, in a kind of building shape. I called them book forts-“ -End of Chapter Three Chapter 4 - The Game is AhoofAt the Carousel Boutique, Rarity had been working on a new dress since the morning. It consisted of different hues of red and orange. But yet, there was something wrong with it. She just couldn’t quite put her hoof on it though. It was as though her original inspiration just wasn’t enough. This isn’t too rare of an occurrence, but now the question was what she needed to finish it. She stood there, scrutinizing her creation. Trying to figure out what was wrong, when she heard a knock at the door. “Coming!” she yelled, making her way towards the door. On the other side of it she found the number one assistant of Twilight and on quite a few occasions, her own. “Oh! Hello, Spikey. What happens to brings you by today?” she asked the, slightly nervous looking, baby dragon at her doorstep. “Oh! H-hi Rarity. Well Twilight gave me the day off and I was, uh, wondering if you, uh, you know, wanted some help? He asked, rubbing the back of his neck and slightly looking away sheepishly. “Of course, Spikey!” she exclaimed happily “I always appreciate your help. You know that, don’t you?” she asked him, smiling. “Y-you do?!” He asked happily, wagging his tail like a dog would. “Of course. Now I was actually just working on a dress” she explained, pointing a hoof towards the room she was working in, only to have Spike move right next to her. The chivalrous baby dragon bowed, “After you, m’lady.” He said, causing the alabaster unicorn to giggle at the adorable actions of the ‘noble dragon’. “Oh, thank you. You’re such a gentlecolt.” She said, giggling again, as she made her way towards the work room, leading Spike to where the unfinished dress lied. Her ears perked, hearing an exclamation from spike. “Whoa…Cool.” She turned around to find spike starting at the sketch and unfinished product of the very dress she had been working on. “Do you like it, Spikey?” she asked the seemingly dumbstruck dragon, who nodded in affirmation before answering, his face turning from a neutral look to one of happy recognition. “Yeah. It reminds me off Pee Wee” He answered happily, most likely remembering his little phoenix friend whom he had returned to his parents not too long ago. Rarity, however had a slightly different set of thoughts. One of the two top thoughts running through her head was that the idea that an image of a phoenix was exactly what she needed for this dress. The other was curiosity. She had remembered the situation in which she got her inspiration for the dress. She had nearly forgotten about the strange business transaction between herself and her lavender friend. But a lady does not simply show how curious she is. It must be brought up in a way that seems natural. While formulating a plan was important at the moment, she also had a dress begging to be made. Using her magic to grab the things she would need for the dress. She asked her assistant for the day to help. “Oh Spikey. Could you hold these pins for me, please? Taking his nod as conformation, she proceeded to put pins in between his scales in a way that would cause no harm. When her pins were all placed in his scales she turned to make adjustments to the sketch. She decided that she would work for a little while before bringing it up. Roughly an hour later, Rarity decided to finally start her subtle investigation. “So Spikey, I would have thought that Twilight would have plenty of chores for you to do today. What made her decide to give you the day off when it’s only early afternoon. Not that I don’t appreciate the help of course.” She asked with a smile, breaking him out of the haze he had been in for nearly the whole time. “Wha-? Oh. She was working on some project of hers. She said she’d be working on it all day so I could have today off.” He replied with a shrug, not really thinking much of it. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere. Excellent. Now to dig a little deeper.’ She thought while she quickly thought up her next move. “Oh? What kind of project is she working on that she’s ok without your wonderful help anymore?” she asked the, now blushing, little dragon. ‘He really is a wonderful helper. Why wouldn’t she need his for the rest of this project of hers?’ Her thoughts were cut short as he answered. “Dunno. She was up in the guest room all morning. She didn’t answer me till not too long ago.” He answered, shrugging once again. This took Rarity by surprise. “You mean that you have no clue what she was working on then or now?” She asked while her curiosity started to peak. ‘This is beginning to feel like a mystery novel. I feel a bit giddy now.’ She thought while inwardly giggling ‘Oh, what was that line? Oh yes. The game is ahoof!’ She thought, giggling at her own thoughts. Unfortunately, this time is wasn’t an inward giggle. “What’s so funny about that?” He asked, pouting a little. “Oh, I’m sorry Spikey. I was stuck in my own thoughts for a moment and remembered something silly Pinkie did.” It wasn’t really a complete lie. Pinkie had acted like she had been thinking before. However, she still felt a little bad about lying to him, causing her smile to be a little forced. If he noticed however, he didn’t say anything. “What does she do that isn’t funny?” he said, while chuckling himself. Most likely at memories of some of the many strange and silly things the pink party pony had done. “True. So very true. But back to the matter at hand. So, you don’t have any idea of what she is doing?” She asked, getting back on track before they began an improptu story time about their reality bending comrade. “Nah. All I know is it’s some mare thing.” He answered, once again giving his shoulders a work out with all the shrugging he had been doing. At this Rarity’s face burst crimson and her words got stuck in her throat. ‘Ah-buh-wha?’ Taking a moment to calm down, she finally got a handle on speaking once again. “A mare thing you said? Is that what Twilight said?” She asked as the redness finally started to leave her face. “Nah. But I’m smart so I figured it out.” He replied with pride in his voice. “Oh? Well would you be willing to tell me how you deduced that Spikey?” “Sure, no problem. Well she had been working on whatever it was all day, so it’s obviously something big, right?” “Of course.” Rarity responded while nodding. “Right. But when I asked her about it she wouldn’t tell me anything about it.” He continued Rarity raised an eyebrow at this newest bit of information. “She didn’t tell you anything at all? That’s surprising.” “Right? That’s what I thought. All she said is that it was ‘personal’ and asked me not to ask anything about it. So obviously I figured out that it had to be a mare thing. It makes sense right? Like how that one day I came by to help and you were up in your room screaming. Remember? I knocked on your door and you yelled for me to come back later, and something about finishing something. Then when I came back you said it was a mare thing and I wouldn’t want to know anyway, so it would be easier for both of us if I didn’t ask any questions about it.” He explained, not noticing Rarity doing a very good impression of a tomato. Rarity was currently trying to calm herself back down after being reminded of that day. ‘Now, now Rarity. That was far in the past. It may be as embarrassing as ever thinking that Blueblood was handsome, but that’s not what’s important right now.’ Clearing her throat a couple times she continued her investigation. “So you didn’t even need Twilight to even say that it was a mare thing? You figured it out all on your own?” Spike puffed out his chest in pride, “Yep. I figured it out, so she thanked me and gave me the day off.” He stated, still in his prideful pose. ‘So she never admitted that it was a mare thing. She just let him assume it was. Clever mare. There is still a piece missing from this puzzle however. “So Spikey, how long was Twilight working before she answered you?” She asked although from his earlier statements she already had a good guess, but it never hurts to double check facts. Spike started tapping his claw on his chin and stood in a thinking pose. “I dunno. I woke up and she was already in the guest room. She didn’t even come down for breakfast. I was finally able to get her to come out of the guest room after around eight hours of her being in there, since I had started to get worried about her. I mean she usually at least comes down for a new quill or two. Celestia knows she goes through them fast enough. It really didn’t surprise me that she didn’t know how long she’d been working. She never was good at keeping track of time when she gets into her work.” ‘Now Rarity! It’s a perfect opening!’ She thought to herself before easing into her goal. “Oh my, I hope she didn’t end up wrecking the room too badly after all that work!” Spike began to reply before stopping and looking down in thought. “Actually. Ya know what? That’s the weird thing. Now that I think about it, there was nothing different about the guest room from what I could see. Bed was made, floor was clear and the weirdest thing is that there were no notes. None at all. From what I could see there wasn’t a single note or scrap of paper anywhere. That’s really weird…” He finished starting to trail off. ‘Nothing out of place? Then what happened to the ponnequin she bought? Did it already get destroyed? But then what is she still working on? Why is it a secret? Could she simply be in need of some personal time? No, no Rarity. Oh I hope not at least. That would make this whole ordeal much more awkward than it already is, and honestly, over eight hours? That would be ridiculous. There must be more to this. He hasn’t mentioned the ponnequin yet, so I can only assume that he never saw it. Very peculiar. Well, it seems that is all I’m going to get for now. Time to get some more work done!’ She thought happily as she went back to the dress she had been working on before the mystery of the ponnequin got so deep. “Spikey can you grab me a couple faux phoenix feathers from the back room? I need to compare color.” Spike gave her a salute and made his way back, careful not to lose any of the pins sticking from between his scales. ‘He really is such a helpful little dragon.’ She thought with a smile as she finally put her investigation on the back burner to focus on her work. Author's Note The mystery of the origin of a mare thing explained. Maybe not in much detail but hey. This is Teen rated. Alt. Title "Rarity in: The Mystery of the Purple Pony and missing Ponnequin" I tried to not make it seem like she's just using him. She really does appreciate his help, she's just a little overly curious due to her love of gossip. Also Don't forget that You all get to decide the name of the ponnequin. Send me your idea as a PM (a message) If you already pitched an idea then resend it to be officially considered. Couple points to cover for this. Avoid parts of Twilight's name. I would appreciate if you had a reason for the name you chose. The name should work for a female. Good luck and thanks for reading. -YBG Chapter 5 - Observations of a Baby DragonHours later the dress had been finished and Spike had begun making his way back home while chewing on some gems given to him by Rarity for his help throughout the day. As he reached home ans made his way up to the room he shared with Twilight to put away his gems when he noticed that, unsurprisingly, Twilight was nowhere to be found. ‘Probably still working on that mare thing. I wonder what she wants for dinner?’ With that thought he made his way to where he supposed she would be. As she rarely leaves her working area when in the "groove" for her experiments, the place he quickly decided on was the guest room. He left, making his way to the guest room where he assumed, correctly, that Twilight had been since he left. As he was about to knock on the door he heard her speaking. He assumed that she was simply mumbling her notes and thoughts out loud. He prepared to knock once again when his attention was caught by a more clear word, or name as the case was. “…Rarity…” After hearing her name his interest was piqued. Sure if he was caught Twilight was probably going to yell at him for eavesdropping again, but if she doesn't catch him then everything is, as Pinkie Pie would say, “okie dokie loki”. Putting his head against the door he was able to start making out what Twilight was saying. “So, I suggest we try ‘Truth or Dare’, thinking that it could be a good idea. I mean, it’s a game so they should be happy while playing right?” There was a pause and Spike couldn’t hear anything during it. Yet it sounded like Twilight had. “Exactly. But instead they just start daring each other out of anger, completely ignoring the rules. Although, I do have to admit seeing AJ wearing the most frilly thing I had ever seen was pretty funny and when Rarity came in soaked from being dared to go into the rain she looked so… Ehem. Anyway…” “…” By now Spike had completely forgotten about the fact his attention was grabbed by Rarity’s name and now he was pondering the strangeness of what he was hearing. ‘Who could she be talking to? I can’t hear anything but her voice.’ It seemed so strange. With only one voice it sounded like Twilight was having some sort of one sided conversation. He could understand if she was simply talking to herself. Everypony does that now and then, Twilight more so than most. But this was undeniably odd. This was more like talking with yourself. Spike had known Twilight his whole life. He knew her oddities and this was most definitely not among them. His worry of being reprimanded for eavesdropping was forgotten in place for his worry for his big sister-figure. His mental musings were cut short as he heard Twilight exclaim loudly. “I-Bu-Wha-Uh-“ She stuttered like that for about ten seconds before she finished in what sounded like a passable attempt at imitating Fluttershy “Yes” Hearing her clear her throat he could only assume she was getting herself back under control. “Anyway. Be that as it may afterwards we attempted a pillow fight. It ended up as more of a pillow war. Luckily going to bed created a cease fire. Though territorial disputes continued even then.” Spike remembered this story. It was about Twilight’s first sleepover when Applejack and Rarity got stuck here in the rain. If he remembered correctly after the sleeping issues came- “Then Applejack, without looking at the angle that it would come down, ended up crashing a huge branch into my bedroom and there was nothing in the book about it!” “…” “Well of course it should have been in the book. It happened during a slumber party so it should have been in a book that had ‘Everything You Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties’ in the title. There was a branch in my room during a slumber party and I wanted to know about it. They shouldn't mislabel books like that.” “…” “Well it should have. Anyway. While I was looking through the book for anything about branches apparently AJ understood why Rarity’s attention to detail was so important at times and Rarity figured out why messy jobs can be important as well. They worked together and my room was soon branch free. Except for about half a dozen small ones with shapes made of the leaves that Rarity made from the big branch. They were really nice.” At this point Spike was definitely worried for Twilight's mental being. She seemed to be alone in there having a conversation by herself. If nothing else he was most definitely disturbed. “Hm? Oh! You’re right! He should be home any minute now! Thanks for reminding me!” Spike heard some shuffling around the room but he was hardly concerned with it as his thoughts were mostly about getting away from this door and rushing down the stairs without falling down each one. After successfully making his way downstairs, he went to the kitchen and stuck his head inside the fridge to make him at least look like he was doing something. He could feel himself tensing up terribly as he sat there, letting the time pass until Twilight would come down and enter the kitchen. Luckily he didn't have to wait too long, or not so lucky if you’re a baby dragon, worrying about a possibly mentally broken, magical powerhouse of a unicorn coming towards him. “Oh! Hey Spike. So you are home already. That’s great!” He heard her exclaim happily from behind him at the one and only entrance to the kitchen. Cursing his lack of foresight he, all too quickly, spun around. “Hey Twi! What’s up?!” He said much too quickly, not to mention loudly. Twilight cocked her head slightly at the strange actions of the baby dragon but shrugged it off in favor of the reason for having this room in their house. Namely, food. “Not much. So what’s for dinner Spike?” Even though he should have been expecting this line of questioning what he had heard earlier caused his usual thought process to be a bit off thus catching him off guard with the normality of the question. “Oh, um. I’m not really sure. Anything in particular you’re hungry for?” he asked, the nervousness that had previously plagued him beginning to dissipate thanks to the normality of the situation. ‘Mane in place, normal smile and no eye twitch. Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought.’ He observed as he waited for an answer. “Hmm. You know, I’m actually pretty hungry now that I think of it.” She said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Okay. Cool. So, what should we have?” He asked as she sat there, still thinking. “You know what Spike? Surprise me. I’m sure whatever you make will be delicious.” She said before making her way out of the kitchen. “Are you going back to the guest room?” He asked offhandedly before realizing that there could be implications tied to what he said. “Hm? What did you say Spike?” She asked, having not heard him clearly. “Uh, I asked you what are you going to do while I cook?” He asked inwardly thankful that she hadn’t heard him. He was able to say something completely different and she was none the wiser. “Oh. I was just going to continue the book I was reading yesterday. Did you know that there is distinctive evidence that ancient equestrians may have used golems for much of their heavy work? It’s referenced in quite a few myths and the evidence even correlates with the time periods that the myths were created in! It’s actually quite interesting.” Spike chuckled, easily recognizing the studious unicorn he grew up with. His worry dissipated into almost nothing as he absentmindedly listened to her excited and intellectual ramblings. However he had to focus on his cooking so he needed to get the distractive, intellectual chatterbox out of the room for the moment. “I’m sure it’s all really interesting Twi. But I need to start cooking if we’re going to eat dinner anytime soon. But since you told me to surprise you I need you out of the kitchen. I’m sure you’re excited to get back to that book after all.” He said with another chuckle. It was probably a good thing dinner was supposed to be a surprise. That way she wouldn't offer to help. Last time it took two weeks to get the scorch marks off the ceiling. “Oh! Right. Alright, I’m going. I’ll see you in a little while Spike. Have fun cooking!” She said as she made her way out of the room. Before she fully crossed the threshold she looked back at him and added, “I’m looking forward to it even more now.” Spike simply rolled his eyes and went to work. Twilight had just read through “Ancient Equestrian Golem Theories and Corroborating Evidence Supporting Them” and was currently laying down, thinking of the similarities between golems and the artificial personality sitting in a closet upstairs, in her guest room. Golems were originally created as mindless beings used solely for physical labor, while the AP was created as an unmoving being purely of thought. ‘Well at least I won’t have to worry about her going crazy like the golems did. She already has free thought after all, and if she somehow suddenly got movement it probably wouldn’t overload her mind, causing her to snap. It would probably more so bring a feeling of elation.’ Her train of thought of stopped at a sudden realization, ‘She? Well, I suppose it does have a feminine voice.’ Before she could give more thought to the idea that she may have unconsciously given a gender to her upstairs project she heard Spike call her for dinner. “Coming!” She said loud enough for him to hear. She made her way into the kitchen finding herself before a veritable feast. “Well you did say you were pretty hungry right? So I decided to go all out. I bet you’re pretty surprised too huh?” He said, waving his claw above the food. Twilight could only stare at the food before her before she was broken from her stupor when Spike spoke again. “Twi. You’re drooling.” He said, chuckling at the silly look on Twilight's face. “Spike, this looks amazing.” She said as she finally broke herself out of the stupor the food had caused and seated herself. The delicious looking smorgasbord was quickly attacked by a combination of a hungry unicorn and baby dragon. About halfway into the meal Twilight had finally gotten enough food inside her to stand eating slowly and start a conversation with Spike. “So Spike, what did you do with your day off?” Spike perked up and prepared to answer before he was quickly cut off by Twilight. “Swallow your food Spike.” He quickly complied and began speaking of his day off. “Well I went over to Rarity’s-“ He began ‘Why am I not surprised?’ She thought, rolling her eyes “-and she had me help with this dress she was working on. It was actually kind of cool. Ya know, for a dress. It reminded me of Pee Wee a lot. But anyways, that was all I did till I came home.” He ended, figuring that there was really nothing of interest in his day. Twilight however was eager to keep the friendly conversation going. “Well, did you two talk about anything interesting?” “She actually asked about you a lot” He explained, much to the interest of Twilight. “O-oh? Did she now? What did she ask about?” She asked as her face turned a slight shade of scarlet with a slightly larger smile on her face. “Yeah she was really interested in whatever it was that you've been working on.” As he said this, the blush left, along with much of the original color of her face. The smile slipped from her face, leaving a simple line as she inquired further, “What did you tell her then? “Not much I could tell her-“ At this, the natural color started to return and she was able to force a more natural smile. “-so I just said it was a mare thing she basically dropped it.” At the mention of what he had told her, her face went back to the shade of red from earlier. The embarrassment obvious on her face for anypony that may have been paying attention for her to see. Luckily nopony was around to see. Unluckily there was still a dragon. “Hey Twi, what’s up with your face?” Twilight quickly snapped to attention, attempting to stutter out an answer for a short time before she was able to speak and subsequently redirect the conversation away from ‘Mare Things’. “So Spike. How did you make all of this? I’m pretty sure you haven’t made some of this before.” She said, trying to play on his love of cooking. Luckily, it worked and Twilight had successfully changed the topic of the conversation for the rest of the meal. With the completion of the meal and subsequent cleaning of the dishes, the two residents of Golden Oaks Library began making their way upstairs to their room when Spike noticed Twilight walking right past their room. “Hey Twi. The room is right here.” He said, growing worried when he realized where she was most likely going. Turning her head slightly to look at Spike she answered, “I’ll be along shortly Spike. I just have some things to do.” She turned her head back forward and opened the door to the guest room. ’Twilight? I didn't expect you to be back again today. Or is it the next day already?’ Twilight heard in her head as she shut the door. “Oh! Hey there!” She answered happily “Let’s get you out of there, shall we?” she said, quickly going about getting the AP out of the closet. “There we go. No it’s not the next day and yeah, I didn't think I would be back up here so soon either. But, I wanted your thoughts on something and there were a few things I forgot to do earlier.” She said, making her way to the bed across from the AP. ’Alright. Go ahead Twilight.’ “Alright, well- I’m not too worried about it but, earlier Spike went to go help out Rarity at her shop and from what he was saying it seems like she was really interested in the project I was working on all day. You know, all the time I was spending in here?” ’She wasn't interested in you? For shame.’ The AP said teasingly. However, she didn't get anywhere near the reaction she was expecting. “No. But I accepted that a long time ago.” She said mirthlessly ”Twilight-” she began softly “Anyway.” Twilight quickly interrupted “Like I said she was apparently asking a lot about what I was doing today. Any thoughts on why she might have been so interested?” The AP was reluctant to answer, still feeling that she should apologize for making light of something that obviously weighed heavier on Twilight’s mind than she might have guessed. Regardless, she would give her time. So she obliged the unicorn. “Well did you do anything strange when you picked up my body from her? Something like that could have caught her attention and raised her curiosity? The sound of hoof meeting face filled the room soon after the question was asked. However only one of the occupants had the sight to see the cause of the noise. ’What was that?’ With a sigh Twilight lowered her hoof back to the bed. “Nothing. I just remembered something that fit what you asked. You see, when I went to grab your body I may have been a bit too nervous. It wasn't too bad so I don’t think she would have noticed anything.” ’Would have?’ The AP asked, waiting for Twilight to elaborate. “Yeah…See, after I got your body my first thought was about getting out of there as soon as possible before I became so nervous that she started noticing. So I kind of… teleported away before she could say anything.” With a sigh she finished, “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty indeed. She probably got curious as to why I would leave so suddenly. But hey, as long as she’s only curious and not suspicious everything should be fine. It’s not like she even reads mysteries, let alone would she do something like start an investigation on her own. That's more of Pinkies' thing.” ”Well looks like we found the answer to our own mystery. But, you said that you had some things you forgot about during your last visit?” “Oh yeah!” Perking up a bit, Twilight got off the bed, stretching a little before continuing. “I forgot to perform my enchantments on the room.” Walking over to the door, she aimed her horn at it, causing the handle to glow with the magenta color of her magic. “Locking enchantment. This way, only I can open the door.” She said as she made her way to the window, making it glow the same way. “Strengthening enchantment.” However, as she said this she remembered all the different ways in which Rainbow Dash had 'entered' the library. Soon the entire wall was aglow. ”There. No way is one of her tricks sending her in here now.” She said with some pride in her voice for thinking ahead. She made her way into the middle of the room. Sitting down in the middle she made a bubble of magic. It quickly expanded to encompass the entire room before dissipating. “One-way sound-proofing.” Upon hearing nothing else the AP decided to make an inquiry. ’Was there anything else you might have forgotten Twilight?’ she asked, wanting to make sure her creator didn’t forget anything and cause herself stress. Or at least that’s what she told herself. Another part of her said that it was more than just that. That she was genuinely worried for her. “Oh. Yeah. There was one other thing.” Twilight said, her voice quieting slightly towards the end, catching the AP’s attention. ’Twilight? Is something wrong?’ Shaking her head slightly Twilight smiled toward the unexpressive body. “No. Nothing’s wrong at all. I just... I want to thank you somehow for being such a good listener. But I’m not sure how to do that exactly.” ‘Although it’s not like I had much of a choice.’ She said, chuckling slightly before quickly adding, ’Not that I didn't enjoy it that is!’ “That! Right there! That’s why I want to thank you. You didn't simply hear me talking. You listened. I've grown really used to ponies never actually listening to me. The just hear me talk. Sure some try to listen but if they don’t understand they just ask me to simplify it. Not explain it or anything. Just word it different. But you. You actually listened. That and you just said you enjoyed it. That-. Well, to be honest. That’s not something I’m used to.” Twilight explained before making her way over to the ponnequin at the other side of the room. Once she was next to it she got up on her hind legs and embraced it in a hug. Before long the lack of dialogue from Twilight caused curiosity to get the better of the AP. Twilight? I’m just curious. What are you doing? “I’m hugging you. I know you can’t feel it. But ponies always say it’s the thought that counts. Besides. I've hugged all my close friends before. Just because you can’t feel it doesn't mean you’ll get treated any different.” She said while continuing her hug.” ’Friends? You consider me your…friend? She asked, confusion obvious in her voice, though not overpowering the sound of hope and happiness in it. She had many memories and plenty of information on Twilight and her friends. Their friendships. But she hadn't once even thought she could have been among them as a fellow friend to Twilight. “Of course. I mean, yeah, we've only known each other for a day. But, you just listened to a good chunk of my life story after all.” She said, laughing slightly before continuing, “But yes. I consider you a friend.” She finished before giving an unfelt nuzzle to the neck of the ponnequin and backing away. ’I-‘ She began, seemingly unable to make a proper response. Thank you. Twilight- just- Thank you. I’ll try to not disappoint you. “I’m sure you won’t. All you have to do is be a good friend. But, it’s getting late. I should be going to bed. So should you. After all, the spell does need to recharge.” Of course. I wish you a good night, Twilight. “A good night to you as well. I'll try to come and talk with you a couple hours each day. We can get through maybe the rest of my story up till now in maybe...two weeks. Sleep tight.” Twilight said as she put the ponnequin back into the closet and made her way out of the room. Twilight entered her room, making her way up the stairs to her bed. “Sorry about tha-“ She started before noticing Spike curled up in his bed. She couldn't help but smile at the sight before making her way in to her own bed. “Night Spike” She said quietly as to not wake him. Little did she know however that, up until when she had cast the sound proofing spell Spike had his head up against the wall, listening in on the room she had just left and he was currently wide awake, worried thoughts swirling through his head. Author's Note So yeah. I told ya it was longer. Also the name thing? I decided not to use it yet. So....If you got ideas throw them at muh face. (Through PMs) Sorry for the wait though. I was working on a one shot at the same time so...Yeah. But hey. Here it is! As of now it's still unedited. Sorry. I waited a lil while but I really wanted to get this out to you all. this one has been edited a bit. Chapter 6 - A Good Use of Time (Super, Majorly Edited)The next morning was an early affair, as Twilight woke earlier than Spike usually even begins to get close to waking. After taking a quick shower and combing herself down she quietly making her way downstairs she gathered all the materials needed to make a “short” checklist. Wake up early Make myself presentable Make checklist Fill out order forms Double and triple check order forms for accuracy Pack order forms, outgoing mail, quill and parchment in saddlebags Triple check all packed items Make list of chores for Spike Put saddlebags on Check outdoor thermometer Dress accordingly Go to post office Mail order forms and all outgoing mail Go home Begin opening library Prepare checklist for the rest of the day Double check new list Quadruple check completed list “Right. That should do it for now I suppose.” Twilight said, having completed her 'short' checklist she quickly began following it, checking things off accordingly. With Spikes ten hoof-length list of chores completed she checked the temperature as per her list. “Not too cold. Maybe just a light scarf.” Having decided against much extra protection against the elements she made her way out the door. The walk towards the post office was a very quiet affair. Twilight, halfway to her goal had become accustomed to the quiet of Ponyville in the morning. Causing her to jump the moment she heard somepony speak. “Oh, Twilight! Twilight, Darling!” Twilight had to take a moment to calm her nerves before speaking. “Morning, Rarity. What brings you out this early?” “Good morning to you as well, dear. I was just heading out to pick up an order of fabric at the post office.” She said, lightly whipping her mane back before it fell right back into place. “What about yourself Twilight dear? What brings you about so early today? From my understanding you usually don’t get up till Spike begins breakfast and that isn’t usually for an hour or so. Am I right?” Twilight blinked once, surprised by her friends knowledge of her waking up habits. She took another moment before shaking her head a little. “Uh, yeah. That sounds about right. How did you know all that? If you don’t mind me asking.” “Oh it’s no problem at all darling. Little Spikey has mentioned it multiple times while he helps me in the Boutique. Talking about how the scent of his cooking could wake anypony.” Rarity replied earning an understanding nod from Twilight, who made a mental note to be careful what she says around the dragon before he goes to help Rarity in case he ends up regurgitating it. “Oh! I almost forgot my original question. What brings you out this early?” Rarity asked with a friendly smile. Twilight took a couple seconds to answer. “I’m actually going to the same place. I had some things that needed to get mailed out and I wanted to get them sent out before my day really got started so made sure to get up early.” “Oh, excellent! Seeing as we are going the same way I shall accompany you to the post office.” She said, smiling a bit more. Twilight mumbled a bit in acceptance. "What was that darling? I couldn’t hear you.” Rarity asked, her ears perked in Twilight direction, so as to make sure she would hear should Twilight mumble once again. “Sorry Rarity. I mumble a little in the mornings. I guess I'm still not fully awake. I said, “Alright. Let’s get going.”” Twilight explained, slightly sheepish about mumbling. “Oh that’s no problem Twilight dear. I have the same problem. Just keep quiet about it, would you please?” Rarity slightly pleaded with a slight red ting to her cheeks showing that she didn’t exactly mean to let that slip, causing Twilight to giggle a little at the silliness of her friend. After all, Twilight thought that even the princesses mumbled a little when they woke up, although she would never admit to thinking so. “Don’t worry Rarity. I won’t tell anypony. But enough about that. How have you been? We haven’t gotten a chance to catch up for, a week or two, I think.” She asked, hoping to get some normal conversation going as they began making their way towards the post office. “Oh I have been splendid. Thank you for asking. In fact I have recently gotten word that my clothing line has been catching the eyes of more Canterlot nobility. Word also has it that one or two nobles may be placing orders soon. That’s why I made this extra order for fabric.” Rarity explained before turning her head towards Twilight. Only to find her seemingly listening intently with her entire head facing her direction. Only for her to turn her head forward quickly. “What about yourself Twilight? How have you been?” She asked with a small giggle at the antics of her lavender friend. Twilight gave a quiet snort before answering. “I’ve been just fine. The library keeps me busier than you would guess and I can always find something to do or read there.” “Oh? Are book orders what brought you out here so early today then?” Rarity asked curious as to why her friend would get up extra early for something she could do at any time. Twilight answered immediately without thinking on it nearly enough. “No, these are orders regarding a project I‘ve been working on for a couple days now.” A combination of the early hour, her love of talking about things she is working on and her dislike of lying to her friends succeeded in preventing her from properly filtering her thoughts. Risking a look towards her friend she found her wearing a very concerning face for a split second before she seamlessly returned to her usual lady like smile. “A project you say? Could this be the same one that Spike was telling me about while he was helping me yesterday? Or could this be the project that you bought the ponnequin from me for? Oh wait, could they, in fact, be one and the same?” Rarity asked in a slight bombardment of questions with her only giving away her curiosity and even then Twilight suspected she was much more curious than her face said. Looking around herself for something, anything that could divide her friend turned interrogator’s attention. Looking just ahead of herself she gave a breath of relief. “Well. Would you look at that? We’re here already.” Twilight finished, pointing a hoof ahead of herself at the post office, to which Rarity quirked an eyebrow at before looking ahead herself as Twilight made her way towards the door. “So we are.” Rarity stated slowly, as she made her way inside. ‘Perhaps I was a bit too excited this time. If she wishes to talk about it she will. I shall not force it.’ She thought before making her way inside as well. Twilight was happy to get away from the line of questioning that her friend was asking and was able to break a slightly happier smile as she reached the only desk within the empty postal office. Most ponies who didn't work in the back were currently out delivering mail while the recently promoted head stayed and helped any customers. Looking around the desk she found it seemingly empty. Upon seeing a little plushy muffin on the desk along with a couple crumbs belonging to a much more real muffin, she knew exactly what to do. Slowly reaching out, she gave the plushy a small tap. Almost instantly a face belonging to a grey pegasus with a blond mane popped up from around the corner. Each eye panning around a different part of the room with a serious look on her face. Finding that Twilight at the desk with her hoof still next to the muffin she adopted her usual upbeat attitude and made her way towards the desk. “Hi Twilight!” Pulling her hoof back towards her own body she giggled before greeting her wall-eyed friend. “Hello Ditzy. How are you this morning?” “I’m great Twilight!” She near announced to the whole room causing Twilight's ears to clamp down, before changing her volume to much more conversation worthy levels. “Heh. Sorry. I’m just feeling really good today. Dinky made me breakfast in bed.” She said with smile that would give a certain pink party pony a run for her bits. “Aw that’s adorable. She’s such a cute little filly, and she’s growing up so fast.” Twilight said remembering the little ball of adorable energy belonging to Ditzy. “I know. It’s a little sad sometimes but I just can’t help but be too proud to feel sad.” She explained with a smaller but somehow, much more happy smile. “But enough about me. You’re here for mail right? How can I help you?” “Oh right! Alright here is just some outgoing mail.” She said, putting one pile of mail on the desk before putting the order forms on in a separate pile. “These are order forms going out to the royal magic society. Oh, Also I would like to request that I be the only one allowed to pick those up when they come in.” “No problem Twilight. I’ll make a note right here. Anything else I can help you with?” She asked as she finished writing the note as her wings slipped the mail into their correct slots. “Nope. Oh! Would you be willing to clear off a Saturday in the future so we can catch up?" "Of course! That sounds great. Then you can see how much my muffin has grown!" Ditzy exclaimed excitedly, causing Twilight to giggle. "Great. Just let me know when you're open and we'll set something up." Twilight finished up with a shared wave before making her way to the door. As Twilight was about to make her way out the door, feeling much better after having a pleasant talk with a good friend. Her earlier problems forgotten. “Twilight? Oh Twilight! Could you be a dear and help me with this? I seem to have accidentally ordered much more than I meant to and my magic isn’t strong enough to carry it all. I’d rather not make multiple trips this early in the morning.” Rarity asked while looking at a very nearly comically large pile of fabric rolls. Twilight could only stare at the large pile for a moment before opening her mouth to answer before closing it without saying a single word. It was enormous. A hoof on Twilight’s shoulder finally broke her from her stupor she was in. Rarity, looking at her with a worried look on her face was next to her. “Darling, if it’s too much trouble at the moment I’m sure I can find some nice stallions that are willing to help me out.” Rarity might have had more to say but it didn't matter since her choice of words had caused a halt to Twilight’s conflicting thoughts and prompted an ` “Sorry. I was lost in my own thoughts a bit. No, it’s fine Rarity. I can definitely help you out.” As she said this Twilight began picking up all the fabric rolls and began bringing them towards herself with her magic. “Twilight, darling, you don’t have to take them all. I can take three or so of them I should think. I’m not too weak to do at least that I believe.” Rarity said as she began to focus her magic on a few of the rolls, mixing her magic with Twilights still active magic slightly. Twilight’s mouth opened for a moment, the sensation bringing her mind to a small halt. before her mind once again begin its normal routines. Twilight closed her mouth and pulled the rolls away firmly but still gently, effectively breaking Rarity’s concentration. ”No, no. I insist Rarity. Let me get these for you.” “But-“ Rarity began, ready to make a rebuttal to the idea before she was swiftly cut off by Twilight. “But nothing. I want to help you so I’m helping.” Taking a quick look above herself at the rolls of fabric she continued, “Not to mention if you get enough commissions to use up all this you're going to need your energy.” Twilight was done giving her logical reasons but added one more less logical one. “Besides, a lady like yourself shouldn't have to carry such things when somepony is there to help, right?” She said in a friendly manner. Rarity, taking one more look at the now slightly more daunting bunch of fabric rolls finally gave in with a sigh and a laugh. “Oh, fine Twilight. You win. Thank you for helping me darling. Though if I don’t get as many orders as you mentioned I don’t know what I will do with myself. I have far too much time on my hooves sometimes.. The walk to Carousel Boutique was a much more pleasant affair than the walk to the post office. With small talk covering many topics as they caught up, Though at some point it had petered off to nothing.. As they reached the Boutique, Rarity felt she should break the silence in a friendly way. “Well, here we are!” She announced with slightly forced enthusiasm. “You can just place the rolls inside next to the door to my work room. I’ll sort them into storage or use later.” She explained as she directed with her hoof. Once Twilight set the last of the rolls into a neat and organized pile Rarity spoke again. “Thank you so much for your help dear. We really must catch up one of these days. Actually, if you have time I could put on some tea and we could talk for a little while. Twilight gave a smile to Rarity as she made her way to the door, “It was no trouble Rarity. I was happy to help and you’re always welcome at the library. And yes. Tea sounds great." A couple hours later Twilight was having a peaceful walk home, her energy raised from the tea and time with Rarity. She opened the door to the library with a small smile. “Spike, I’m home.” She stated to the air. Spike’s head popped up from behind a table, “Oh hey Twi! Where were ya?” He asked, continuing to clean. “I just had an errand to take care of. But I ran into Rarity and she asked for some help.” She said as she remembered her morning. Being around Rarity was nice and seeing Ditzy was always welcome. “Aw. I wish I could have gone with. I could’ve helped her-“ He quickly corrected himself “-you both with it.” He finished, looking a bit sheepish. Twilight just looked at him before shaking her head. “Oh yeah! I left the mythology section just as you left it last night. I figured that you would want to get right back at it.” Twilight smiled at the thoughtfulness of Spike. "You're so helpful. Thank you Spike." she made her way towards the small pile of books she stopped as a memory from the morning crossed her mind. "Oh yes. Spike make a note that I'm going to take a Saturday off to catch up with Ditzy." Spike quickly produced a quill and paper, "Any specific week, Twi?" Twilight shook her head as she answered, "Not as of yet. It depends on when she's open. I told her to tell me when she has a day open." "Okay and...done." He said as he attached the note to the calendar "Anything else?" Spike asked, quill once again at the ready. "No, that's it. Thank you Spike." Once she reached her pile of books she found the small nook within it that she had been lying in the night before. Settling herself in it she readied herself for another day of study and being the librarian of a sadly underused library. Sitting inside her pile of books, Twilight had been reading for a long while before her thoughts started to change thier focus from the books in front of her to the AP once again. What did she do all day? Did she just sit up there in that dark closet and figuratively twiddle her hooves? ' I can't imagine doing absolutely nothing all day. I couldn't stand being that unproductive all day and night.' She gave a small shiver at the thought of doing nothing all day. Even Rainbow Dash did her job each day and went pranking with Pinkie on weekends. Being unproductive for an entire day was just...frightening. It was like simply losing, no, wasting an entire day of her life. That was the deciding factor for her. Twilight couldn't stand the thought of her new friend upstairs doing nothing all day. But what could she do without movement or sight? She sat there for a few minutes, just thinking. Eventually her mind came back to the original spell that created the AP. It had put all that information in her "mind". 'Wait. Information. Books are information.' Grabbing a few sheets of parchment she began planning out her theory. 'Yes. If I can just do this-. No, that won't work. But, if I work it through here and throw on a lock of some sort maybe.' Her planning had begun to reach a furious pace with many pages neatly stacked about the table. Roughly an hour later a loud exclamation of "Finished!" caught the attention of the only bipedal resident of the library. Spike had been quietly reading through his mystery/action book when the shout had brought him out of the fantasy world of "The Sound of the Shadow Boxer" and back into reality. "What's finished Twi?" He asked as he got up and went over towards his lavender friend, who was wearing one of the largest grins he had seen on her face. Twilight noticed him quickly. "Oh just an idea I had." After this lackluster explanation she used her magic to grab a large pile of books and made her way upstairs. "I should be back down soon!" She called before the sound of the guest room door closing resounded throughout the library at the same time as a groan came from the main room. "Hello? Are you awake?" Twilight asked out loud as she closed the door and made her way towards the middle of the room, flicking on the lights on the way. 'Oh! Hey Twilight. How are you today? Or, tonight? I can never tell.' The AP said with a nervous laugh as she was lifted from the closet. Twilight made no comment on the time though the admittance did stay in her mind. "I've been pretty good. Actually, I got an idea earlier that I think you would really like." 'Oh?' She replied curious and slightly excited. "Mhmm. But first I have to ask you. What do you usually do up here?" The AP was silent for a few moments, thinking. 'Well usually I just sit here, well in the closet really, and go through the information in me. But, I've already done that completely a couple times now. It's not like you're boring or anything like that but, I would like something to do. Ya know?' If the AP could see her smile she could have prepared herself for the sudden exclamation that followed. "Perfect!" The AP took a few moments for her crystal mind to stop reverberating. 'What is perfect, Twilight?' "Oh. Heh. Sorry. Well it's perfect because that's exactly the kind of thing I thought up earlier. So I came up for a way to give you something to do!" Twilight explained happily. 'Oh? Now I'm really interested. Go on then. Tell me.' Clearing her throat Twilight began her explanation. "Well I was worried about this kind of thing. Just sitting around doing nothing or something that you will learn nothing from so I started thinking of how I could give you something to do. After all not being mobile kinda puts a wrench in most ideas for how to spend free time." 'I'm following so far.' "Well Then I started thinking about how I gave you all that information about me. You know by implanting it into a crystal?" The AP made a 'Mhm" in response, prompting Twilight to continue. "Then I thought. Books are information. If I could copy the information from the pages into a crystal and create a link between it and yourself, you could read them." Twilight's smile had been growing throughout her explanation and was soon reaching, low Pinkie levels of size. 'Ok. I get your idea but then the information would just be there. I wouldn't actually be able to read anything.' Twilight's smile didn't waver for a moment "I thought of that! So I figured that I could put a sort of 'mental lock' on the books. That would stop you from just getting the information. Then once you pick a book it will 'unlock' allowing you to access to the information. Then every word is under a lock. The only way to unlock a word is by 'reading' the word before it. Therefore effectively recreating the act of reading." Twilight concluded her explanation with a smile that would make Pinkie proud. 'That-' the AP began, causing Twilight to fidget a little at the possibility of her idea being turned down. The AP's mind may have originated from Twilights but there was still as much a chance of her liking sewing over books as opposed to liking books the same as herself. 'Sounds awesome. That would be so much better than going through all that information again. Er, no offence.' Twilight let go of a breath she had been holding before responding quickly. "None taken" 'But, how will you set this all up? Getting me 'up and running' so to speak put you out for hours.' "I've got that all covered. Using the C and V spell, 'which is a really confusing name now that I think about it' made by Copy Paste I'll make a magical copy of each book. Being that it will basically purely be words it will actually be easier than giving Spike a mustache. I have a couple crystals that didn't have quite the right frequency for making you left over and since I grabbed two books from every section of the library you'll have plenty to read." Twilight explained 'Whoa. Two from every section?' The AP asked, causing Twilight to begin to worry "That's not too much is it? I wanted to give you a lot of options and it's too much isn't it? I'm sure I can only do one or two if you want. I'm-" Twilight's worried rambling was cut off by the AP fairly quickly 'No, no, no, no. I'm excited, not annoyed. It'll be like my own little library.' she explained with a giggle, bringing a large smile back to Twilight's face, even bigger than before. "I'm so happy you like the idea. If you want I could even give the inside of the crystal the form of a library instead of just formless information floating around." Twilight mentioned as she floated everything she needed near herself and the AP. 'That would be wonderful, Twilight. Thank you.' For some reason Twilight couldn't figure out the tone the AP had used caused her to blush, though she quickly shook it off as she cast the spell and made the magical copies of each of the books. "Well I should let you get to your reading shouldn't I?" Twilight said as she began floating both the crystal and the AP to the closet. 'Wait!' The AP shouted causing Twilight to rear away a little although the sound was in her own mind. 'Would...' The AP began nervously, 'Would you like to read with me?' Twilight gave a smile "I would love that." Spike sighed as he looked at the large mess of organized chaos that Twilight had left behind. "Least she coulda done was clean up before going up." Spike grumbled as he picked up the notes and reorganized them according to their headers, which contained both the subject title and page number. This made the job he was currently still grumbling about much easier. Spike was about half done with a majority of the work when his nose started tickling. 'No. No don't you dare you stupid no-' Spikes mental threats towards his nose were cut off as the very thing he wanted to prevent happened. With a flare of magic flame Spike accidentally sent off a page to Princess Celestia. Quickly gathering a scrap of parchment and a quill, Spike quickly penned out a note that he believed would not only explain the situation but also, appropriately apologize for sending the piece of parchment. Once he sent it off he quickly looked around to see what exactly he had sent. 'Well. Hopefully she won't notice page eight of "Magical mental manipulation and information augmentation"' He thought as he continued his work, one page short. Princess Celestia was feeling thoroughly relaxed on the inside of the royal baths. After a day of dealing with nobles and worse, the Blueblood family, she felt that she deserved at least this. Luna owed her a favor anyway. So relaxed was she that she almost didn't notice the tell-tale magical green smoke that came wafting into the baths. An obvious indication of a letter from her faithful student. She was suprised when only a single, unrolled sheet of parchment came through the smoke. Quickly encasing it in her magic to protect it from elements, she took a quick glance at the top of the page, taking note that it was page eight. Of what she would have to wait as another message quickly came through another puff of smoke. It told Celestia all she needed to know about the mysteriously out of place page. My bad. -Spike Celestia gave an un-princessly snort of laughter at the informality she had come to expect from the young dragon before she went back to looking over what she was sent. Accidental though it was, she always loved to see what her precious student was learning. The moment that she saw the title she began to become worried. Her worry only grew as she read on. "This is most troubling." She said to herself as she quickly got out of the bath. Author's Note This just went under uber super MAJOR edits. A lot was taken out. It felt out of place and forced. Not to mention that I had messed up how she herself acted about Rarity in the last chapter and this one. But quite a bit was put in too! I like to think it feels better now. Can it be? I actually like this chapter now! It feels so friggin much better now. Another reason for the edits is that I want to keep the focus on the main idea of the story. I started Writing The Great and the Generous and I got a new full time job. I work nights and get about 5 hours to myself a day. (Obviously I have some days off and on those I will try to get myself to write) So yeah. Mix that with a very poor attention span and you have huge waits. I'm sorry! Yeah. So...It took awhile to get this out. But here it is. The chapters may be a little shorter from here on. Their easier to write. But if the chapter just doesn't feel complete then obviously I will write till the chapter feels right.
Chapter 1 - The Experiment BeginsChapter One In the only library in the town of Ponyville, there is a very curious unicorn. She was always trying new spells or experiments. Today, was not any different for Twilight, aside from the fact that she wanted no one to know about the specific experiment that will be taking place in the guest room. Sitting on the desk was a scroll outlining today’s experiment. One she had kept very quiet about. Top Secret For the eyes of Twilight Sparkle only. Ponnequin Calming Experiment Due to recent events it has come to my attention that I do not do the best under stress. Worse than that, I have the tendency to often panic and in some cases completely lose my grip on all common sense. I have begun to fear, that one of these times I may completely lose it, if there is no pony around to help me. Worse yet, would be if the cause of the stress was something I wouldn’t, or couldn’t, share with any pony. Since I don’t want any pony to know that, I’m worried about losing my mind, this experiment is to be kept top secret until such time as I deem it reasonable to make public. Thusly, the experiment came about. What the experiment was meant to do was create an artificial personality (AP) inside the body of a ponnequin. The Ponnequin The ponnequin body is necessary, as the mind and body must go together. Thus, a ponnequin is the easily available and morally correct choice. The mind itself is created from my own. It will have the basic knowledge about me that any of my friends would have along with complete knowledge of this experiment. The spell will recharge itself through a (In theory) sleep like experience for the AP, much like how a pony would recharge their body with sleep. If the AP goes long enough without recharging it will be forced into the 'sleep' cycle again, much like a ponies body would do. Communication Communication between myself and the AP will be a mix of vocal and telepathic communication. The AP will speak directly into my mind, as having no vocal chords, makes a ponnequin speaking out loud impossible. Outside noises are directed towards the mind of the AP and through magical translation the sound waves are “heard”. The “voice” of the AP can only be heard within a certain distance and only by those who have the correct magical signal. Namely, myself. The Voice is to sound stern as to capture the attention in a stressful situation, but then able to sound kind and as calm as it’s trying to get me to be. Personality In the early stages there will be little of an individual personality. I hope to progressively help one form through constant communication. Tell it of my days, my friends and the like. Even if it was created, it will still be, in a way, its own pony. End Notes before Experiment. Hide everything. Do not mention this to anypony. I don’t need any of them thinking that I’m going crazy. Give more than enough to Rarity for ponnequin. Quadruple check list. “Right. Previously enchanted, medium sized, high magic and light reflective crystal, spell quadruple checked, three of my hairs, basic sewing learnt, sewing tools and now for the biggest part.” Twilight gave a large sigh at the prospect of the next part of her plan being the most awkward as a whole. “Time to go see Rarity.” It was early in the business day for the Carousel Boutique and, Rarity, its owner was fresh out of things to distract her. ‘No orders, no inspiration, no new books and nothing to do. I wish at the least one of the girls would come in for a small order or just to talk for a while. No, no. It’s far too early for that. None of the girls except maybe Applejack would be up and about yet.’ With a sigh she turned around to attempt to find something to do for what felt like the dozenth time, when she heard a knock at the door. Rushing with a speed rarely seen from her she went to the door before stopping and making sure she looked her best. She then opened the door in the same style as she always had. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.” She then proceeded to notice who was actually at the door. Namely a certain lavender friend of her’s. “Oh Twilight! Do come in, won’t you darling?” She said while pointing a hoof towards the inside of her home, “Now Twilight what brings you around this early?” She asked before finally noticing a slight bit of nervousness her friend held in herself. “Is anything the matter dear?” This seemed to snap Twilight out of whatever funk she had been in at the moment and perked up a bit. “Hm? No I’m fine Rarity I actually came with a bit of business for you.” The light in Rarity’s eyes lit before she continued, “But it has nothing to do with clothes.” Rarity’s face drooped for a micro second before it changed to one of confusion. “But if it has nothing to do with clothes what could you need with me, Twilight? Not that I don’t appreciate you coming by. I’m just a little confused is all.” A little bit of Twilight’s nervousness seemed to have returned after hearing this. “Well actually I need one of your ponnequins.” She stated as she began to shift her weight side to side. “Oh well that’s no problem Darling. I can easily lend you one.” At this Rarity subtly eyed Twilight still confused as to why she would refer to something so simple as “business”. Once again Twilight’s nervousness seemed to increase. “Well Rarity. That’s just it. I would need to keep it. It’s for ...something, I’m working on and I wouldn’t be able to return it. Since…It would be destroyed! Yes, that’s it. I need a ponnequin for this and since it would end up destroyed, I feel it best to buy one of your older ones from you so you could easily replace it.” She explained with an all too large grin on her face. The sight of which slightly worried Rarity. “Well. Alright then dear. I can part with one of my ponnequins I suppose” She brought over one of her them with magic before asking her something. “Now, dear what is this-“ Before she could finish her question both the ponnequin and Twilight had disappeared leaving behind a hefty bag of bits and a fading thank you. “Well, that was a tad rude Twilight.” Getting out a sigh she continued in thought ’Whatever could be so important to Twilight to just rush off like that. But what could she be doing to destroy one of the ponnequins. Wait…’ ”Idea!” With that she whisked herself away to her sketchpad, happy to finally have something to do that morning. Back in the library, a much more nervous Twilight appeared, back along with the ponnequin in the guest room. “Alright. No reason to panic…yet. Even if she thought something was up, the door is locked. Even then, it’s not like she would expect what this experiment is for anyway.” ‘Let’s get this underway before I worry anymore.’ Moving the ponnequin to the middle of the room Twilight made an incision in the back of its head. Just large enough to fit the crystal along with the three hairs which after inserting into it. She proceeded to sew the hole up before finally beginning the spell. The spell itself was a complicated undertaking. A very intricate spell that needed a lot of magic and connected itself to her own mind which could very well leave her unconscious due to the mix of exertion from both mental and magical power. The spell itself actually did just this. Leaving Twilight on the floor of the guest room. She was woken what felt like a couple hours later by knocking at the door. Light at first then growing in urgency and strength. It could only be Spike. Moments later this was proven when he spoke. “Twilight! Twilight, are you okay?!” The jiggling of the doorknob showed his worry and managed to take away anything that suggested that Twilight was anything but alert. Shooting up from the floor she looked straight at the door. Her mind still strained from the spell earlier. ‘What should I do? I can’t let him in or he’ll start asking question about the ponnequin, but if I just answer he may worry about why I can’t let him in. But then if-‘ Her mental ramblings were cut off by a second voice in her thoughts. ’Now, just calm down Twilight.’ Her mental worries derailed from their tracks for the moment she took a second to think about what just happened. She took a glance at the Ponnequin. Author's Note Righto here's the start of this here story. I hope ya'll will like it. Edited by Spaslan and then given a through edit by....dun da da dun! My sister. (she's an english major so it works I guess)
Chapter 2 - SuccessAt that moment she had a face that was a strange mixture of confusion, surprise and joy, but before she could voice any thoughts, the voice spoke again. ’Yes, Twilight, the spell worked, but you must calm down.’ Taking some deep breaths she attempted to, at the least, look calm. She spoke quiet enough as to not be heard through the door “You’re right. Calming down is important.” Taking another deep breath, she began to think a little clearer. “First things first, I need to calm down Spike.” Before she could make it to the door, the voice spoke again. ’You should put me away first. That way, when you open the door, he won’t have anything extra to ask questions about’ Letting the thought sink in Twilights’ head for a moment the voice continued. ’Is the closet empty?’ This time the unicorn took action. After quickly putting the ponnequin inside the empty closet she smoothed her mane out and took a couple deep breaths. ‘Alright. Let’s do this.’ As calmly as she could, she opened the door to her distraught assistant. Spike then launched himself at her leg, almost taking her out in the process. “Whoa, Spike. What’s the matter? Twilight asked while quickly regaining her balance. “Twilight, do you know how long you’ve been up here?” He asked, while regaining his calm “I don’t know exactly. Maybe a couple of hours?” Twilight asked, wondering where this was going. “Twilight. You’ve been up here for eight hours, if not more!” “WHAT?! How could I have been up here for that long?” She began thinking of all the possible things that could have resulted in this much lost time and realized quickly that it was likely due to the exhaustion, the spell put on her.’But to sleep for eight hours. Wow. Didn’t see that coming.’ “Yeah. I woke up this morning to the noise of something hitting the floor. Then, I remembered you saying that you would be working on some project or experiment today, so I didn’t really think much of it. Then, I went down stairs to make breakfast and you didn’t come down. I even knocked on the door.” ’Wow. I was out cold, wasn’t I? Usually just the smell of his cooking wakes me up’ she thought, while Spike continued. “But you still didn’t answer me. So I figured you were just really into it. I went downstairs, did my chores and looked after the library, but when I noticed that eight hours had passed since I got up, I started to get really worried. So, I came up here and tried knocking, but there was still no answer so then, I knocked harder and started calling your name and, well…Here we are.” Spike finished up his explanation with a large outward sigh. “I was really worried, you know?” “I’m so sorry Spike” She said, nuzzling the worried baby dragon, “I guess I was a lot more out of it than I thought” At that moment, her body decided to remind her of what she had missed throughout the day with a loud grumble, which quickly lead to a blush of embarrassment. “Heh. What do you say we have a big lunch then?” Spike proceeded to jump at the offer, and rush downstairs with a smile while being followed by a sluggish Twilight, ‘I swear if dragons got Cutie Marks his would be for cooking.’ Sitting down at the table, both of them were currently eating although, Twilight, however, was eating as though starved. She did this as respectfully as possible, with only a few crumbs here and there, when Spikes curiosity finally got the better of him. “So, what were you doing up there anyway?” This prompted a choking fit from Twilight due to the suddenness of the question, which in turn, prompted Spike to hurry to try and help, only to be stopped by a raised hoof signifying that she was ok. After hacking a little more, Twilight finally got herself under control enough to speak. “I’m sorry about that Spike. Now, what were you saying?” “Geez Twi, maybe you should eat a bit slower” Spike said chuckling, which only earned him a roll of the eyes from her. “Anyway, I was wondering, what it was that you were doing that kept you up there for so long. I mean, come on. Over eight hours without a word? That’s a long time for you, even when you’re reading something that you find interesting, you take a food break after a little while.” This started to panic Twilight a little, since she didn’t really want to lie to her number one assistant, but, she also absolutely didn’t want to say anything about what she was doing in that room. In the end, she figured out how to not do either. “I’m sorry Spike, but, it’s really personal to me so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask any more about it.” Spike looked a bit surprised by this and it showed in the confusion on his face. “I really am sorry.” It wasn’t a lie but it was still hard to do. ‘He was worrying so much, and I won’t even tell him what it was about. Ugh. I feel terrible. Please just let it go Spike. Please, please, pl-’ “Ok, I get it.” ‘Huh?’ Which was eloquently followed up with “Huh?” Even in retrospect she still couldn't find better words for a reaction. “It’s a mare thing, isn’t it? Rarity’s told me that, if it’s a mare thing, not only do I not need to know, but I wouldn’t want to know.” Spike sat there with a face that told Twilight he thought he’d figured it all out. ‘If that’s what he thinks, I’m not going to be the one to correct him.’ She went around the table towards him and gave him a hug. “Thanks Spike. I’ll be working on it for the rest of the day though, so, you can have the rest of the day off.” The look on his face was near priceless. “Seriously?! Awesome! Alright Twi, I’ll see you later!” He yelled as he made his way towards the door with Twilight yelling in his wake. “Just be back in time for dinner at ten!” and with a wave of commitment to the schedule, he was gone. “Rarity really earned those bits for teaching him that.” She made a mental note to herself to do something special for her friend while she made her way back upstairs to the guest room. Author's Note So yeah. I ended up just doing my own crap-tastic editing on this chapter since my sister(editor) is being a lazy ass and not even touching this chapter. I need new proof readers. Bad. Commas hate me. I'm going to try to get chapter 3 up by the 27th so yeah. Here's to hoping.
Chapter 3 - Observations and TestsAs she headed to the guest room again, Twilight decided to mentally list what she needed to do. ‘Alright. I need to, test the capabilities of the AP, make sure that it didn’t get too much power out of my spell and, after that I suppose, I can begin just talking to it. Finally, I need to figure out something more secure for storing it. Maybe a few securing spells on the room. Soundproofing might be a good idea too.’ Twilight continued to muse on different ideas until she found herself outside of the guest room once again. Before opening the door however she was spoken to once again. ’Twilight? Is that you?’ Twilight thought she heard something like a whisper after that but shrugged it off, as a more prominent thought was in her mind. ‘Was its range always this long? Could it hear me in the kitchen?’ After entering the room, she quietly closed the door and addressed the voice. “Yes, it’s me. Let’s get you out of there, shall we? Twilight took the ponnequin and notes out and placed them back in their original spots. While she was looking around, making sure everything was in its correct place, she was reminded she was not quite alone in the room. Thank you Twilight. How was Spike? The sudden voice made Twilight brake out of her mental checklist. Surprised, by the facts that, she had forgotten about the AP and that it was concerned about Spike. ‘Hmm. Maybe it didn’t hear me after all.’ She mused before answering. “He’s just fine. I sent him off to have some fun while we conduct some tests. Why do you ask?” It felt a little mean to ask since; some ponies might take offence to her curiosity, thinking that she thought of them as uncaring. But, that’s just it. This wasn’t a pony. It was a personality she created that same day. ’I’m not sure really. I just felt like I didn’t want him to feel bad on my part. Was that not normal?’ Twilight was sure that if it could move her head would be cocked to the side. Giggling lightly, she gave a smile unseen by the eyeless ponnequin, “No. It was very considerate of you. Quite kind, if I do say so myself, and after being friends with Fluttershy for so long, I think I’ve learned quite a bit more about kindness than I ever thought one pony could teach me. ’Fluttershy? She’s the yellow coated, pink maned, shy one, right? Bearer of the element of kindness? Twilight smiled, not able to have brought up a better, more natural, introduction to her first test if she tried. “That’s right! Very good! Which actually, brings me to our first test. Who are the elements of harmony, who bares what element and what are they like?” She asked, beginning to fall into a teacher like mode. ’Well, let’s see. You, Twilight Sparkle, element of magic, personal student to Princess Celestia since you were a filly. You tend to be a bit socially awkward, but have a strong bond to the rest of the elements as friends. You have some slightly obsessive compulsive tendencies and are very studious.’ Twilight grumbled a little about being called, socially awkward as she took notes. ’The element of laughter, Pinkamina Diane Pie is an enigma wrapped in cotton candy. Coming from a rock farm, she does her utmost best to spread smiles and laughter. She has a strange ability to sense future events and seemingly break the laws of physics. Your efforts to figure out the pink party pony, ended at a dead end and many headaches.’ Twilight chuckled a little at the memory of that ordeal, the twitchy tail, the hydra, and the rage shift. ’The element of loyalty is Rainbow Dash. Self-Proclaimed fastest flyer in Equestria. Winner of the best young flyer competition and the only known pony to perform the sonic rainboom. She suffers from a large ego, which sometimes blinds her to how she acts. Her loyalty to her friends is easily larger than her ego. In her words she ‘wouldn’t leave her friends hanging’. Her love for practicing her tricks has led her into the walls of not only the library many times, but also many other buildings.’ At that Twilight made a note about and enforcement spell for the room. ’Do I have to go over Fluttershy again, Twilight?’ the sudden question was lost to the unicorn for a moment until it registered that she was asked something. “Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry. Could you say that again?” Twilight answered, a small blush of embarrassment on her face from being so focused on her notes. ’It’s ok. I asked, if I have to go over Fluttershy again.’ “Not in too much detail. Just tell me what she’s like.” Twilight said, as she scribbled away ’Fluttershy is a shy, mainly earth bound, pegasi who takes care of many animals near the Everfree Forest. She is easily frightened and very shy. She has gotten slightly more confident in recent months. ’Applejack is the element of honestly. She works and lives on Sweet Apple Acres. She is physically rivaled only by Rainbow Dash, and constantly has competitions with her. Her ability to tell through lies is countered by her own near complete inability to lie. She is known to be very stubborn about her work and pride.’ Twilight sighed, remembering when Applejack tried to buck all the trees in Sweet Apple Acres and when she went to the rodeo competition. ’Rarity, the element of generosity, works and lives at the Carousel Boutique. She has a strong tendency to overreact to many situations. She is strongly adverse to getting dirty, or doing anything that could be considered rough. However, when properly encouraged, she will slog through mud to do what she had set her mind on, even if she still does complain about it. She is very fashion conscious and apparently, from what I can recall from the information in me, she has a very nice -‘ “O-okay. That- that’s enough about that.” A very red faced Twilight cut off the thought, continuing to write notes. “N-now” She cleared her throat so she could speak clearly. “Let’s move on to my next test. “Do you known any of my secrets?” ’Like what?’ It asked innocently. “Well like how Spike-“ ’Twilight.’ A stern sounding voice stopped her from saying any more. ’Aren’t secrets supposed to stay secret? Wouldn’t giving me an example make it not a secret anymore?’ Twilight for the third time, in far too little time, burst red in embarrassment. This time clearing her throat before speaking. “Right. Thank you for stopping me. But do you know what I was going to say?” She asked, not wanting the test to end abruptly due to a near slip up. ’No, I do not. I know of nothing that could be considered a secret. I only have basic information on things. Except that Rarity has a very nice-‘ “Did you have to bring that up again?” Groaned Twilight, who by now was wondering if her face would ever get a chance to go back to its normal shade. Her ears instinctively perked when she heard something. “Are, are you, laughing?” She asked, more confused than upset. I do believe so. How strange. I apologize. For some reason I thought that making you stammer again was something I wanted to do. I’m sorry if I angered you. It stopped laughing and sounded honest in its apology. Heaving a sigh and a chuckle Twilight turned towards the ponnequin once again. “No, no. It’s fine. I guess it was a little funny. But.” Twilight’s voice suddenly took a serious turn, “It’s a secret where that thought came from, okay? I know you couldn’t tell anyone if you wanted but, I still want you to promise me that you won’t tell anypony. Please? Also you don’t have any information about any of the others like that do you?” ’No I do not. Rarity was the only one and so, I promise I won’t tell anypony that, you are the source of that bit of information.’ Twilight could feel the redness coming back into her face once again. However this time there was a smile on it as well as a blush. “Thank you. Now then, I’m going to copy down these notes. After that, we’ll talk.” She walked back to her desk to copy down the notes she had taken. First Day of Observations and Tests Upon awakening from an unconscious state, caused by exhaustion from the spell used in the experiment, Spike was pounding on the room door in an erratic manner. This caused me to begin to worry about him asking questions about the experiment, which led to a mild panic. Due to this situation, not only was I able to discover that, the spell had worked and the experiment successful so far, but also that it did exactly what I hoped for. It calmed me down, helped me to act in much better manner, so I was able to address the situation calmly. Dealing with Spike became much easier thanks to this. Afterwords, during breakfast Spike had the idea that my experiment was, ‘a mare thing’ which, while I’m not fully sure what he meant, stopped him from asking any more about it. Upon coming back to the room, I began to perform a couple tests. Below are the points I had covered both through the test and otherwise. ”Voice” The “voice” is exactly like I wanted. The stern side can stop me when I’m on a tangent, and the calm side gives me a very soothing feeling. Basic Knowledge of Acquaintances Test The point of this test was to find out if the AP had the information I meant to give it through the spell. There were six points of the test. The six points being, each element of harmony and close friend of mine. Twilight (Myself) -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Pinkie Pie -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Rainbow Dash -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Fluttershy -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Applejack -Information Correct -No unnecessary information noted. Rarity -Information Correct -A small bit of personal thoughts on the subject got mixed into the spell creating a bit of embarrassment. This however, led to the discovery that the AP has the ability to find something funny on its own. It has promised that, if given the chance, it will not let this information slip. Thusly creating a secret between myself, and the AP. Secrets -I have determined that, aside from the secret created before this part of the tests, the AP has no knowledge of any of the secrets that I know. Due to a near slip up on my part, while dealing with secrets I also know that the AP understands the seriousness, or at least the basic idea of a secret. End Notes I will, after writing this out, begin talking one on one with the AP. I believe that I will speak of my life and friendship reports. Ask Rarity where, “a mare thing” came up. -Do something nice for Rarity, for teaching him of this. AP seems to be developing a personality even from the very light conversation between us. However it still seems very rigid when confronting emerging parts of its new personality. Put reenforcment enchantments on the rooms to avoid a Rainbow Dash sized hole and subsequent possible revealing of AP experiment. Find replacement stand for Ponnequin. Neck aches, caused from looking up due to height of stand, becoming quite bad. Turning around, Twilight looked up and smiled. “So, I figure, I’ll just talk about my life in more detail than I gave you through the experiment. Does that sound good?” ’Of course, Twilight. Whatever you want to do is fine.’ “So, what should I start with?” Twilight asked trying to think of what would be the best point to start on. ’The beginning always seems like a good place to begin something.’ “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to bore you. I’m not that interesting.” She near mumbled, not used to someone literally wanting her life story and honestly not thinking that it was worth telling. ’I don’t exactly have anywhere to be, now do I?’ It said with a small laugh which Twilight joined in on. “I suppose not. Wait.” Twilight blinked in realization. “Did you just make a joke?” There was a small silence until the AP broke it ’Did I? Strange. It was just like earlier when I mentioned, you know what. I just kind of did it, without thinking much. I’m sorry, jokes are okay though, aren’t they?’ “Oh, of course they are. I was just surprised is all. Anyway, I suppose I should start. The earliest I can remember is when I was about 2. I had surrounded myself with books, in a kind of building shape. I called them book forts-“ -End of Chapter Three
Chapter 4 - The Game is AhoofAt the Carousel Boutique, Rarity had been working on a new dress since the morning. It consisted of different hues of red and orange. But yet, there was something wrong with it. She just couldn’t quite put her hoof on it though. It was as though her original inspiration just wasn’t enough. This isn’t too rare of an occurrence, but now the question was what she needed to finish it. She stood there, scrutinizing her creation. Trying to figure out what was wrong, when she heard a knock at the door. “Coming!” she yelled, making her way towards the door. On the other side of it she found the number one assistant of Twilight and on quite a few occasions, her own. “Oh! Hello, Spikey. What happens to brings you by today?” she asked the, slightly nervous looking, baby dragon at her doorstep. “Oh! H-hi Rarity. Well Twilight gave me the day off and I was, uh, wondering if you, uh, you know, wanted some help? He asked, rubbing the back of his neck and slightly looking away sheepishly. “Of course, Spikey!” she exclaimed happily “I always appreciate your help. You know that, don’t you?” she asked him, smiling. “Y-you do?!” He asked happily, wagging his tail like a dog would. “Of course. Now I was actually just working on a dress” she explained, pointing a hoof towards the room she was working in, only to have Spike move right next to her. The chivalrous baby dragon bowed, “After you, m’lady.” He said, causing the alabaster unicorn to giggle at the adorable actions of the ‘noble dragon’. “Oh, thank you. You’re such a gentlecolt.” She said, giggling again, as she made her way towards the work room, leading Spike to where the unfinished dress lied. Her ears perked, hearing an exclamation from spike. “Whoa…Cool.” She turned around to find spike starting at the sketch and unfinished product of the very dress she had been working on. “Do you like it, Spikey?” she asked the seemingly dumbstruck dragon, who nodded in affirmation before answering, his face turning from a neutral look to one of happy recognition. “Yeah. It reminds me off Pee Wee” He answered happily, most likely remembering his little phoenix friend whom he had returned to his parents not too long ago. Rarity, however had a slightly different set of thoughts. One of the two top thoughts running through her head was that the idea that an image of a phoenix was exactly what she needed for this dress. The other was curiosity. She had remembered the situation in which she got her inspiration for the dress. She had nearly forgotten about the strange business transaction between herself and her lavender friend. But a lady does not simply show how curious she is. It must be brought up in a way that seems natural. While formulating a plan was important at the moment, she also had a dress begging to be made. Using her magic to grab the things she would need for the dress. She asked her assistant for the day to help. “Oh Spikey. Could you hold these pins for me, please? Taking his nod as conformation, she proceeded to put pins in between his scales in a way that would cause no harm. When her pins were all placed in his scales she turned to make adjustments to the sketch. She decided that she would work for a little while before bringing it up. Roughly an hour later, Rarity decided to finally start her subtle investigation. “So Spikey, I would have thought that Twilight would have plenty of chores for you to do today. What made her decide to give you the day off when it’s only early afternoon. Not that I don’t appreciate the help of course.” She asked with a smile, breaking him out of the haze he had been in for nearly the whole time. “Wha-? Oh. She was working on some project of hers. She said she’d be working on it all day so I could have today off.” He replied with a shrug, not really thinking much of it. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere. Excellent. Now to dig a little deeper.’ She thought while she quickly thought up her next move. “Oh? What kind of project is she working on that she’s ok without your wonderful help anymore?” she asked the, now blushing, little dragon. ‘He really is a wonderful helper. Why wouldn’t she need his for the rest of this project of hers?’ Her thoughts were cut short as he answered. “Dunno. She was up in the guest room all morning. She didn’t answer me till not too long ago.” He answered, shrugging once again. This took Rarity by surprise. “You mean that you have no clue what she was working on then or now?” She asked while her curiosity started to peak. ‘This is beginning to feel like a mystery novel. I feel a bit giddy now.’ She thought while inwardly giggling ‘Oh, what was that line? Oh yes. The game is ahoof!’ She thought, giggling at her own thoughts. Unfortunately, this time is wasn’t an inward giggle. “What’s so funny about that?” He asked, pouting a little. “Oh, I’m sorry Spikey. I was stuck in my own thoughts for a moment and remembered something silly Pinkie did.” It wasn’t really a complete lie. Pinkie had acted like she had been thinking before. However, she still felt a little bad about lying to him, causing her smile to be a little forced. If he noticed however, he didn’t say anything. “What does she do that isn’t funny?” he said, while chuckling himself. Most likely at memories of some of the many strange and silly things the pink party pony had done. “True. So very true. But back to the matter at hand. So, you don’t have any idea of what she is doing?” She asked, getting back on track before they began an improptu story time about their reality bending comrade. “Nah. All I know is it’s some mare thing.” He answered, once again giving his shoulders a work out with all the shrugging he had been doing. At this Rarity’s face burst crimson and her words got stuck in her throat. ‘Ah-buh-wha?’ Taking a moment to calm down, she finally got a handle on speaking once again. “A mare thing you said? Is that what Twilight said?” She asked as the redness finally started to leave her face. “Nah. But I’m smart so I figured it out.” He replied with pride in his voice. “Oh? Well would you be willing to tell me how you deduced that Spikey?” “Sure, no problem. Well she had been working on whatever it was all day, so it’s obviously something big, right?” “Of course.” Rarity responded while nodding. “Right. But when I asked her about it she wouldn’t tell me anything about it.” He continued Rarity raised an eyebrow at this newest bit of information. “She didn’t tell you anything at all? That’s surprising.” “Right? That’s what I thought. All she said is that it was ‘personal’ and asked me not to ask anything about it. So obviously I figured out that it had to be a mare thing. It makes sense right? Like how that one day I came by to help and you were up in your room screaming. Remember? I knocked on your door and you yelled for me to come back later, and something about finishing something. Then when I came back you said it was a mare thing and I wouldn’t want to know anyway, so it would be easier for both of us if I didn’t ask any questions about it.” He explained, not noticing Rarity doing a very good impression of a tomato. Rarity was currently trying to calm herself back down after being reminded of that day. ‘Now, now Rarity. That was far in the past. It may be as embarrassing as ever thinking that Blueblood was handsome, but that’s not what’s important right now.’ Clearing her throat a couple times she continued her investigation. “So you didn’t even need Twilight to even say that it was a mare thing? You figured it out all on your own?” Spike puffed out his chest in pride, “Yep. I figured it out, so she thanked me and gave me the day off.” He stated, still in his prideful pose. ‘So she never admitted that it was a mare thing. She just let him assume it was. Clever mare. There is still a piece missing from this puzzle however. “So Spikey, how long was Twilight working before she answered you?” She asked although from his earlier statements she already had a good guess, but it never hurts to double check facts. Spike started tapping his claw on his chin and stood in a thinking pose. “I dunno. I woke up and she was already in the guest room. She didn’t even come down for breakfast. I was finally able to get her to come out of the guest room after around eight hours of her being in there, since I had started to get worried about her. I mean she usually at least comes down for a new quill or two. Celestia knows she goes through them fast enough. It really didn’t surprise me that she didn’t know how long she’d been working. She never was good at keeping track of time when she gets into her work.” ‘Now Rarity! It’s a perfect opening!’ She thought to herself before easing into her goal. “Oh my, I hope she didn’t end up wrecking the room too badly after all that work!” Spike began to reply before stopping and looking down in thought. “Actually. Ya know what? That’s the weird thing. Now that I think about it, there was nothing different about the guest room from what I could see. Bed was made, floor was clear and the weirdest thing is that there were no notes. None at all. From what I could see there wasn’t a single note or scrap of paper anywhere. That’s really weird…” He finished starting to trail off. ‘Nothing out of place? Then what happened to the ponnequin she bought? Did it already get destroyed? But then what is she still working on? Why is it a secret? Could she simply be in need of some personal time? No, no Rarity. Oh I hope not at least. That would make this whole ordeal much more awkward than it already is, and honestly, over eight hours? That would be ridiculous. There must be more to this. He hasn’t mentioned the ponnequin yet, so I can only assume that he never saw it. Very peculiar. Well, it seems that is all I’m going to get for now. Time to get some more work done!’ She thought happily as she went back to the dress she had been working on before the mystery of the ponnequin got so deep. “Spikey can you grab me a couple faux phoenix feathers from the back room? I need to compare color.” Spike gave her a salute and made his way back, careful not to lose any of the pins sticking from between his scales. ‘He really is such a helpful little dragon.’ She thought with a smile as she finally put her investigation on the back burner to focus on her work. Author's Note The mystery of the origin of a mare thing explained. Maybe not in much detail but hey. This is Teen rated. Alt. Title "Rarity in: The Mystery of the Purple Pony and missing Ponnequin" I tried to not make it seem like she's just using him. She really does appreciate his help, she's just a little overly curious due to her love of gossip. Also Don't forget that You all get to decide the name of the ponnequin. Send me your idea as a PM (a message) If you already pitched an idea then resend it to be officially considered. Couple points to cover for this. Avoid parts of Twilight's name. I would appreciate if you had a reason for the name you chose. The name should work for a female. Good luck and thanks for reading. -YBG
Chapter 5 - Observations of a Baby DragonHours later the dress had been finished and Spike had begun making his way back home while chewing on some gems given to him by Rarity for his help throughout the day. As he reached home ans made his way up to the room he shared with Twilight to put away his gems when he noticed that, unsurprisingly, Twilight was nowhere to be found. ‘Probably still working on that mare thing. I wonder what she wants for dinner?’ With that thought he made his way to where he supposed she would be. As she rarely leaves her working area when in the "groove" for her experiments, the place he quickly decided on was the guest room. He left, making his way to the guest room where he assumed, correctly, that Twilight had been since he left. As he was about to knock on the door he heard her speaking. He assumed that she was simply mumbling her notes and thoughts out loud. He prepared to knock once again when his attention was caught by a more clear word, or name as the case was. “…Rarity…” After hearing her name his interest was piqued. Sure if he was caught Twilight was probably going to yell at him for eavesdropping again, but if she doesn't catch him then everything is, as Pinkie Pie would say, “okie dokie loki”. Putting his head against the door he was able to start making out what Twilight was saying. “So, I suggest we try ‘Truth or Dare’, thinking that it could be a good idea. I mean, it’s a game so they should be happy while playing right?” There was a pause and Spike couldn’t hear anything during it. Yet it sounded like Twilight had. “Exactly. But instead they just start daring each other out of anger, completely ignoring the rules. Although, I do have to admit seeing AJ wearing the most frilly thing I had ever seen was pretty funny and when Rarity came in soaked from being dared to go into the rain she looked so… Ehem. Anyway…” “…” By now Spike had completely forgotten about the fact his attention was grabbed by Rarity’s name and now he was pondering the strangeness of what he was hearing. ‘Who could she be talking to? I can’t hear anything but her voice.’ It seemed so strange. With only one voice it sounded like Twilight was having some sort of one sided conversation. He could understand if she was simply talking to herself. Everypony does that now and then, Twilight more so than most. But this was undeniably odd. This was more like talking with yourself. Spike had known Twilight his whole life. He knew her oddities and this was most definitely not among them. His worry of being reprimanded for eavesdropping was forgotten in place for his worry for his big sister-figure. His mental musings were cut short as he heard Twilight exclaim loudly. “I-Bu-Wha-Uh-“ She stuttered like that for about ten seconds before she finished in what sounded like a passable attempt at imitating Fluttershy “Yes” Hearing her clear her throat he could only assume she was getting herself back under control. “Anyway. Be that as it may afterwards we attempted a pillow fight. It ended up as more of a pillow war. Luckily going to bed created a cease fire. Though territorial disputes continued even then.” Spike remembered this story. It was about Twilight’s first sleepover when Applejack and Rarity got stuck here in the rain. If he remembered correctly after the sleeping issues came- “Then Applejack, without looking at the angle that it would come down, ended up crashing a huge branch into my bedroom and there was nothing in the book about it!” “…” “Well of course it should have been in the book. It happened during a slumber party so it should have been in a book that had ‘Everything You Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties’ in the title. There was a branch in my room during a slumber party and I wanted to know about it. They shouldn't mislabel books like that.” “…” “Well it should have. Anyway. While I was looking through the book for anything about branches apparently AJ understood why Rarity’s attention to detail was so important at times and Rarity figured out why messy jobs can be important as well. They worked together and my room was soon branch free. Except for about half a dozen small ones with shapes made of the leaves that Rarity made from the big branch. They were really nice.” At this point Spike was definitely worried for Twilight's mental being. She seemed to be alone in there having a conversation by herself. If nothing else he was most definitely disturbed. “Hm? Oh! You’re right! He should be home any minute now! Thanks for reminding me!” Spike heard some shuffling around the room but he was hardly concerned with it as his thoughts were mostly about getting away from this door and rushing down the stairs without falling down each one. After successfully making his way downstairs, he went to the kitchen and stuck his head inside the fridge to make him at least look like he was doing something. He could feel himself tensing up terribly as he sat there, letting the time pass until Twilight would come down and enter the kitchen. Luckily he didn't have to wait too long, or not so lucky if you’re a baby dragon, worrying about a possibly mentally broken, magical powerhouse of a unicorn coming towards him. “Oh! Hey Spike. So you are home already. That’s great!” He heard her exclaim happily from behind him at the one and only entrance to the kitchen. Cursing his lack of foresight he, all too quickly, spun around. “Hey Twi! What’s up?!” He said much too quickly, not to mention loudly. Twilight cocked her head slightly at the strange actions of the baby dragon but shrugged it off in favor of the reason for having this room in their house. Namely, food. “Not much. So what’s for dinner Spike?” Even though he should have been expecting this line of questioning what he had heard earlier caused his usual thought process to be a bit off thus catching him off guard with the normality of the question. “Oh, um. I’m not really sure. Anything in particular you’re hungry for?” he asked, the nervousness that had previously plagued him beginning to dissipate thanks to the normality of the situation. ‘Mane in place, normal smile and no eye twitch. Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought.’ He observed as he waited for an answer. “Hmm. You know, I’m actually pretty hungry now that I think of it.” She said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Okay. Cool. So, what should we have?” He asked as she sat there, still thinking. “You know what Spike? Surprise me. I’m sure whatever you make will be delicious.” She said before making her way out of the kitchen. “Are you going back to the guest room?” He asked offhandedly before realizing that there could be implications tied to what he said. “Hm? What did you say Spike?” She asked, having not heard him clearly. “Uh, I asked you what are you going to do while I cook?” He asked inwardly thankful that she hadn’t heard him. He was able to say something completely different and she was none the wiser. “Oh. I was just going to continue the book I was reading yesterday. Did you know that there is distinctive evidence that ancient equestrians may have used golems for much of their heavy work? It’s referenced in quite a few myths and the evidence even correlates with the time periods that the myths were created in! It’s actually quite interesting.” Spike chuckled, easily recognizing the studious unicorn he grew up with. His worry dissipated into almost nothing as he absentmindedly listened to her excited and intellectual ramblings. However he had to focus on his cooking so he needed to get the distractive, intellectual chatterbox out of the room for the moment. “I’m sure it’s all really interesting Twi. But I need to start cooking if we’re going to eat dinner anytime soon. But since you told me to surprise you I need you out of the kitchen. I’m sure you’re excited to get back to that book after all.” He said with another chuckle. It was probably a good thing dinner was supposed to be a surprise. That way she wouldn't offer to help. Last time it took two weeks to get the scorch marks off the ceiling. “Oh! Right. Alright, I’m going. I’ll see you in a little while Spike. Have fun cooking!” She said as she made her way out of the room. Before she fully crossed the threshold she looked back at him and added, “I’m looking forward to it even more now.” Spike simply rolled his eyes and went to work. Twilight had just read through “Ancient Equestrian Golem Theories and Corroborating Evidence Supporting Them” and was currently laying down, thinking of the similarities between golems and the artificial personality sitting in a closet upstairs, in her guest room. Golems were originally created as mindless beings used solely for physical labor, while the AP was created as an unmoving being purely of thought. ‘Well at least I won’t have to worry about her going crazy like the golems did. She already has free thought after all, and if she somehow suddenly got movement it probably wouldn’t overload her mind, causing her to snap. It would probably more so bring a feeling of elation.’ Her train of thought of stopped at a sudden realization, ‘She? Well, I suppose it does have a feminine voice.’ Before she could give more thought to the idea that she may have unconsciously given a gender to her upstairs project she heard Spike call her for dinner. “Coming!” She said loud enough for him to hear. She made her way into the kitchen finding herself before a veritable feast. “Well you did say you were pretty hungry right? So I decided to go all out. I bet you’re pretty surprised too huh?” He said, waving his claw above the food. Twilight could only stare at the food before her before she was broken from her stupor when Spike spoke again. “Twi. You’re drooling.” He said, chuckling at the silly look on Twilight's face. “Spike, this looks amazing.” She said as she finally broke herself out of the stupor the food had caused and seated herself. The delicious looking smorgasbord was quickly attacked by a combination of a hungry unicorn and baby dragon. About halfway into the meal Twilight had finally gotten enough food inside her to stand eating slowly and start a conversation with Spike. “So Spike, what did you do with your day off?” Spike perked up and prepared to answer before he was quickly cut off by Twilight. “Swallow your food Spike.” He quickly complied and began speaking of his day off. “Well I went over to Rarity’s-“ He began ‘Why am I not surprised?’ She thought, rolling her eyes “-and she had me help with this dress she was working on. It was actually kind of cool. Ya know, for a dress. It reminded me of Pee Wee a lot. But anyways, that was all I did till I came home.” He ended, figuring that there was really nothing of interest in his day. Twilight however was eager to keep the friendly conversation going. “Well, did you two talk about anything interesting?” “She actually asked about you a lot” He explained, much to the interest of Twilight. “O-oh? Did she now? What did she ask about?” She asked as her face turned a slight shade of scarlet with a slightly larger smile on her face. “Yeah she was really interested in whatever it was that you've been working on.” As he said this, the blush left, along with much of the original color of her face. The smile slipped from her face, leaving a simple line as she inquired further, “What did you tell her then? “Not much I could tell her-“ At this, the natural color started to return and she was able to force a more natural smile. “-so I just said it was a mare thing she basically dropped it.” At the mention of what he had told her, her face went back to the shade of red from earlier. The embarrassment obvious on her face for anypony that may have been paying attention for her to see. Luckily nopony was around to see. Unluckily there was still a dragon. “Hey Twi, what’s up with your face?” Twilight quickly snapped to attention, attempting to stutter out an answer for a short time before she was able to speak and subsequently redirect the conversation away from ‘Mare Things’. “So Spike. How did you make all of this? I’m pretty sure you haven’t made some of this before.” She said, trying to play on his love of cooking. Luckily, it worked and Twilight had successfully changed the topic of the conversation for the rest of the meal. With the completion of the meal and subsequent cleaning of the dishes, the two residents of Golden Oaks Library began making their way upstairs to their room when Spike noticed Twilight walking right past their room. “Hey Twi. The room is right here.” He said, growing worried when he realized where she was most likely going. Turning her head slightly to look at Spike she answered, “I’ll be along shortly Spike. I just have some things to do.” She turned her head back forward and opened the door to the guest room. ’Twilight? I didn't expect you to be back again today. Or is it the next day already?’ Twilight heard in her head as she shut the door. “Oh! Hey there!” She answered happily “Let’s get you out of there, shall we?” she said, quickly going about getting the AP out of the closet. “There we go. No it’s not the next day and yeah, I didn't think I would be back up here so soon either. But, I wanted your thoughts on something and there were a few things I forgot to do earlier.” She said, making her way to the bed across from the AP. ’Alright. Go ahead Twilight.’ “Alright, well- I’m not too worried about it but, earlier Spike went to go help out Rarity at her shop and from what he was saying it seems like she was really interested in the project I was working on all day. You know, all the time I was spending in here?” ’She wasn't interested in you? For shame.’ The AP said teasingly. However, she didn't get anywhere near the reaction she was expecting. “No. But I accepted that a long time ago.” She said mirthlessly ”Twilight-” she began softly “Anyway.” Twilight quickly interrupted “Like I said she was apparently asking a lot about what I was doing today. Any thoughts on why she might have been so interested?” The AP was reluctant to answer, still feeling that she should apologize for making light of something that obviously weighed heavier on Twilight’s mind than she might have guessed. Regardless, she would give her time. So she obliged the unicorn. “Well did you do anything strange when you picked up my body from her? Something like that could have caught her attention and raised her curiosity? The sound of hoof meeting face filled the room soon after the question was asked. However only one of the occupants had the sight to see the cause of the noise. ’What was that?’ With a sigh Twilight lowered her hoof back to the bed. “Nothing. I just remembered something that fit what you asked. You see, when I went to grab your body I may have been a bit too nervous. It wasn't too bad so I don’t think she would have noticed anything.” ’Would have?’ The AP asked, waiting for Twilight to elaborate. “Yeah…See, after I got your body my first thought was about getting out of there as soon as possible before I became so nervous that she started noticing. So I kind of… teleported away before she could say anything.” With a sigh she finished, “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty indeed. She probably got curious as to why I would leave so suddenly. But hey, as long as she’s only curious and not suspicious everything should be fine. It’s not like she even reads mysteries, let alone would she do something like start an investigation on her own. That's more of Pinkies' thing.” ”Well looks like we found the answer to our own mystery. But, you said that you had some things you forgot about during your last visit?” “Oh yeah!” Perking up a bit, Twilight got off the bed, stretching a little before continuing. “I forgot to perform my enchantments on the room.” Walking over to the door, she aimed her horn at it, causing the handle to glow with the magenta color of her magic. “Locking enchantment. This way, only I can open the door.” She said as she made her way to the window, making it glow the same way. “Strengthening enchantment.” However, as she said this she remembered all the different ways in which Rainbow Dash had 'entered' the library. Soon the entire wall was aglow. ”There. No way is one of her tricks sending her in here now.” She said with some pride in her voice for thinking ahead. She made her way into the middle of the room. Sitting down in the middle she made a bubble of magic. It quickly expanded to encompass the entire room before dissipating. “One-way sound-proofing.” Upon hearing nothing else the AP decided to make an inquiry. ’Was there anything else you might have forgotten Twilight?’ she asked, wanting to make sure her creator didn’t forget anything and cause herself stress. Or at least that’s what she told herself. Another part of her said that it was more than just that. That she was genuinely worried for her. “Oh. Yeah. There was one other thing.” Twilight said, her voice quieting slightly towards the end, catching the AP’s attention. ’Twilight? Is something wrong?’ Shaking her head slightly Twilight smiled toward the unexpressive body. “No. Nothing’s wrong at all. I just... I want to thank you somehow for being such a good listener. But I’m not sure how to do that exactly.” ‘Although it’s not like I had much of a choice.’ She said, chuckling slightly before quickly adding, ’Not that I didn't enjoy it that is!’ “That! Right there! That’s why I want to thank you. You didn't simply hear me talking. You listened. I've grown really used to ponies never actually listening to me. The just hear me talk. Sure some try to listen but if they don’t understand they just ask me to simplify it. Not explain it or anything. Just word it different. But you. You actually listened. That and you just said you enjoyed it. That-. Well, to be honest. That’s not something I’m used to.” Twilight explained before making her way over to the ponnequin at the other side of the room. Once she was next to it she got up on her hind legs and embraced it in a hug. Before long the lack of dialogue from Twilight caused curiosity to get the better of the AP. Twilight? I’m just curious. What are you doing? “I’m hugging you. I know you can’t feel it. But ponies always say it’s the thought that counts. Besides. I've hugged all my close friends before. Just because you can’t feel it doesn't mean you’ll get treated any different.” She said while continuing her hug.” ’Friends? You consider me your…friend? She asked, confusion obvious in her voice, though not overpowering the sound of hope and happiness in it. She had many memories and plenty of information on Twilight and her friends. Their friendships. But she hadn't once even thought she could have been among them as a fellow friend to Twilight. “Of course. I mean, yeah, we've only known each other for a day. But, you just listened to a good chunk of my life story after all.” She said, laughing slightly before continuing, “But yes. I consider you a friend.” She finished before giving an unfelt nuzzle to the neck of the ponnequin and backing away. ’I-‘ She began, seemingly unable to make a proper response. Thank you. Twilight- just- Thank you. I’ll try to not disappoint you. “I’m sure you won’t. All you have to do is be a good friend. But, it’s getting late. I should be going to bed. So should you. After all, the spell does need to recharge.” Of course. I wish you a good night, Twilight. “A good night to you as well. I'll try to come and talk with you a couple hours each day. We can get through maybe the rest of my story up till now in maybe...two weeks. Sleep tight.” Twilight said as she put the ponnequin back into the closet and made her way out of the room. Twilight entered her room, making her way up the stairs to her bed. “Sorry about tha-“ She started before noticing Spike curled up in his bed. She couldn't help but smile at the sight before making her way in to her own bed. “Night Spike” She said quietly as to not wake him. Little did she know however that, up until when she had cast the sound proofing spell Spike had his head up against the wall, listening in on the room she had just left and he was currently wide awake, worried thoughts swirling through his head. Author's Note So yeah. I told ya it was longer. Also the name thing? I decided not to use it yet. So....If you got ideas throw them at muh face. (Through PMs) Sorry for the wait though. I was working on a one shot at the same time so...Yeah. But hey. Here it is! As of now it's still unedited. Sorry. I waited a lil while but I really wanted to get this out to you all. this one has been edited a bit.
Chapter 6 - A Good Use of Time (Super, Majorly Edited)The next morning was an early affair, as Twilight woke earlier than Spike usually even begins to get close to waking. After taking a quick shower and combing herself down she quietly making her way downstairs she gathered all the materials needed to make a “short” checklist. Wake up early Make myself presentable Make checklist Fill out order forms Double and triple check order forms for accuracy Pack order forms, outgoing mail, quill and parchment in saddlebags Triple check all packed items Make list of chores for Spike Put saddlebags on Check outdoor thermometer Dress accordingly Go to post office Mail order forms and all outgoing mail Go home Begin opening library Prepare checklist for the rest of the day Double check new list Quadruple check completed list “Right. That should do it for now I suppose.” Twilight said, having completed her 'short' checklist she quickly began following it, checking things off accordingly. With Spikes ten hoof-length list of chores completed she checked the temperature as per her list. “Not too cold. Maybe just a light scarf.” Having decided against much extra protection against the elements she made her way out the door. The walk towards the post office was a very quiet affair. Twilight, halfway to her goal had become accustomed to the quiet of Ponyville in the morning. Causing her to jump the moment she heard somepony speak. “Oh, Twilight! Twilight, Darling!” Twilight had to take a moment to calm her nerves before speaking. “Morning, Rarity. What brings you out this early?” “Good morning to you as well, dear. I was just heading out to pick up an order of fabric at the post office.” She said, lightly whipping her mane back before it fell right back into place. “What about yourself Twilight dear? What brings you about so early today? From my understanding you usually don’t get up till Spike begins breakfast and that isn’t usually for an hour or so. Am I right?” Twilight blinked once, surprised by her friends knowledge of her waking up habits. She took another moment before shaking her head a little. “Uh, yeah. That sounds about right. How did you know all that? If you don’t mind me asking.” “Oh it’s no problem at all darling. Little Spikey has mentioned it multiple times while he helps me in the Boutique. Talking about how the scent of his cooking could wake anypony.” Rarity replied earning an understanding nod from Twilight, who made a mental note to be careful what she says around the dragon before he goes to help Rarity in case he ends up regurgitating it. “Oh! I almost forgot my original question. What brings you out this early?” Rarity asked with a friendly smile. Twilight took a couple seconds to answer. “I’m actually going to the same place. I had some things that needed to get mailed out and I wanted to get them sent out before my day really got started so made sure to get up early.” “Oh, excellent! Seeing as we are going the same way I shall accompany you to the post office.” She said, smiling a bit more. Twilight mumbled a bit in acceptance. "What was that darling? I couldn’t hear you.” Rarity asked, her ears perked in Twilight direction, so as to make sure she would hear should Twilight mumble once again. “Sorry Rarity. I mumble a little in the mornings. I guess I'm still not fully awake. I said, “Alright. Let’s get going.”” Twilight explained, slightly sheepish about mumbling. “Oh that’s no problem Twilight dear. I have the same problem. Just keep quiet about it, would you please?” Rarity slightly pleaded with a slight red ting to her cheeks showing that she didn’t exactly mean to let that slip, causing Twilight to giggle a little at the silliness of her friend. After all, Twilight thought that even the princesses mumbled a little when they woke up, although she would never admit to thinking so. “Don’t worry Rarity. I won’t tell anypony. But enough about that. How have you been? We haven’t gotten a chance to catch up for, a week or two, I think.” She asked, hoping to get some normal conversation going as they began making their way towards the post office. “Oh I have been splendid. Thank you for asking. In fact I have recently gotten word that my clothing line has been catching the eyes of more Canterlot nobility. Word also has it that one or two nobles may be placing orders soon. That’s why I made this extra order for fabric.” Rarity explained before turning her head towards Twilight. Only to find her seemingly listening intently with her entire head facing her direction. Only for her to turn her head forward quickly. “What about yourself Twilight? How have you been?” She asked with a small giggle at the antics of her lavender friend. Twilight gave a quiet snort before answering. “I’ve been just fine. The library keeps me busier than you would guess and I can always find something to do or read there.” “Oh? Are book orders what brought you out here so early today then?” Rarity asked curious as to why her friend would get up extra early for something she could do at any time. Twilight answered immediately without thinking on it nearly enough. “No, these are orders regarding a project I‘ve been working on for a couple days now.” A combination of the early hour, her love of talking about things she is working on and her dislike of lying to her friends succeeded in preventing her from properly filtering her thoughts. Risking a look towards her friend she found her wearing a very concerning face for a split second before she seamlessly returned to her usual lady like smile. “A project you say? Could this be the same one that Spike was telling me about while he was helping me yesterday? Or could this be the project that you bought the ponnequin from me for? Oh wait, could they, in fact, be one and the same?” Rarity asked in a slight bombardment of questions with her only giving away her curiosity and even then Twilight suspected she was much more curious than her face said. Looking around herself for something, anything that could divide her friend turned interrogator’s attention. Looking just ahead of herself she gave a breath of relief. “Well. Would you look at that? We’re here already.” Twilight finished, pointing a hoof ahead of herself at the post office, to which Rarity quirked an eyebrow at before looking ahead herself as Twilight made her way towards the door. “So we are.” Rarity stated slowly, as she made her way inside. ‘Perhaps I was a bit too excited this time. If she wishes to talk about it she will. I shall not force it.’ She thought before making her way inside as well. Twilight was happy to get away from the line of questioning that her friend was asking and was able to break a slightly happier smile as she reached the only desk within the empty postal office. Most ponies who didn't work in the back were currently out delivering mail while the recently promoted head stayed and helped any customers. Looking around the desk she found it seemingly empty. Upon seeing a little plushy muffin on the desk along with a couple crumbs belonging to a much more real muffin, she knew exactly what to do. Slowly reaching out, she gave the plushy a small tap. Almost instantly a face belonging to a grey pegasus with a blond mane popped up from around the corner. Each eye panning around a different part of the room with a serious look on her face. Finding that Twilight at the desk with her hoof still next to the muffin she adopted her usual upbeat attitude and made her way towards the desk. “Hi Twilight!” Pulling her hoof back towards her own body she giggled before greeting her wall-eyed friend. “Hello Ditzy. How are you this morning?” “I’m great Twilight!” She near announced to the whole room causing Twilight's ears to clamp down, before changing her volume to much more conversation worthy levels. “Heh. Sorry. I’m just feeling really good today. Dinky made me breakfast in bed.” She said with smile that would give a certain pink party pony a run for her bits. “Aw that’s adorable. She’s such a cute little filly, and she’s growing up so fast.” Twilight said remembering the little ball of adorable energy belonging to Ditzy. “I know. It’s a little sad sometimes but I just can’t help but be too proud to feel sad.” She explained with a smaller but somehow, much more happy smile. “But enough about me. You’re here for mail right? How can I help you?” “Oh right! Alright here is just some outgoing mail.” She said, putting one pile of mail on the desk before putting the order forms on in a separate pile. “These are order forms going out to the royal magic society. Oh, Also I would like to request that I be the only one allowed to pick those up when they come in.” “No problem Twilight. I’ll make a note right here. Anything else I can help you with?” She asked as she finished writing the note as her wings slipped the mail into their correct slots. “Nope. Oh! Would you be willing to clear off a Saturday in the future so we can catch up?" "Of course! That sounds great. Then you can see how much my muffin has grown!" Ditzy exclaimed excitedly, causing Twilight to giggle. "Great. Just let me know when you're open and we'll set something up." Twilight finished up with a shared wave before making her way to the door. As Twilight was about to make her way out the door, feeling much better after having a pleasant talk with a good friend. Her earlier problems forgotten. “Twilight? Oh Twilight! Could you be a dear and help me with this? I seem to have accidentally ordered much more than I meant to and my magic isn’t strong enough to carry it all. I’d rather not make multiple trips this early in the morning.” Rarity asked while looking at a very nearly comically large pile of fabric rolls. Twilight could only stare at the large pile for a moment before opening her mouth to answer before closing it without saying a single word. It was enormous. A hoof on Twilight’s shoulder finally broke her from her stupor she was in. Rarity, looking at her with a worried look on her face was next to her. “Darling, if it’s too much trouble at the moment I’m sure I can find some nice stallions that are willing to help me out.” Rarity might have had more to say but it didn't matter since her choice of words had caused a halt to Twilight’s conflicting thoughts and prompted an ` “Sorry. I was lost in my own thoughts a bit. No, it’s fine Rarity. I can definitely help you out.” As she said this Twilight began picking up all the fabric rolls and began bringing them towards herself with her magic. “Twilight, darling, you don’t have to take them all. I can take three or so of them I should think. I’m not too weak to do at least that I believe.” Rarity said as she began to focus her magic on a few of the rolls, mixing her magic with Twilights still active magic slightly. Twilight’s mouth opened for a moment, the sensation bringing her mind to a small halt. before her mind once again begin its normal routines. Twilight closed her mouth and pulled the rolls away firmly but still gently, effectively breaking Rarity’s concentration. ”No, no. I insist Rarity. Let me get these for you.” “But-“ Rarity began, ready to make a rebuttal to the idea before she was swiftly cut off by Twilight. “But nothing. I want to help you so I’m helping.” Taking a quick look above herself at the rolls of fabric she continued, “Not to mention if you get enough commissions to use up all this you're going to need your energy.” Twilight was done giving her logical reasons but added one more less logical one. “Besides, a lady like yourself shouldn't have to carry such things when somepony is there to help, right?” She said in a friendly manner. Rarity, taking one more look at the now slightly more daunting bunch of fabric rolls finally gave in with a sigh and a laugh. “Oh, fine Twilight. You win. Thank you for helping me darling. Though if I don’t get as many orders as you mentioned I don’t know what I will do with myself. I have far too much time on my hooves sometimes.. The walk to Carousel Boutique was a much more pleasant affair than the walk to the post office. With small talk covering many topics as they caught up, Though at some point it had petered off to nothing.. As they reached the Boutique, Rarity felt she should break the silence in a friendly way. “Well, here we are!” She announced with slightly forced enthusiasm. “You can just place the rolls inside next to the door to my work room. I’ll sort them into storage or use later.” She explained as she directed with her hoof. Once Twilight set the last of the rolls into a neat and organized pile Rarity spoke again. “Thank you so much for your help dear. We really must catch up one of these days. Actually, if you have time I could put on some tea and we could talk for a little while. Twilight gave a smile to Rarity as she made her way to the door, “It was no trouble Rarity. I was happy to help and you’re always welcome at the library. And yes. Tea sounds great." A couple hours later Twilight was having a peaceful walk home, her energy raised from the tea and time with Rarity. She opened the door to the library with a small smile. “Spike, I’m home.” She stated to the air. Spike’s head popped up from behind a table, “Oh hey Twi! Where were ya?” He asked, continuing to clean. “I just had an errand to take care of. But I ran into Rarity and she asked for some help.” She said as she remembered her morning. Being around Rarity was nice and seeing Ditzy was always welcome. “Aw. I wish I could have gone with. I could’ve helped her-“ He quickly corrected himself “-you both with it.” He finished, looking a bit sheepish. Twilight just looked at him before shaking her head. “Oh yeah! I left the mythology section just as you left it last night. I figured that you would want to get right back at it.” Twilight smiled at the thoughtfulness of Spike. "You're so helpful. Thank you Spike." she made her way towards the small pile of books she stopped as a memory from the morning crossed her mind. "Oh yes. Spike make a note that I'm going to take a Saturday off to catch up with Ditzy." Spike quickly produced a quill and paper, "Any specific week, Twi?" Twilight shook her head as she answered, "Not as of yet. It depends on when she's open. I told her to tell me when she has a day open." "Okay and...done." He said as he attached the note to the calendar "Anything else?" Spike asked, quill once again at the ready. "No, that's it. Thank you Spike." Once she reached her pile of books she found the small nook within it that she had been lying in the night before. Settling herself in it she readied herself for another day of study and being the librarian of a sadly underused library. Sitting inside her pile of books, Twilight had been reading for a long while before her thoughts started to change thier focus from the books in front of her to the AP once again. What did she do all day? Did she just sit up there in that dark closet and figuratively twiddle her hooves? ' I can't imagine doing absolutely nothing all day. I couldn't stand being that unproductive all day and night.' She gave a small shiver at the thought of doing nothing all day. Even Rainbow Dash did her job each day and went pranking with Pinkie on weekends. Being unproductive for an entire day was just...frightening. It was like simply losing, no, wasting an entire day of her life. That was the deciding factor for her. Twilight couldn't stand the thought of her new friend upstairs doing nothing all day. But what could she do without movement or sight? She sat there for a few minutes, just thinking. Eventually her mind came back to the original spell that created the AP. It had put all that information in her "mind". 'Wait. Information. Books are information.' Grabbing a few sheets of parchment she began planning out her theory. 'Yes. If I can just do this-. No, that won't work. But, if I work it through here and throw on a lock of some sort maybe.' Her planning had begun to reach a furious pace with many pages neatly stacked about the table. Roughly an hour later a loud exclamation of "Finished!" caught the attention of the only bipedal resident of the library. Spike had been quietly reading through his mystery/action book when the shout had brought him out of the fantasy world of "The Sound of the Shadow Boxer" and back into reality. "What's finished Twi?" He asked as he got up and went over towards his lavender friend, who was wearing one of the largest grins he had seen on her face. Twilight noticed him quickly. "Oh just an idea I had." After this lackluster explanation she used her magic to grab a large pile of books and made her way upstairs. "I should be back down soon!" She called before the sound of the guest room door closing resounded throughout the library at the same time as a groan came from the main room. "Hello? Are you awake?" Twilight asked out loud as she closed the door and made her way towards the middle of the room, flicking on the lights on the way. 'Oh! Hey Twilight. How are you today? Or, tonight? I can never tell.' The AP said with a nervous laugh as she was lifted from the closet. Twilight made no comment on the time though the admittance did stay in her mind. "I've been pretty good. Actually, I got an idea earlier that I think you would really like." 'Oh?' She replied curious and slightly excited. "Mhmm. But first I have to ask you. What do you usually do up here?" The AP was silent for a few moments, thinking. 'Well usually I just sit here, well in the closet really, and go through the information in me. But, I've already done that completely a couple times now. It's not like you're boring or anything like that but, I would like something to do. Ya know?' If the AP could see her smile she could have prepared herself for the sudden exclamation that followed. "Perfect!" The AP took a few moments for her crystal mind to stop reverberating. 'What is perfect, Twilight?' "Oh. Heh. Sorry. Well it's perfect because that's exactly the kind of thing I thought up earlier. So I came up for a way to give you something to do!" Twilight explained happily. 'Oh? Now I'm really interested. Go on then. Tell me.' Clearing her throat Twilight began her explanation. "Well I was worried about this kind of thing. Just sitting around doing nothing or something that you will learn nothing from so I started thinking of how I could give you something to do. After all not being mobile kinda puts a wrench in most ideas for how to spend free time." 'I'm following so far.' "Well Then I started thinking about how I gave you all that information about me. You know by implanting it into a crystal?" The AP made a 'Mhm" in response, prompting Twilight to continue. "Then I thought. Books are information. If I could copy the information from the pages into a crystal and create a link between it and yourself, you could read them." Twilight's smile had been growing throughout her explanation and was soon reaching, low Pinkie levels of size. 'Ok. I get your idea but then the information would just be there. I wouldn't actually be able to read anything.' Twilight's smile didn't waver for a moment "I thought of that! So I figured that I could put a sort of 'mental lock' on the books. That would stop you from just getting the information. Then once you pick a book it will 'unlock' allowing you to access to the information. Then every word is under a lock. The only way to unlock a word is by 'reading' the word before it. Therefore effectively recreating the act of reading." Twilight concluded her explanation with a smile that would make Pinkie proud. 'That-' the AP began, causing Twilight to fidget a little at the possibility of her idea being turned down. The AP's mind may have originated from Twilights but there was still as much a chance of her liking sewing over books as opposed to liking books the same as herself. 'Sounds awesome. That would be so much better than going through all that information again. Er, no offence.' Twilight let go of a breath she had been holding before responding quickly. "None taken" 'But, how will you set this all up? Getting me 'up and running' so to speak put you out for hours.' "I've got that all covered. Using the C and V spell, 'which is a really confusing name now that I think about it' made by Copy Paste I'll make a magical copy of each book. Being that it will basically purely be words it will actually be easier than giving Spike a mustache. I have a couple crystals that didn't have quite the right frequency for making you left over and since I grabbed two books from every section of the library you'll have plenty to read." Twilight explained 'Whoa. Two from every section?' The AP asked, causing Twilight to begin to worry "That's not too much is it? I wanted to give you a lot of options and it's too much isn't it? I'm sure I can only do one or two if you want. I'm-" Twilight's worried rambling was cut off by the AP fairly quickly 'No, no, no, no. I'm excited, not annoyed. It'll be like my own little library.' she explained with a giggle, bringing a large smile back to Twilight's face, even bigger than before. "I'm so happy you like the idea. If you want I could even give the inside of the crystal the form of a library instead of just formless information floating around." Twilight mentioned as she floated everything she needed near herself and the AP. 'That would be wonderful, Twilight. Thank you.' For some reason Twilight couldn't figure out the tone the AP had used caused her to blush, though she quickly shook it off as she cast the spell and made the magical copies of each of the books. "Well I should let you get to your reading shouldn't I?" Twilight said as she began floating both the crystal and the AP to the closet. 'Wait!' The AP shouted causing Twilight to rear away a little although the sound was in her own mind. 'Would...' The AP began nervously, 'Would you like to read with me?' Twilight gave a smile "I would love that." Spike sighed as he looked at the large mess of organized chaos that Twilight had left behind. "Least she coulda done was clean up before going up." Spike grumbled as he picked up the notes and reorganized them according to their headers, which contained both the subject title and page number. This made the job he was currently still grumbling about much easier. Spike was about half done with a majority of the work when his nose started tickling. 'No. No don't you dare you stupid no-' Spikes mental threats towards his nose were cut off as the very thing he wanted to prevent happened. With a flare of magic flame Spike accidentally sent off a page to Princess Celestia. Quickly gathering a scrap of parchment and a quill, Spike quickly penned out a note that he believed would not only explain the situation but also, appropriately apologize for sending the piece of parchment. Once he sent it off he quickly looked around to see what exactly he had sent. 'Well. Hopefully she won't notice page eight of "Magical mental manipulation and information augmentation"' He thought as he continued his work, one page short. Princess Celestia was feeling thoroughly relaxed on the inside of the royal baths. After a day of dealing with nobles and worse, the Blueblood family, she felt that she deserved at least this. Luna owed her a favor anyway. So relaxed was she that she almost didn't notice the tell-tale magical green smoke that came wafting into the baths. An obvious indication of a letter from her faithful student. She was suprised when only a single, unrolled sheet of parchment came through the smoke. Quickly encasing it in her magic to protect it from elements, she took a quick glance at the top of the page, taking note that it was page eight. Of what she would have to wait as another message quickly came through another puff of smoke. It told Celestia all she needed to know about the mysteriously out of place page. My bad. -Spike Celestia gave an un-princessly snort of laughter at the informality she had come to expect from the young dragon before she went back to looking over what she was sent. Accidental though it was, she always loved to see what her precious student was learning. The moment that she saw the title she began to become worried. Her worry only grew as she read on. "This is most troubling." She said to herself as she quickly got out of the bath. Author's Note This just went under uber super MAJOR edits. A lot was taken out. It felt out of place and forced. Not to mention that I had messed up how she herself acted about Rarity in the last chapter and this one. But quite a bit was put in too! I like to think it feels better now. Can it be? I actually like this chapter now! It feels so friggin much better now. Another reason for the edits is that I want to keep the focus on the main idea of the story. I started Writing The Great and the Generous and I got a new full time job. I work nights and get about 5 hours to myself a day. (Obviously I have some days off and on those I will try to get myself to write) So yeah. Mix that with a very poor attention span and you have huge waits. I'm sorry! Yeah. So...It took awhile to get this out. But here it is. The chapters may be a little shorter from here on. Their easier to write. But if the chapter just doesn't feel complete then obviously I will write till the chapter feels right.
