Rediscovery

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, nor am I profiting off this literary venture.

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Twilight Sparkle had slowly turned into a frazzled, nervous mess. Whereas before she worked on her own projects, reading advanced books that left everyone else scratching their heads, now she was acting like a shadow, hounding the heels of Spike, Shining Armor or her parents.

They understood, she was dealing with the loss of a friendship older than her own memory, but her family and friend were at a loss on how to console her.

Spike had rearranged his fledgling lawnmowing business, most of his patrons understanding completely.

Except Mr.Henderson. He'd gone missing, Spike wasn't willing to find out where.

Shining Armor had taken to playing board games with his sister, discussing whatever fiction books with her they'd both read.

Daring Do, also written by Yearling here. The fact or fiction of her stories wasn't up for debate for most. Spike hadn't brought up the possibility of the writing being an autobiography.

It had been a week since things had... Happened, and Shining Armor was supposed to be heading back to station at the end of his leave.

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Spike was enjoying the quiet in his room late that night. School would be resuming soon and he'd be returning to Crystal Prep High, just like every other kid.

Except the ones going to Canterlot.

He'd been practicing on nights like these, placing and pulling on objects from nearby. Trying to set them up or stack them in increasingly complex ways.

He didn't need to feel some strong emotion to trigger this little bit of magic anymore. His confidence, his certainty seemed to be enough.

He was juggling his cellphone, a calculator and a particularly shiny rock he'd found one day while mowing when his phone went off, prompting him to drop everything.

Literally.

He snatched his phone off the ground by the third ring and flipped it open.

Twilight.

He pressed connect.

"Hey Twilight." He was tired. He'd done three lawns today with a rusty old piece of junk and it could definitely be heard.

"Spikeyouwon'tbelievewhathappened! ShiningArmorgotmeapuppyhe'sthebestBBBFFever!" What?

"What was that Twilight? I think you might need to-"

"Shining Armor got a puppy for me!" That was what he thought he'd heard. "He's absolutely adorable! He's small and he's purple and he's got these green patches and Shining Armor said he already had a name but it would be kind of awkward because-"

Spike pulled the phone away from his ear, just an inch. She was getting louder and faster the longer she spoke.

"He's named Spike?" He'd kind of expected this. Twilight had an analogue here, she was his best friend. But the more things that were different...

"How'd you guess? But he's still young enough, I can give him a different name. Maybe-"

"Does he seem like a Spike?" The more they stayed the same. "Sorry, Twilight. I know how much you hate to get interrupted like this but-"

"It's fine. I was getting overexcited, I know." Spike frowned at her tone. He was going to have to do something tomorrow. Milkshakes, he decided. And dog treats. "He does seem kind of like a Spike, you know? It kind of just, I know it sounds silly, but I think that name is meant for him."

"Then I'll live with the confusion. It's not a good idea to fight destiny Twilight. Bad things happen."

"What do you mean? Does this have anything to do with... Before?" Before? Before what?

"What do you mean, Twilight? Before what?"

"Before you came to Crystal Prep. You... You mentioned going to a foster home, and-and being in the hospital before that a while ago. I just- Sorry I mentioned it." Spike closed his eyes and flopped down on the bed. He hated when she got like this, when she was afraid to say whatever she was thinking.

"It's fine Twilight, you got nothing to be sorry about." Too clever, too clever by far. "It's a story where I come from, is all."

"Oh, alright. Do you want to tell me about it?" She'd perked right back up in an instant.

She knew he wouldn't get upset about her asking questions.

Didn't she?

"It's a long story, so I'll just give you the cliff notes, alright?"

"If it's good I'll want to hear the rest of it, you know that."

"That's fine. Tomorrow is free anyway. So anyway... You know I don't like doing this over the phone, right?"

"Quit stalling, Spike! You promised me a story." There was that fire. He grinned up at the ceiling, thrilled to have gotten something out of her other than somber moping.

"Alright, alright. I'm kind of jumping to the end of the story as I know it, so here's a summary of the characters. Two girls were born of the earth, their bodies tough as the mountains and strong as the ox. Two girls were born of the sky. One as swift as lightning and the other gentle as a breeze but tough as a gale. The last two girls were born of neither sky or earth, but of the lands unseen, of magic and mystique." Twilight listened intently from the other end of the line.

Or set her phone down, she could do that too.

"One of them, one of the girls born to magic had, through great trials and greater strength of heart, broke through the trappings of her tribe and was gifted the wings of the sky and the bones of the mountain. This girl is the hero of our story. She and her faithful companion, a baby dragon gifted to her by her mentor, hatched from her own magic as a small child."

"Not long in the past, She and her friends had encountered a sorceress, a woman of immense power. She was nursing a hurt in her heart, feeding it false truths so it would feed her strength. She used her magics to strip away from people their talents, their hearts desire so that all would be equal. All would be the same. All except her. The heroine and her friends had exposed her plan, broke her spell and freed the people trapped by her curse, but the sorceress, while not as powerful as the heroine, was at least her equal in skill and so she escaped. Hiding in the wilds, passing anonymously through the towns and hamlets that dotted the lands."

"Somehow, though none are certain when or how she had accomplished it, she broke into the royal archives of the princesses of the sun and the moon. She stole a scroll, ancient and forgotten by all but the most dedicated scribes. One that was written by someone who was considered the most talented user of magic to ever exist. Someone who freely traveled across time and reality on a whim. Someone whose magic was unmatched, but someone whose heart remained forever cold."

"The sorceress finished a spell he could not, one that would allow her to freely alter the past, and rewrite the present. She used this magic to challenge the hero, to make her triumphs into failures, to allow monsters and beasts to rule the realm. And yet every step of the way the hero matched her. She and her dragon followed her through time and space, trying to convince her to stop, to tell her that in her talent she was unique, she was special and should be treasured."

"It wasn't until she saw the consequences of her choices, saw a barren world of perpetual... Dusk that she finally stopped to ask why. 'Why are you and your friends so important? How can your friendship stop this? All of this?'. The hero said she did not know, she could not explain how her fate was interwoven to the destiny of the world." Spike was getting tired and he was sure he heard a yawn over the phone. Twilight was still listening at least.

"Seeing her failures, each worse than the last, the sorceress hung her head in defeat. She told the hero that she would accept whatever punishment she saw fit."

"Do you know what her punishment was, Twilight?"

"No Spike. What was it?" And listening attentively at that.

"You will be our friend, Sorceress. You are just as important to this world as we are, and we want you to see it." Spike had enjoyed this, the reminder of Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. He wondered if Twilight Sparkle, smartest girl in Crystal Prep had enjoyed his mediocre storytelling as well.

"Hey Spike?" She sounded drowsy, probably ready to fall right to bed.

"Yeah?" He certainly was.

"You'll have to tell me more tomorrow, alright?"

"I'd love to, Twilight."