After consuming large amounts of edible material -- recent events showing it does not necessarily have to be seen as "food" -- the creatures undergo what can best be described as "spontaneous parthenogenesis." Essentially, a new, fully grown parasprite is orally expelled from the progenitor. In basic term, after one eats who knows how much food, they "burp" out a new one.

Note: the newly created ones do not seem to be an exact duplicate of the previous. At the very least, there is a variation in coloration. Due to the events and consequences thereof, more information on potential differences was unobserved, as were possible causes. Is the change a genetic marker that is set with each birth based on prior markings?Could it be reflective of the food that was consumed? Could it simply be a random anomaly to permit genetic variation? Should such a thing be possible, controlled study of this would be of great interest in the future.

The sound of the library door slamming shut drew Shining Armor from his writing. Setting the quill aside, he looked to check the time. The young stallion's eyes went wide. He had no idea that it had been that late already. No wonder he felt hungry, he had skipped lunch.

Getting up, Shining Armor headed toward the main room of the library, and immediately stopped as he caught sight of his little sister.

Twilight Sparkle held her head low as she stomped through the library, ears pinned back against her head.

"Something wrong at school, Twiley?" Shining Armor asked.

"No," she replied, not looking at him. "School was fine."

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow and moved closer, stepping to stand beside his little sister.

"So what's got you so upset?"

"I bet she and Pound had a fight," Spike called out from his spot on the ladder.

"No!" Twilight snapped. "Not that we would." Her cheeks started to turn pink. "I mean... It's not like it's any of your business anyways."

"But you're so cute together," Spike cooed out, clasping his claws together.

"SPIKE!"

Twilight's reaction only got a round of laughter from young dragon before he returned to shelving books. Shining had to stifle his own desire to laugh at how red his sister's face had been turning. Her feelings toward Pound Cake were no secret after the day after The Grand Galloping Gala, but it has been kind of a sensitive subject for the filly. She had not really said much on the matter since. Twilight still hung out with the Cake twins, as well as the other crusaders, but whether or not she and Pound had some sort of foalhood love was kind of up in the air.

"Okay," Shining said as he placed a hoof on his sister's shoulder, "so what's got you so upset?"

Twilight stared at him a moment, then let out a sigh and sagged slightly.

"Miss Cheerilee is taking her class on a field trip to The Royal Canterlot Gardens."

"Aww..." Shining pulled his sister into a hug and ruffled her mane. "Don't worry. You'll see them when they get back."

"That's not it," Twilight grumbled, reaching up to fix her mane. "They get to go to Canterlot, to see the gardens, and learn about them."

Shining Armor stared at his sister a moment, trying to process what she was saying and make sure he understood the problem. Twilight liked school, and learning, so she would not want to go on a field trip to have the chance to miss out on learning something. In point of fact, if Twilight went on a field trip, she would want to do so to learn as much as she could from it.

"So," he said slowly to be sure, "you're disappointed you don't get to go on an educational trip?"

"Yeah," Twilight replied, rolling her eyes as if it should have been completely obvious from the beginning.

"Uh, Twi?" Spike called out as he climbed down the ladder. "You used to live in Canterlot. You've been to the royal gardens a bunch of times when you visited Shining Armor."

"But this is different," Twilight replied. "This would be an official, educational visit. We would get to learn all sorts of interesting things about the plants, and animals, and statues there."

"You mean like you've asked about every time you were out there and looked up in the library?" Spike asked, crossing his arms to stare at the filly. "I mean, seriously Twi, you could probably give tours and inform visitors about it all by now."

Twilight's ears perked up, her eyes going wide as she turned to look at Spike. She jumped away from her brother, bouncing excitedly.

"You really think so?" she squealed out, grinning. "That would be so amazing. I could teach other ponies, and see the princesses, and get to see the gardens every day."

Straightening up, she gave a cough to clear her throat.

"On your left," she said in her most professional voice, "you will see the muses. Each represents the inspiration of a different art, including: literature, poetry, music, and dance. Ahead on your right is a statue of Discord, a creature believed to have created chaos and disharmony among ponies until his defeat." Twilight suddenly froze, eyes going wide. She let out a gasp and turns to face her brother.

"What if he comes back?"

The sudden mood swing and change of subject threw Shining Armor off balanced, leaving him confused for a moment?

"What? What if who comes back?"

"Discord," Twilight answered. "What if he comes back and tries to send the world into chaos again?"

"It's just an old story," Spike said.

"That's what they said about Nightmare Moon," Twilight retorted, turning to glare at the dragon. Spike opened his mouth to retort, paused, closed it, and gave a shrug.

"True," he conceded. "I got nothing."

"Relax, Twiley," Shining Armor said. "We have no way of knowing if that could happen, or when." He wrapped a foreleg around her neck. "But if it does, The Elements of Harmony should be able to stop him again."

"I hope so," Twilight said to herself. "I don't want to see Equestria thrown into chaos. I live here and so do my friends."

"So it would be okay if it happened somewhere else?" Shining asked, smirking.

"No." Twilight started to pull away. "Anyway, I have some homework I need to get to work on."