“Hmmm . . . no, no, I think the sequins should be more properly distributed. Oh! But the diamond-collar looks absolutely stunning! Oh, dear, I don't have enough rhinestones! One rhinestone horseshoe? That would never work! Oh, Nocturne, darling, I wish you'd let me take off that wretched hat! It's completely ruining my perspective!”

Nocturne stood perfectly still on a stand in the Carousel Boutique, scowling most of the time, as Rarity bombarded him with fashion details, position commands, and insults to his fedora.  He had glanced at the glittering sequined suit Rarity was designing while he wore it, and it looked nearly the same now as when he'd first donned it.  But of course, he had the fashion sense of a cross-eyed mole (he could swear he heard Rarity say that), so it was hard for him to tell what had changed, if anything at all.  All he knew was that he was sick and tired of hearing Rarity complain about his hat.  He was lucky he'd been training himself to keep his comments unspoken.

“I'm sorry, Rarity, but the answer is no,” Nocturne replied staunchly, “It's too important to me to let go.”

“Oh, Nocturne, don't be ridiculous!” Rarity scoffed, “I mean, it's just a hat! Goodness knows it won't disappear the moment you remove it! And what's so important about this garish excuse for clothing, anyway? Why do you hold this thing in such high regard?”

Nocturne made to answer, but he drew a blank; it was one of the many things he'd forgotten about his past that he'd hoped to remember by now.  It had been three days since he'd returned to Ponyville, and aside from the painful memories he'd recovered in his first day back, nothing else had surfaced.

Nocturne sighed, downcast, “I wish I knew. I really do. But I just don't remember . . . .”

Rarity looked back at Nocturne with fretted eyes.  “Oh, darling, I'm so sorry,” she replied, “When I get carried away with my work, I tend to be a bit . . . insensitive at times. I do hope you can forgive me.”

“No, no, it's fine,” Nocturne shook his head, “I'm starting to think that if something was gonna come back, it would have by now. Maybe it's just not worth remembering.”

“Oh, balderdash!” Rarity admonished, “Don't you believe that for a second, my love. Why, if this old thing is so important to you, there must be good reason, hmm? I'd say that's rather worth remembering, wouldn't you?”

Nocturne shrugged, “Maybe . . . but if it's throwing you off that much, maybe we should just call it a day. Besides, you've got better things to do with your time.”

Rarity then gave her own sigh, “I suppose you're right, Nocturne.”  Her horn started glowing, the suit Nocturne wore began to glow with the same magical light, and it lifted him up onto his hind legs for a moment as it slipped up and off him of its own accord.  “I only hope I can get it all done in time for my big fashion show next week,” she said, “All the best designers will be there, you know, and these designs are what is 'in-in' this season.”

Nocturne nodded, “Well, you certainly keep on top of the 'in' trends, so I have no doubt that you'll—”

“NO!” Rarity suddenly growled, all the seriousness in Equestria on her face, “Not just 'in', darling! “IN-in! That which is simply 'in' could be 'out' in mere days! Minutes, even! I must keep up with what is in-in! I must! Otherwise, I may suffer a fate worse than Tartarus! The ridicule of the fashion world! Oh, I could hardly go on like that!!”

Nocturne was back on ground level by this time, but he found himself a bit disturbed by Rarity's behavior.  He had seen it in his three days of assisting her, but she was in rare form today; Nocturne even found himself backing up a step.

Rarity got herself together quickly, and took a few gentle breaths, “Oh, dear . . . I must apologize again, Nocturne, love. The rehearsal is in two days, and I'm a bit wound up as of late.”

“No problem,” Nocturne replied, “I'll let you get back to work. Say hi to your sister for me.”  Nocturne went for the door, stepped outside, and attracted surprise attention from the street—Twilight Sparkle and Spike.

“Nocturne!” Twilight greeted him with a smile, “Didn't expect to see you here. How are you?”

“Fine, thanks,” Nocturne forced a smile when he saw them, “Just getting off from a job at Rarity's. Her new designs are looking good.”

Before Nocturne could close the door, the three of them heard Rarity's voice: “Catch you later, my sweet! You were absolutely wonderful today! Same time, tomorrow, yes? I'm looking forward to it!”  Looking inside, Nocturne could see her blowing him a kiss goodbye.

Spike seemed to catch it, too—and he did not look happy.  “So,” he said gruffly as Nocturne nervously closed the door, “What else have you two been 'designing' together, hmm?”

“Oh, relax, Spike,” Twilight rolled her eyes, then turned to Nocturne, “We were just going out to lunch. Wanna come?”

Nocturne shrugged, “Why not. Standing in one place for hours can make you surprisingly hungry. Room for one more?”

“Of course!” Twilight smiled.  The two ponies then set off together, with Spike scowling behind them.  “So,” Twilight asked as they walked, “Have you been keeping up with your journal entries? You seem like you're improving on your pony skills, but you haven't come to me with any news lately.”

Nocturne groaned guiltily; this was something else that had not happened in three days that he was sure should have happened by now.  “I've been having trouble with that, Twilight,” he answered truthfully, “The ponies in town are still having trouble trusting me, and I've been too busy looking for work to really focus on making friends. And I still can't remember my true talent . . .”

Behind them, Spike grumbled, “I'll bet Rarity could jog your memory, right? You seemed like you've been 'teaching' her quite a bit—”

“Spike, are you going to be like this all day?” Twilight snapped, “Rarity isn't looking for a date, she just needed a dummy.”  She then glanced sheepishly at Nocturne, “Uhh . . . No offense.”

“I know what you meant,” he replied, then turned back to Spike, “You know, we haven't gotten a chance to talk, Spike. From what Twilight tells me, your work in the Ponyville library in phenomenal.”

Spike perked up immediately when he heard this, and it put a superior smirk on his face.  “She would say something like that, wouldn't she?” he bragged, “I mean, I am her number-one assistant, after all.”

Nocturne returned Spike's smirk as he continued, “And I am a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into a giant purple greed monster.”

Spike raised an eyebrow, taken a bit by surprise at this detail, “Uhhh . . . thanks.”  Ahead of them, Twilight gave a light chuckle.

“I'm so glad things are working out so well, Nocturne!” Fluttershy said with a smile as she walked with Nocturne down to Carousel Boutique the next day, “You're really contributing to the community, aren't you? Oh, I'm so happy for you!”

She and Nocturne reached the boutique together, and Nocturne replied with a frown, “I guess. I hoped that helping you and your friends would do something to help me, but I have nothing to show for it.”

Fluttershy stopped him, her face looking serious, “That's not true, Nocturne. You have Twilight to guide you, you have the look of happiness on Rarity's face when you finish working with her,” she looked into Nocturne's eyes and smiled again, “And you have me. You always have me.”

Nocturne smiled back, his face warming.  “Yeah,” he replied, not really thinking, “I guess I do . . .”

“Ah-hem!!”

Both ponies turned toward the sound, and saw Spike standing there, his face a mixture of smugness and skepticism, “Am I interrupting?”

“Spike?” Nocturne asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same,” Spike retorted, interrogating more than asking, “First Rarity, then Twilight, now Fluttershy? You really get around, don't you, Nocturne?”

“What?!” Nocturne argued, “What kind of nonsense are you spewing?”

“Umm,” Fluttershy muttered nervously, slowly tipping away, “I-I think I'll just leave you two alone now. Um, good luck, Nocturne, and uh, have fun. Tell Rarity I said hi.”  And Fluttershy slipped away, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Spike raised an eyebrow as he saw Fluttershy leave, “Evidence much? So what's next after this, Nocturne? A trip to Applejack's to 'buck her fields'?”

Nocturne glared at the dragon as he knocked on Rarity's door, “Don't push me, reptile.”  They shared the same antagonistic stare until the door opened, toward which they both looked with a friendly grin.

“Nocturne, darling!” Rarity greeted him, “I knew you wouldn't let me down today!”  She looked down at Nocturne's unintended companion, “Spike! This is a pleasant surprise! Two of my favorite boys come to see me! Come to help Nocturne with his work, hm? Or shouldn't you be at the library with Twilight?”

Seeming to have come unprepared, Spike began the clear stutter of improvisation, “Uh, well, I . . . I just thought, th-that, maybe . . . you could, uh . . . use an extra stand-in for your designs! Yeah, that's it! I mean, Nocturne here works so hard, so long, and with your big rehearsal tomorrow, I just thought that, you know, I'd take a day and help out! I mean, after all, two heads are better than one!”

Rarity's eyes shone, “Oh, I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends!”  She reached out and hugged them both; Spike shot Nocturne a superior glance over her back, and Nocturne rolled his eyes.

As Rarity invited them in, Spike added to his commentary in a whisper, “Of course, in this case, a dragon head is much more useful than a pony head.”

Nocturne's eyes narrowed as he whispered back, “You don't want to talk about 'pony heads', kid.”

“'Desperately need help', you said. 'Very unique design', you said. 'No mare in Ponyville fits this body type', you said!”

Rarity's magic slipped her needle in and out of the hem of the dress and snipped a pair of scissors, clipping away the thread.  “Nocturne, please,” Rarity mumbled, “I must resize this dress. This is highly delicate work, my love.”  A trail of fabric came off with another snip, finishing the hemline.

“You know, if this rehearsal of yours weren't today,” Nocturne continued to complain, “I wouldn't be in this ridiculous position!”  He felt somewhat justified in his argument; in a time of desperation, Rarity had asked Nocturne to model a very ornate, but slightly oversized crimson dress for her.  With the obvious deadline, Nocturne could hardly refuse, but it didn't help him feel any less idiotic.

“Why, Nocturne, you wound me!” Rarity exclaimed, “You've given me splendid help so far! I'd expect no less! It's really not so much to ask that you be a tad more civil about it. Besides,” she gave Nocturne a wink, “If you were a mare, you'd look very fetching!”

Nocturne grimaced, but he also felt his face flush slightly; the tightness of the bodice wasn't the only uncomfortable feeling all of a sudden.  “You know,” he grumbled, “Given the distance between buildings in this area of town, and the comings and goings of your clientele, if I were going to die of embarrassment, I'd probably do it right about . . .” he looked at an imaginary watch on his left front leg.

The door suddenly burst open, and an enthusiastic voice filled the air, “Have no fear, the Spike-man is here! Hey, Rarity! Just thought you'd like an escort to the rehears—” he stopped when he saw Nocturne, and his eyes widened.  Nocturne easily predicted the next sound: poorly stifled snickering.

“Did I call it?” Nocturne continued to grumble, “Yes, I believe I did.”

In an instant, Spike was on the floor, rolling around and laughing uproariously, “OH, MY GOSH, NOCTURNE! YOU LOOK SO STUPID! I mean, first you-first, you're the 'phantom pony' of Everfree Forest, and now . . . now you-now you're ready for the catwalk! You-you just went from 'phantom' to 'fabulous' in less than a da-ha-ha-haaayy!!”

“Spike! Have you no couth?” Rarity reproached, “I could forgive you for barging in without announcing yourself, but to ridicule sweet Nocturne when he's been working so hard for me! The very idea!”

Spike had finally picked himself up, and his laughter had even slowed, “Ah . . . oh, sorry, Rarity, but . . .” he held back a few more snickers, “you . . . you do know he's a colt, right?”

Nocturne's frown worsened, “Why don't we continue to point out the obvious?”

“Now, now, Nocturne darling, I'm almost done,” said Rarity as she continued the complicated hemming of the skirt.  The thread and needle wove back and forth through the fabric, courtesy of Rarity's magic.

Spike scoffed and brushed a residual tear away, “'Working hard'? How hard could this possibly have been? You've done nothing but stand in place for five days!”

Nocturne stared daggers at Spike, his mood souring even more.  “And you, sir,” he retorted, “have, for five days, been nothing but a pain in my—EYAH!”  A small, sharp pinprick in his backside stopped him.

“Oops!” Rarity cried, “I'm terribly sorry, Nocturne! Slipped with the needle a bit. Are you quite all right?”

Nocturne squeezed his eyes shut and ground his teeth to ease the pain.  “Just my pride,” he groaned.

Spike began sniggering again, “This is just too good! I gotta go find a camera! I'll be right back!”  He rushed back to the door, opened it, and disappeared.

Rarity gave a benign sigh, “Oh, that sweet little dragon of mine.”

“Yeah,” Nocturne replied with little enthusiasm, which then increased as he turned to Rarity, “Let's beat it, before he comes back.”

The outdoor stage was set up, and Rarity buzzed around it, asking questions, changing perspectives and making sure everything was flawless.  Everything looked like it was coming together just fine, but it didn't help Nocturne feel less out-of-place.  He looked around for somepony he already knew; there were far too many strangers here, and none of them looked pleased to see him.  Aside from Rarity (who had her hooves full), Nocturne could see Twilight Sparkle, resting in the grass and reading.  Standing next to her was Applejack, who looked a bit bored and occasionally chatted with Twilight, who responded absently.  Far above, Rainbow Dash zoomed back and forth across the sky, breaking up the faint traces of storm clouds that might threaten to pour all over the production.

Well, nice to see everypony else has something to do, Nocturne thought to himself, then turned back to see his cutie mark.  That black eighth-note inside the crescent moon was about as useful as the rest of his coat.  What are you even here for? he asked, as much to his cutie mark as to himself.

Nocturne glanced back over to where Twilight and Applejack were, and saw that Fluttershy had accompanied them.  Feeling his spirits lift, he went to join them; even if he had no use here, it was best to be among friends, especially when one of those friends was Fluttershy.  “Ooh, Nocturne, you're just in time,” Fluttershy said, “Twilight's about to test a new spell she just learned.”

“Now there's somethin' that can keep my attention,” Applejack said, intrigued, “You always could cast one mean spell, Twilight.”

“Well, I don't know about that,” Twilight said modestly, reddening a bit in the face, “but this spell looks like it'll be pretty simple. Now, if I could just get all the details . . .”

“Oh, darlings, there you are!” Rarity called out to them as she approached them feverishly, “You simply must see this gorgeous little piece I've been saving for the show! Feast your eyes!”  She held up a display board between her hooves, and situated in the board's indentations was a set of four beautifully shining, sterling silver bracelets.

“Oh, yeah, you showed me those before,” Twilight acknowledged before sticking her nose back into her spellbook, “Now, where was I . . .”

“Oooh,” Fluttershy said, admiring the trinkets, “They're so pretty.”

“Shoot-fire,” said Applejack, equally impressed, “They got more shine than a ripe apple durin' Buckin' season.”

Rarity looked at Nocturne with a pleading stare, “Try one on! I want to try out a little spell I've been working on to match. Please, sweet Nocturne? Pleeeeeeeease?”

“Why, I'd be happy to try it on, my lady!”

Nocturne and Rarity looked down, and saw Spike plucking one of the bracelets from its stand.  He turned it in his claws as he examined it, “Hmm . . . pure loveliness! Totally worthy of you, Rarity!”

“Oh, you sweet little darling, you!” Rarity gushed, petting Spike's head; the little dragon gave a sigh that almost sounded like a purr.

Spike measured the bracelet against his arms, saw that it was too big for them, and turned and slipped the bracelet over his tail, “There! What do you think?”

Nocturne had to resist the urge to facehoof, “Interesting fashion statement. Mark that one, so I'll know which one I'll never wear.”  He took another bracelet from the stand and slipped it onto his right front leg, and immediately, the bracelet began to glow; it constricted, shrinking in diameter until it fit Nocturne's leg perfectly.

“Success!” Rarity beamed, “I put a clever little spell on these bracelets that would resize them to fit the wearer. One size fits all!”  She tossed back her purple mane pridefully, “Yes, I know. I'm a genius.”

The same thing happened to the bracelet on Spike's tail, and he looked back at it, excited, “Whoa! That's so cool!”

Nocturne looked at his bracelet, genuinely impressed.  “Now I know why they call you 'Rarity',” he said, “You really are one-of-a-kind.”

Rarity touched her hooves to her face and blushed, “Oh, Nocturne, darling, you flatter me so!”  She then slipped in close to him and grinned with an almost alluring leer, “Tell me more.”

Spike saw this, and turned away, sitting down at Nocturne's hooves.  “'You really are one-of-a-kind,'” he muttered, imitating Nocturne disdainfully before blowing a weak raspberry.

“Okay, I think I've got it!” Twilight announced, standing up and taking one last quick glance at her book.  She then closed her eyes and focused her magic, which concentrated itself into a bright purple light emitting from her horn.  The magic formed into a sphere, and the sphere projected a beam that slowly extended from Twilight's horn.  The beam stretched farther out by the second; the spell seemed to be working spectacularly.  “Wait, how did it go again?” Twilight mumbled, looking back down at the book—and pointing her horn toward the ground at an angle.  The beam sprang forward in a pulse of radiant light, and there were multiple screams as ponies ducked and backed away.  Thankfully, aside from some ponies blinking and shaking their heads to get their vision back, nothing seemed to happen.  “Ooh, sorry, everypony,” Twilight said sheepishly, “I guess I . . . misread something.”

“What?” Spike asked, “That's impossible! You don't misread anything! Here, let me see that thing!”  He walked toward the book, but found that he did not move any farther away.  He saw that he was walking in place, and looked around to see that his tail was stuck on something.  He pulled, but he stayed.  He pulled harder, and still did not move.  Finally, he gave one last pull with all his might—

And Nocturne gasped as his hoof came out from under him, and he fell to the ground.  Both looked down and saw the reason, and both of them promptly widened their eyes.

“No,” Nocturne said simply, “No. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, dear Celestia, please no!”

“I'll see your 'no',” Spike added, “And raise you a few more: NO, NO, NO!!!”

The reason for their sudden panic: the bracelet on Nocturne's hoof and the bracelet on Spike's tail were stuck, binding the two together.

Nocturne quickly began pulling the bracelet, trying to get it off, while Spike complained, “Twilight! What did you do?!”

“I-I don't know!” Twilight panicked along with them, “I'm sorry! I-I didn't expect this to happen!”

“You're supposed to be the smart one!!” Nocturne groaned with a mouthful of his own leg as he tried to gnaw it off, “Now, these things won't come off!”

“Great!” Spike yelled, throwing his arms in the air, “How could this get any worse?!”

“THEY'RE GOOOOOOOONE!!!”

Everypony looked to Rarity, who was having a panic attack of her own, “The other two bracelets! They were right here in their case! Where did they go?! Whatever could have happened to them. NOOOO!! Those bracelets were to be the centerpiece to the event! Without them, my show is RUUUUUIIINED!!”  She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and sobbed.  And sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

Nocturne spat out his own leg as he saw this, and approached Rarity, gently placing both hooves on her shoulders, “Okay, first of all, it would be a good—hold still—it would be a good idea to sto—look at me—it would be a good idea to STOP PANICKING!!!”  He desperately shook her, and when he went quiet, so did she.  “Sorry,” he said calmly, “But I can't stand hysterics.”

Rarity sniffed a bit as she composed herself, “Quite all right, dear. I needed that.”

Nocturne seemed to forget for that moment that Spike was unwillingly attached to the hoof he shook with; he was suspended in the air, hanging by the bracelet that bound him.  “I . . . didn't . . .” he added dizzily, his eyes spinning in his head, before quickly pressing a paw to his mouth.

“The bracelets must have gotten caught in the blast,” Twilight explained, “They must have been so light that they just flew off.”  She then walked to the spot where Rarity stood with them before the spell was cast, scrutinized the area, and looked off into the distance in front of her, “And unless I'm wrong, given the force of the blast and the angle of the bracelets' path, they ended up in . . . oh, no.”

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Nocturne and Spike all looked out in the same direction; it seemed as though the bracelets had been launched directly into the Everfree Forest.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Rarity screamed again, “My precious bracelets! Lost in that disgusting hole of growth and fungus and , and . . . DIRT! Oh, woe is me! I shall never see them again—”

“Do I have to shake you again?” Nocturne asked seriously, and Rarity shook her head.  “Good, he continued, “Now, there's no reason to believe they're gone for good. Nopony knows Everfree Forest better than I do. I'll slip in, find the things and bring them back. Simple as that.”

“Uh, excuse me!” Spike yelled indignantly, pointing at his tail, “You do remember that we're stuck together, right? I'm not taking a road trip into Everfree Forest with you! Not happening! Forget it!”

Nocturne scowled, “Oh, look at the reluctant dragon! You wanna help Rarity, don't you? Well, I'm the best pony for this job, and unless we can break this stupid spell, you're gonna have to come with me!”

“You're going to have to go together, anyway,” Twilight said morosely, “The book says that to undo this spell, the circumstances must be exactly the same as before it was cast. That includes the bracelets; we need them here to undo the spell.”

“Oh, please, my little Spikey-wikey!” Rarity begged, “Please go with Nocturne! You two are my only hope! You wouldn't let me down like this, would you?”  She batted her eyes and stuck her bottom lip out just a bit; Nocturne shuddered a little, but Spike seemed entranced.

“Uhhhh . . .” the dragon moaned absently, “. . . I . . . well . . . I just . . . I mean . . . . . . okay.”

Nocturne and Spike walked along a trail in the woods, scouring the area for where the bracelets may have landed.  In order to accommodate their awkward situation, Nocturne had to lift his right front hoof as he walked, making him walk with a sort of limp, while Spike was forced to walk backwards.  Anypony watching them who wasn't aware of their plight would have found it quite humorous.

“Jeez, this place gives me the creeps,” Spike grumbled, “We'd better find those bracelets quick. I never did like this place.”

“Relax,” Nocturne replied, “I know these woods like the back of my hoof. I've lived here most of my life, you know.”

Spike glanced up at him with a frown, “Yeah, I could've done without that last bit, thanks . . . hey, look!”  Spike pointed up at a tree, and Nocturne turned around, turning Spike the other way.  “No, over there!” Spike clarified, and Nocturne spun around again, taking Spike with him.  “Hey, you wanna do me a favor, please!” he complained.

Nocturne gave a frustrated growl, “Make up your mind, scaly.”  He picked up his hoof, lifting Spike in the air upside-down.

Spike glared at him with flipped-over eyes, “Yeah, thanks.”  He then bend his head back and saw what he was pointing at, “Look! That bird!”  Nocturne saw what Spike pointed at, and sure enough, there was a golden-plumed bird in a nearby tree, pecking at the end of a short branch.  Stuck on the end of that branch was one of Rarity's bracelets.

“Hmmm . . . that's gotta be a Blitz Bird,” Nocturne analyzed as he put Spike down, “They're wicked fast, and darn near impossible to see. If we go barreling in, we might—”

“I got this!” Spike yelled, and raced toward the Blitz Bird, forcing Nocturne to limp after him sideways.  “Hey, you bird!” he called out brusquely, “Get your beak off that bracelet! That belongs to a friend of mine, and you can't have it!”

The Blitz Bird saw Spike coming and grinned.  It stuck its tongue out at the dragon, picked up the bracelet, and disappeared into the canopy.

Spike froze, confused and frustrated, “What?! Lousy little troll! What would he want with that bracelet?”

“If you had let me finish,” Nocturne answered brazenly, “You'd know that Blitz Birds are very empathic. They respond to emotions, and they act accordingly. You went in all hot-headed, and the bird responded by playing a game with you to make it worse!”  Nocturne thought for a minute, then walked over to another tree on the other side of the path, taking Spike with him, “When I lift you into this tree, grab a branch and swing me up with you.”

“What?!” Spike retorted, “I don't have the strength for that! Besides, can't you just fly us up there?”

Nocturne glanced back at his hideous wings, and answered, “I don't fly unless I have to, and neither will the Blitz Bird. He doesn't want the bracelet, he wants to mess with us. And he's winning. We'll need to stay focused and keep our heads. Now, into the tree!”  Without another second to argue, Nocturne lifted Spike into the tree, bumping his head against a branch.

“Ow! Watch where you're putting me!” Spike moaned before grabbing the branch.  Nocturne pushed up off the ground Spike shifted their weight, and the two swung up into the tree by the branch.

In the tree, Spike had to moan some more, “Urgh! With all your pony weight stretching me out, I think I grew a few inches!”  He then paused, and struck a pose, “You think Rarity will notice?”

“Don't be an idiot,” Nocturne muttered, “I can see him. He's poking his head out above the trees. Let's move up.”  The duo climbed the tree as well as they could, resulting in clumsy floundering, broken branches, and the occasional foul word.  At last, they reached the top, and were eye level with the Blitz Bird; the little creature winked at them, the bracelet still sparkling in its beak.  Nocturne and Spike rushed through the branches that clung to each other far above their widely-spaced trunks, until they reached the tree the bird was in.  They looked around, and saw the bird, still winking, four trees over.  Again, they climbed through the branches to reach it, and when they did, they saw it bouncing around on the same branch it was in before.

“We need a new approach,” Nocturne said, “If I could scare him, he might drop the bracelet, but I'd need to get close to him first.”

“Hmmm . . . I think I've got it,” Spike replied, signaling Nocturne to hold him up to an ear.  Nocturne did so, and Spike whispered his plan into the Pegasus' ear.  Nocturne's eyes widened as he listened, then narrowed slyly as he grinned.  This could work.  Still holding Spike up, Nocturne slipped down into the leaves, while Spike shouted, “Stupid bird! Stupid, stupid bird! We're going home! I hope we never see that stupid bird ever, ever again! Stupid bird!”  He then dropped into the branches along with Nocturne.

The Blitz Bird saw this, and grinned.  Taking the bracelet with him, he flew off into the tree Spike was in, found him, and perched right on a branch in front of him, giving another annoying wink.  Spike saw him, smiled back, and pointed up.  The bird looked up at the branch Spike pointed at, and . . .

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!”

A bat-winged demon with glowing red eyes roared at him, and he froze, whitening with fear.  He spat out the bracelet and dropped from the tree, while the horrible demon grabbed the bracelet in his teeth and chuckled, “Thank you, come again!”

Spike and Nocturne dropped from the tree and landed safely on the ground.  “Not bad, shorty, not bad,” Nocturne congratulated, “The little troublemaker never saw it coming.”

“Reverse psychology,” Spike explained, “Twilight pulls it on me all the time.”

“Impressive,” Nocturne nodded, “You know, if you weren't such an obnoxious brat, we might be able to get through this easier.”

Spike scoffed, “Says the pony who spent most of his life scaring ponies because he can.”

Nocturne raised an eyebrow, but relented, “. . . . . Fair enough.”

“Look, there it is!”

Deeper into the woods, Nocturne and Spike came to a steep cliff leading to a deep valley.  A weak root stuck out from the side, and hanging on the end of that root was the fourth and final bracelet.

“See?” Spike presented, “I knew this would be easy! I told you, didn't I?”

Nocturne rolled his eyes, “Must have been in another language, 'cause I sure didn't catch it—oh, no!” he suddenly cried, “He's back!”  Flapping through the air and gently landing on the root was the Blitz Bird; it eyed them with the smarmy leer of vengeance as it crept closer to the end of the root.

“Rats!” Spike yelled, “That little creep is gonna ruin everything! We can't let him take that bracelet!”

“Calm down, Spike!” Nocturne yelled back, “You made this mistake before! Don't let it happen again! That bird might not want to just keep the bracelet this time!”  As if to emphasize Nocturne's point, the bird crept closer to the bracelet with its leg out, as if to kick it off.

“Hey, let's get one thing straight here!” Spike bellowed back, “Just because you live here doesn't make you the leader of this little field trip! I'm just as qualified as you! I'm just as competent as you! I can do anything as well as you—!”

“ENOUGH!” Nocturne screamed over him, “I get it! You don't like me! I get that a lot! Frankly, I'm not too fond of you, either! And I get it, you think Rarity is sexy and you feel threatened when she's around me, I understand that! But this isn't about who's better than the other! It never was! This is about Rarity! You and I have to get our junk together and do this right! Now let's stop acting like a couple of jerks and get this over with!”

There was a long pause, and Spike sat down with a heavy sigh, “You're right. This is about Rarity. Man, she'd be so upset if she saw me like this . . .”

Nocturne lowered his head to meet him, “She won't be if we work together. We did it once, so we can do it again.”  He stuck out his free hoof, “Truce?”

Spike looked back up at Nocturne, and a look of resolve flashed in his eyes.  He nodded, grabbed Nocturne's hoof, and shook it.  All at once, there was a loud CLINK, and the two looked down to a shocking sight: the two bracelets that stuck them together had come apart, and they were free at last.

There was another, much longer, and much more awkward pause.  “Well . . .” Nocturne responded to this weirdness, “. . . . . . That's . . . . convenient . . .”

Spike glanced between the two bracelets, feeling odd himself, “Yeah . . . how 'bout that . . . ?”

The duo turned to another CLINK sound; the Blitz Bird, still smugly grinning at them, had kicked the bracelet off the root and into the valley below.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Nocturne and Spike both screamed and ran for the edge of the cliff.

“You're gonna have to spread those wings, Nocturne!” Spike warned, “You up for this?!”

“I said I only fly when I have to, didn't I?” he answered, “Hop on!”  Spike jumped onto Nocturne's back, and the Pegasus dove off the cliff, spreading his large black wings and speeding toward the falling bracelet.  He flapped hard, gaining on it, but it was too far away by now.

“If we lose it down there, it's gone forever!” Spike yelled over the wind, “Can't you go any faster?!”

“I'll need some extra momentum!” Nocturne called back, “You'll have to throw me!”

“WHAT?!” Spike yelled, incredulous, “Who do you think I am, Bulk Biceps?! Besides, if I throw you, who's gonna keep me from falling?!”

“Don't worry! I'll swing back up and catch you!”

“How do I know that?!”

“You're just gonna have to trust me!!” Nocturne bellowed.  As fast as they were going, they weren't going to make it in time to catch the bracelet.

Spike growled and relented, “Fine! Take my hand!”  Nocturne raised a hoof up to him, and Spike grabbed it, “One . . .”  Spike jumped off and pulled Nocturne's hoof through the air, Nocturne beating his wings ever faster, “Two . . . . . . . . THREE!”

Spike put everything he had into it and thrust Nocturne downward, and Nocturne pulled his wings in to reduce drag.  “Stay on target . . . . . . stay on target . . . . .” he muttered as he approached the bracelet; it was getting closer and closer to the dank woods on the bottom of the cliff.  A few yards . . . a few feet . . . only a few inches from touching a leaf on the highest tree . . .

“GOT IT!”

Nocturne slipped the bracelet on, and it tightened on his hoof.  He spread his wings and banked hard right, pulling back up; he could hear Spike screaming in terror, “HEEEEEEELP! CATCH MEEEEEE!!!”

Pressing a hoof to his hat, Nocturne pumped his wings hard, rose up higher, matched Spike's path with his own and . . .

Spike landed on Nocturne's back, safe and sound.  “Gotcha, kid,” he grinned, winking.  Spike panted and shook, but he smiled and winked back.  Mission accomplished.

Flapping hard, Nocturne flew back up to the top of the cliff and landed, and Spike disembarked, looking at both arms.  Nocturne looked at both of his front legs, and saw the same sight—one bracelet on each.

“They're all here,” Nocturne sighed in relief, “All the blasted things are here.”

“The worst is over!” Spike celebrated, “You know, that was pretty awesome, the way you made that tight turn on the way back up! I'll bet even Rainbow Dash would've had trouble pulling that off! And that was a good catch, too!”

Nocturne chuckled, “The bracelet, or you?”

Spike replied happily, “Both!”

Nocturne shrugged, “Eh . . . no hard feelings, Smaug. You got a mean swing.”  He gave the little dragon a tap on the back as the two made their way back out of the woods.

“You know,” Spike looked up at Nocturne as they walked, “You're a pretty cool guy, Nocturne.”

Nocturne smiled, “You're not so bad yourself, kid.”  In good spirits, the pair kept walking—normally, this time—back to Ponyville.  Along the way, Spike started snapping his fingers and humming a tune.  Nocturne heard it and recognized it, “Hey, I know that one. It's a folk ballad the Pegasi sing.”

“Yep,” Spike nodded, “Fluttershy taught it to me.”  Spike kept the beat perfectly, and soon, Nocturne joined him, tapping the rhythm out with his hooves as he walked.  Soon, the two had a full song going:

“As I flew across in the skyway, my wings began to ache,” Nocturne sang, a little shakily.

“I didn't know what to do, so I slowed, and flew low, and looked out, to see if I got a break,” Spike acted as his counterpoint.

“So then I stopped, landed on a highway, so I could find a break or twist.”

“There were no ponies up or down or sideways, I couldn't see a thing through the mist.”

“I trotted down to the end of the road, and in the fog, a mare, she appeared.”

“She said, 'Don't you worry, my friend, I'll take care, come with me, I'll set you free.'”

As Spike proceeded to harmonize, Nocturne stopped, his eyes stretching open.  That feeling of clarity, the feeling he'd gotten his first day back in Ponyville, had returned:

. . . . . . . . . . a stage.

Flashing lights.  Laughter.  Music.  Energy.  Happiness . . . . .  

It quickly changed.

Malfunctioning lights.  Derisive laughter.  Insults.  Fear.  Misery.

“Freak . . . . . . . . . .”

The burst of pain shot through Nocturne's head again as vague memories of his past returned.  He stopped the song and crouched, pressing his hooves to his head.

“Hey, Nocturne!” Spike ran to him and put a paw on his shoulder, “You okay? Say something! What's wrong?”

Nocturne felt the sharp pain in his head quickly vanish, and he shook his head to get himself together.  “Uhhh, nothing,” he replied, as easily as he could, “I'm fine. Just . . . exhausted, I guess. Come on, they'll be worried about us.”

“Oh, I'm soooooooo worried about them!” Rarity paced back and forth, fretting nonstop since Nocturne and Spike disappeared into the woods.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “The boys, or the bracelets?”

“Does it matter?!” Rarity snapped, “Oh, those silly trinkets! I put far too much stock in them, and now my little Spikey-bear and sweet Nocturne are out there, all alone, wandering those accursed woods! Oh, I never should have let them go!”

“Gee, I didn't know you cared.”

Rarity heard Nocturne's voice, and turned to see him trotting casually back up to them with a smile on his face, Spike on his back and separate from him, singing the last few lines of their song, “Naaa, naaa, naa-na-na, naaa, na-na-na . . .”

“They're back!” Fluttershy said, “Oh, we were so worried about you!”

Rarity was the first to greet them, though, “Oh, I'm so glad you're all right, my dears! I've been positively frantic waiting for you! Did you find them? Pleeeeeeeeease tell me you found them!!”

“Relax, Rarity,” Nocturne replied as he held up his hooves, and Spike did the same with his arms, “We got 'em.”  Indeed, each limb sported a shiny, sterling silver bracelet.

Rarity's eyes wavered with joy and she squealed, “Ooooooohh! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!! Oh, my darling friends, I'm so happy! I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you! Oh, thank you, Spikey, darling!”  She plucked him off of Nocturne's back, hugged him tightly, and kissed him three times on top of his head.  “Oh thank you, dear, sweet Nocturne!” she dropped Spike and embraced Nocturne, giving him a kiss each on both cheeks and his nose.

“Yeah,” Nocturne said as he wiped his cheek, “No problem.”

Spike, on the other hand, was on Cloud Nine, “Ohhhhhh . . . I no longer have a reason to use shampoo . . . . .”

Nocturne chuckled, “Not that you ever did . . . whoa, hold on there, hoss!”  He stepped in to catch a swooning Spike as he fell backwards, “I think somebody needs a ride home.”

“I'll take him,” Twilight said, using her magic to lift Spike onto her back, “So, I see you two finally got separated. How'd that happen?”

Nocturne's eyes narrowed, “That's something I'd like to discuss with you, Twilight. Or should I call you the orchestrator of today's events?”

Twilight seemed taken aback at this accusation, “Nocturne, what do you mean?”

“Don't give me that!” Nocturne gave a skeptical smirk, “There have been quite a few coincidences in the last few hours, too many for my taste. Spike and I butt heads for days, and today we end up stuck together because of your magic? You said you'd seen Rarity's bracelets before, so you obviously knew they'd be here for the rehearsal. You never even told us what this spell was supposed to do. And I have to agree with Spike, it's unlikely that you would misread anything, especially when it comes to magic. And to top it all off, as soon as Spike and I started cooperating, the spell wore off. We didn't even need the other two bracelets to undo the spell, so I'm betting it was just incentive.”

Twilight grinned sheepishly, “Are, uh, you accusing me of something?”

“Twilight, please,” Nocturne concluded, “I may be socially impaired, but I'm not stupid. You set us up. This was a lesson to teach Spike and me to get along, wasn't it?”

Twilight scrunched up her face and looked up with shifty eyes, “Maybe, maybe not . . .”

Applejack took a closer look at her and nodded, “Yep, she did it. I'd know that look anywhere.”

“Oh, what does it matter?” Rarity asked, “All's well that ends well, right? And if two of my favorite boys are closer now, it's all for the better!”  She winked at Nocturne, and he smiled back.

That's when Fluttershy stepped forward with the same smile, “That was really nice of you to help Rarity like that, Nocturne. I'm proud of you.”

Nocturne felt his face get warm, and he timidly pulled his hat down over his eyes, “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

Nocturne's Log

Day 6 of my return to the city

When I first met Spike the dragon, I thought he was an arrogant little creep with a lot of hot air, whose only goal in life was to annoy—and to put Rarity on a pedestal.  I can only imagine the things he had to say about me before today.  But being forced to work with him today has led me to believe that not all flaws should be held so firmly against somepony.  Sure, Spike can be a little hotheaded at times, and he definitely has more bark than bite most of the time.  But he's also a decent kid with a good head on his shoulders.  In fact, I sort of feel ashamed of myself that I had such thoughts about him—it makes me feel like I acted toward him the same way everypony else acts toward me; I judged him too quickly.

But like everypony else, I was still partially correct.

I also learned how difficult it can be to cooperate with somepony, especially if you've never really gotten along before.  But when two ponies—or in this case, a pony and a dragon—have a common goal, it makes things much easier, and solving a problem together can make you see that the pony you didn't like before is actually not so bad.  Spike and I even have quite a bit in common; we both care for our friends, we'd both do anything for them, and we both have guts—which, concerning his age and size, means a lot more for him than for me.  We even share tastes in music.  Who would've thought, right?

I have to remember to thank him for helping me get back some more of my memories.  Also, if this journal ever reaches Princess Celestia, I have to let her know how helpful Twilight has been.

And, also, what a sneaky, manipulative little snake she can be when she wants to.  Which, I guess, is not always a bad thing. Next Chapter: Somepony Put Your Hoof Out Estimated time remaining: 56 Minutes