Resent.

Applejack had expected many things when she entered the library. A lot of them included Spike asking for forgiveness in some way. Truth be told, Spike hadn't been that rude with her. Sure he did call her selfish and arrogant, but little else. He seemed in some sort of hurry. As if he couldn't wait to get the insulting over with. While it had indeed annoyed her, she decided to let it go. She was a grown mare and wouldn't fall for such childish acts.

The Fluttershy got to the farm, all teary and sobbing.

Nopony messed with her friends. Not even other friends! So she went straight to the library and had her say, or would have, if not for the fact that apparently, Spike had been busy that day and did an effort to insult everypony. Twilight managed to calm them down and told them to go home. That she would deal with this and found out what was wrong with the dragon baby.

Applejack doubted, but relented, and soon left with Rarity, her faith placed in Twilight.

So when entered the library, she did not expect to find Twilight reading book after book, merely getting a few pages before dumping it for the next. She must have been doing it for a while, because the whole library was a complete mess! Books where thrown everywhere. Quills had been pretty much scattered to the winds and there ink stains all over the the few patches of floor visible.

Applejack didn't know if to be confused by the disaster or horrified by the state Twilight was in. The alicorn was sniffing as she poured through the books. Her mane was a complete mess and she was visibly tired, only going by her frantic reading.

"T-twi?" Applejack asked. Twilight's head snapped as soon as she heard her name. Applejack found herself the receiver of a crunching bear hug that would have made Pinkie Pie proud had the situation been different. Right now, Twilight was sobbing on her chest, and Applejack was not one to let her friends suffer like this-

"There, there sugarcube..." she cooed, not knowing what else to do." Let it out..."

Twilight cried for a few minutes more before even starting to get a semblance of control. Releasing the hug, she rubbed her eyes a bit, trying to get the stinging out of her eyes.

"There, much better right?" Applejack asked. Twilight didn't say anything. "Now Twi. Tell me what happened."

"It was Spike..." Twilight murmured. Applejack went red with anger.

Applejack went red with anger. She knew it! She knew this would happen! She should have listened to her gut and staid! And now Spike had insulted the one mare who did not deserve it by any chance! Oh, he was so gonna get it when he showed his face. Speaking of him, why hadn't fixed this mess already?! If he was the cause of Twilight's sorrow, he could at least show some regret!

"Twi? Where's Spike?"

"I don't know..."

She didn't know? Now that was new.

"You don't know?"

"No Applejack, I don't know. He left last night."

"Left? Left where?"

"I don't know."

"Twilight! Where is Spike?!"

"I don't know!" Twilight shouted. "He came back last night, I was so angry, so I asked what happened! We ended up arguing. It wasn't so different than most times, but then he got angrier and angrier and started saying some really hurtful things to me, and he didn't stop even when I tried talking back to him and I snapped and hit him with my wing! He slammed against the wall, right there!" she motioned the spot where Spike had crashed. " And when he got up he had his eyes all weird and he said he was getting out of here, and he did! And hasn't come back all night!"

She lifted a book, waving right in the farmers face.

"I've been up all night waiting for him, looking for what was wrong with his eyes, but I can't and I'm worried he's done something stupid!" Twilight finished. Applejack was left speechless. Twilight was usually a very down to earth pony. A real tough to crack cookie. What in tarnation had Spike said to her that left her like this?! No matter. Right now, she had to get Twilight to calm down. She was the only one who could hope to find the dragon fast, and being all worried as she was, she wasn't of any good to anypony.

"Come on sugarcube, let's go to Rarity's place."

The Carousel Boutique only closed for two reason: special occasions and emergencies. Most of the time it was the first one. Unfortunately, today it was the latter. Rarity had immediately served up some tea, something that Twilight was grateful for. Princess Celestia had always spoke about the calming qualities of tea. Now she could see why. Her mind felt more peaceful. her emotions more in check.

She was still a turmoil inside. Retelling the whole thing to Rarity and Applejack, this time with more derail of the argument, didn't make her feel any better.

"Now this is just awful." Rarity said. "How can he just go and say things like those? And then he just leaves? How can he even consider it!"

"Spike said that he felt unappreciated. He said that all of us have hurt him in some way." Twilight noted.

"Thats just a bunch of horse apples. Ah' don't remember being a jerk to him. Ah' don't remember anypony being a jerk to him!"

"Twilight dear, Spike is probably one of those dragon phase things. he's craving attention, so he's making sure to get it." Rarity grimaced as she remembered her encounter with him. "One way or another."

"But he's still gone!" Twilight exclaimed, nearly tipping the table as she stood up. "He's been gone for the whole night! What if he got in some sort of danger like last he ran away! I can't just wait for him to grow out of a possible growing stage! I have to find him!" Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile.

"And you will Twilight. And we will help you. Right Rares?"

"Of course. Spike may be acting like a genuine ruffian, but he is still Spikey-wikey." Rarity walked to the door. "I say we should gather the others, don't you think?"

The six friends met at the entrance to the library. All of them feeling better from yesterday and eager to aid in the search. Twilight was confident on their success. With friends like hers, Spike would be found in no time at all.

"Alright girls. Spike didn't say exactly where he was going, se we can only assume he is still in Ponyville." Twilight explained. "Rarity, you and Pinkie will search the town. Spike has always been fond of the market zone, so take a look there." She then turned to Applejack. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you two will cover the outside of Ponyville. The fields, the orchid and all those places are up to you." She finally reached Fluttershy. "Fluttershy. You're going to stay near the library in case he comes back. Got it?"

"But...what if he went to the Everfree forest?" the shy pegasus asked. Twilight grimaced.

"Thats were I'm going." She said quietly. "Everypony remember. Spike is not acting like himself, so if anypony happens to find him, remember to be careful around him. We don't need another greed-induced rage."

And with that, the six of them split, each of them ready to do their part. Twilight's earlier self doubt creeped back into her. Spike's word had carved deeper than she initially thought, and now she was plagued by them. Was he right? Had she been over demanding of him? Had she really hurt him?

The scene of her hitting him with the wing replayed in her mind.

"Have to focus." She chided herself before flying away in direction to the forest. She could the see the form of her friends move throughout the town, a white and pink spots on the market, an orange spot on the fields, a yellow stain walking towards the library and a rainbow blur flying around the town. She smiled briefly before returning to her task. Her friends were doing their best to find Spike. She had to do her best too!

"Okay now..." she said as she landed between the trees. "If I was Spike, were would I go..."

She knew better than to search the dragon caves. Spike had been terrified of them ever since his close encounter with one of them last time he...ever since then. The ruby mountains were a possible place, but it was so obvious that she doubted Spike would be dumb enough to go there, specially if his plan was to avoid being seen. As she walked through the branches and leaves, different places continued to pop in her head, all of them rejected for one reason or another,

"Wait a minute...whats this?"

A silverish liquid stain, little wider than her hoof, laid on the floor. It was glowing a bit, but it was clearly fading. Twilight poked it out of sheer curiosity. The liquid wobbled and rippled, but did not move from its place, except for a small drop that seem to glue itself to her hoof. It was cold to the touch, which was even weirder, considering that it was summer. She tried to remove it with magic, but the small but of liquid vanished as soon as her magic made contact with it.

"What the..." she tried again, obtaining the same result. Her hoof was completely clean, as if there had nothing on it to begin with. Twilight made a test tube appeared, carefully collecting as much of the liquid as possible. It slid in slowly, almost reluctantly, as if it was alive and it was doing it out of a threat. But that wasn't what grabbed Twilight's attention. What it did grab her attention was the color of the liquid.

It was the same tone of pure silver she had seen in Spike's eyes.

"Whatever this thing is, its not supposed to be here." she thought as she made the now full test tube disappear "And it has something to do with Spike. I just know it."

The rest of her search was eventless and just as fruitless. She searched everywhere, the castle ruins, near Zecora's hut, the poison joke fields, but no sign of the baby dragon could be seen anywhere, no matter how hard she tried. She sighed, both glad that he hadn't entered the forest and depressed that she couldn't find her assistant. She somberly left the forest, having no more reason to stay there.

Her friends were all gathered in front of the library. Her expressions told her the whole story.

"He's not in the market. And we searched everywhere." Rarity explained. "Pinkie even searched inside the crates while they were closed, though I am not sure how she did it."

"The fields are empty, so are the trees. If he's on them, he's really good hidden." Applejack said.

"He hasn't even come close to the library. I peeked through the windows while I was cleaning up and not even his tail could be seen, oh I hope he's alright."

"I hope that too Fluttershy" Twilight thought. As much as she hated to admit, Twilight had to face the fact that just did not want to be found. If that was his intention, he was being really good at showing. If the combined search of the six of them couldn't find them, then they never would. All they could do right now was sit tight and wait.

Even if such wait would be nerve wracking to her.

Inside the library, Twilight paid little attention to the magnificent order in which Fluttershy had left the library in. The books where in their shelves, the floor was sparkling clean and the kitchen floor could be eaten on. But it matter little to her. She didn't really care about the library right now. All she cared about was Spike. He and his green eyes. His very pale green eyes.

"I should start investigating that liquid..." Twilight made the test tube appear. The silver liquid inside had not changed in quantity, but density. The earlier muddy substance was now clearly sloshing inside the tube, almost like if it was vapor or some sort of plasma. Either way, something had changed it, and she would find out what. Maybe she could find some clues as to what was wrong with Spike.

"What's that?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know Applejack. I found it in the Everfree forest while I was looking there. I thought it was odd that a material of such a weird composition would be just lying there, so I took it here." she took out a few lab instruments, placing the test tube in a specially designed rack. The liquid swished inside with the movement.

"Before Spike left, his eyes looked funny. They were kind of pale, but I didn't think much of it at first since I was..." she paused for a second. " I didn't think much of it. The point is that this...thing has the nearly the exact same tone and purity as Spike eyes."

"So you just guess they are related?" Rarity asked. "No offense Twilight, but that is rather grasping at straws."

"I have no choice Rarity." Twilight sighed sadly. "I know this a long shot by far. But Spike is gone and...and if there's any chance or anything that can help me find him...I just have to take it." she rubbed her eyes for a second.

"Hey Twilight?" Dash ask from a closed window, breaking the sad mood that reigned inside the giant tree." Are your curtains white?"

"I don't have curtains Dash, you know that."

"Really? Then why can't I see anything out of your window?"

Twilight flew until she was besides Dash. Just as the cyan mare said, there was nothing but a dark white covering the window. Covering all of the windows actually. Not wasting a second, the alicorn landed in front of the door, opening with magic. Just like the windows, peering outside the was impossible beyond a few feet.

"Its..." Twilight walked outside. "Its fog."

"At this hour? Thats impossible." Dash flew right besides her. "Fog is scheduled for days, and even then its supposed to be just a light thing."

"This is even worse than Fillydelphia in winter. You can't see anything." Rarity joined their side.

"Does this mean we're can play hide and seek in the fog? How cool can that be?! Its like hide and seek, but up to eleven!"

Twilight ignored the suggestion. The fog was thick enough that she could feel the moisture on her body. Whatever this fog was, it was not natural, and if left alone, it could cause trouble. She motioned to her friends, who followed her immediately out of the library.

"Come on girls. We need to find out what is going on."