Rediscovery

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

----

Spike had waited at the statue before Canterlot High every night of the full moon since he'd come to this world.

And almost without fail, nothing happened. The outlier, the one difference had been when Sunset Shimmer had come through the portal.

This night he watched her return.

Her glare had focused on him, watching as he did nothing but sit and wait. He hadn't gotten up, hadn't said anything.

As much as he wanted to, he knew she wouldn't listen.

----

Gingerly she set one hand against the stone, watching it sink in with some resistance. She pulled her hand free and looked behind her.

She jumped when she saw Spike was only a step behind her. Flinched when he reached over her shoulder and set his palm against the cool stone. Stared when his elbow bent at the force as he failed to go through.

"Same as every other night I've tried this." He smiled at her, contrary to the bitterness in his voice. He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Good luck, Sunset." He stepped by her and went around the statue, turning the corner sharply.

"Thorn wait!" She moved to follow him, grabbing the corner to look around it.

She saw nothing but the wide, empty street. Her view unobstructed for blocks beyond.

A tremor ran through her, one she blamed on the cool autumn air.

That wasn't supposed to be possible.

Not here.

"You don't have to do this."

"Teacher or student alike, I'm sure all of them would help you succeed if you just asked.

She firmed her resolve, shoved away her hesitation with pride.

He didn't know anything about her!

They'd already proven him wrong!

He had to be wrong.

Right?

----

The sun was shining, birds were singing. It was a beautiful day outside.

One he almost wished he was spending inside.

He'd never lingered around the portal during the daytime. It wasn't really placed in a location he could just loiter indiscriminately.

He could already feel the other kids nearby staring at him, trying to place him.

This had been a bad idea. It had to be.

Twilight had done just fine the first time around, hadn't she? He didn't need to be here...

He glanced at his phone, checking the time.

Still on lunch.

He quelled his nervousness, shoving it aside with determination.

He'd watched Sunset Shimmer return through the portal earlier that morning, stuffing a crown into her backpack before taking flight.

She hadn't noticed him.

He hoped.

He watched the statue. And he waited.

He didn't have to wait long.

Someone melted through the stone.

An instant later, he did too.

Show time.

----

"But... I have no idea what you are." A little purple puppy said to her. Her puppy, her dragon, her friend. Spike.

She raised her hooves up, looking at the digits that she didn't recognize and willed them to flex.

It had been kind of like gaining wings. The muscles were there, the body knew what to do but she didn't.

They bent, moving in the sequence she thought.

She inhaled.

Her panic bubbled to a boiling point.

A digit pressed itself against her lips, distracting her and ripping her attention away from her own state.

Somepony stood in front of her, one digit pressed up against their own lips in a silent gesture she vaguely recognized to mean 'Shh!'.

"Hey!" Spike yelled. "Get your paws offa her!"

"Here." He pulled his appendage away from her face and held it in front of her, the bottom of it facing up. "Give me your hand."

She hesitated.

He'd been here when she arrived, hadn't he? He'd been waiting here...

She walked past him instead.

"Spike, come on!" He looked between her and the stranger who simply grinned and followed.

"Folks here are going to think it's weird if you walk on all four." Twilight hesitated and looked up at him. The way he was talking, he knew she wasn't from here. She couldn't doubt that.

"What do you mean? How do ponies here walk?" He was standing on two feet, he'd taken two steps with her before he'd spoken.

Was that what he meant?

He offered his... What had he called it? That thing was a hand? He offered it again and she took it this time. Rising unsteadily to her hooves and pushing against him.

She took one step on her hind hooves and stumbled.

"Twilight!" Her number one assistant yelled.

But didn't fall. The person holding her up caught her as she fell, stumbling with her.

"Th-thank you..." If keeping her balance was going to be this hard, getting her crown back was going to be a lot harder than she'd thought.

"You're not with Sunset Shimmer, are you?" He knew she didn't belong. If he was some sort of trap set by Sunset Shimmer, he was doing a pretty bad job of it.

"Nah, she had the same trouble you did when she came through, though." Well, that at least made sense.

Wait. No it didn't!

"You were here when Sunset Shimmer came through? Did you see where she took my crown?" Being met at the door with a clue? It was too good to be true!

"I mean when she came through last year. Couldn't stand on her feet, couldn't use her hands and nearly lost it when she realized she didn't have her horn." It was strange, the emphasis he was putting on those words, like...

Oh.

Oh!

Oh no!

Her hand flew up to her forehead, smacking against her face.

She didn't have her horn!

What good was her magic without a horn?!

"Unicorn, then." Unicorn? What was that supposed to...

He'd tested her. Clever...

"Easy there, just lean on me. It'll take some getting used to." She looked down, moving her feet the same way he moved his. A few steps later and she let go, wobbling a little as she walked on her own. "There you go, that's it!"

That smile on his face, he looked so genuinely happy to see her succeed.

He opened the door in front of her, letting her into the castle first.

She turned around, a thank you dying on her lips when she saw nopony behind her.

Author's Notes:

I set up clue after clue for what's going to happen.
I wonder how many I'm actually going to use, and how many are just going to be false leads to dead ends.

That said, I know where I'm going with this.
I just have no idea how we're getting there.