"Twilight? I know you get pretty curious about stuff like this, but...is this really necessary?"

Spike's comments were understandable, given his predicament at this moment. Currently, he and his owner were in one of the science labs of Canterlot High, and while the place did not have the kind of air of focus or research that the girl's old lab at Crystal Prep once had, it nevertheless seemed to serve her purposes for now. As for Spike, he was sitting at one of the many desks there, with what appeared to be a colander with flashing lights strapped to his head. Though clearly unnerved by it all, it was not a sentiment shared by Twilight, who eagerly wrote note after note upon a clipboard she was holding. She smiled to herself, even as her dog's words sank in for her.

"Oh, Spike. Don't worry about it. Everything here is perfectly controlled and safe, I assure you."

Adjusting his helmet somewhat, the puppy gave the girl an odd look.

"Look, it's not that I don't trust you, it's that...well...I'm not really used to all this stuff."

Giggling slightly, Twilight patted him on his head as best she could, which wasn't easy, given his headwear at the time.

"I know it's a little odd, but I think we really do need to run some tests. I may have accepted magic in this world, but I'm still a scientist. Having my dog suddenly talk is something that has to be studied."

Spike sighed.

"Can't we just be glad we can talk to each other?"

Looking to him again, Twilight kept smiling.

"Of course we can. But, that's not going to stop me learning about it anyway!"

The dog rolled his eyes.

"Right, should've figured that."

As his master got to work, writing more notes and looking at nearby monitors, it was Spike who first noticed that they were very soon about to receive some company. His sensitive hearing had already picked up the approaching footsteps, and those instincts were right on the money, as the door of the lab then swung open. Here, both he and Twilight turned, smiling as they saw their friends enter. Sunset led the way, waving in greeting to the two in the lab. And behind her, was Applejack, who tipped her hat at the sight of them.

"Howdy, y'all!" she remarked.

Her smile widening, Twilight set her notes aside for now, walking closer to the two girls.

"I'm glad you got my message. Thank you so much for coming."

Applejack chuckled.

"Shoot, Twi! Ain't no problem here!"

Spike was glad to see the two girls, but his smile faded a little when he realised that they were not the only ones here today. For trailing behind Applejack, wearing a bright red leash, was a dog that Spike recognised as the farm girl's own pet, Winona. The new dog scratched her ear with her hind leg briefly, before then sniffing the air. It didn't take long for her to then notice Spike, and as she panted happily, she leapt forward, breaking free of Applejack's hold. As Spike scooted away from the edge of the table, he looked down as this new arrival cheerfully barked up at him, pawing at the table's legs, as if to reach him. Seeing this, Sunset stifled a laugh of her own.

"I think she likes you, Spike."

The purple dog frowned at this.

"Yeah, I noticed. Could you, um, you know...?"

Getting his message, Applejack smiled in an amused manner, walking forward and scooping up her own dog in her arms. As Winona licked her owner's face, Spike looked over to Twilight.

"Did you ask them to bring her?"

The young scientist, looking very pleased with herself, nodded to that.

"I did indeed. If I'm going to understand this, what's happened to you, I thought it might be worth seeing how you interact with other, non-affected dogs."

Spike scratched his head at that, looking at Winona in an unsure manner. Meanwhile, Sunset, who had been similarly-amused this whole time, walked up to Twilight, whispering over to her.

"I know you're curious about all this magic and talking dogs and stuff, Twilight, but take it from me. Trying to study this kind of stuff is just gonna end with confusion and frustration.

Looking to her, Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"You tried to study it too?"

Sunset nodded.

"I tried. And...well...let's just say it didn't end well. In fact..."

The former unicorn started looking around the room.

"...I think the room still hasn't quite recovered from it yet."

Curious, Twilight looked around herself, noticing a few scorch marks here and there.

"Huh...I was wondering where those came from."

But, soon afterwards, it was clear that the girl was not deterred, and turned to her pet yet again, still smiling.

"Well, no matter. There's still a lot to be learned, and I aim to learn it."

While Sunset shook her head at this, Spike looked to his master, looking a little concerned.

"Um, Twilight? Do we really have to do this?"

Looking to him, Twilight seemed confused.

"Are...are you okay, Spike? You never seemed this worried about spending time with dogs before."

The puppy shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I know, but...I don't know, it's like...like I'm not really that good around them since I changed. Now, it's like..."

Briefly, he turned to Winona, who was still letting her tongue hang out in a happy manner.

"...like they're all a bunch of strangers to me."

While Applejack and Sunset looked to him with sympathy, Twilight, by contrast, seemed, for lack of a better word, eager. She grabbed hold of her clipboard and started writing furiously, getting closer to Spike as she did so.

"Fascinating! It's like you're change has shifted your mind-set so you're closer to thinking like a human instead of an animal!"

Looking to her, Spike raised an eyebrow.

"Um...I guess?"

Smiling widely, Twilight let out a happy squeak.

"This is so great! By this time this is over, I'll be able to write an entire book on this!"

Naturally, Spike seemed exasperated on all of this, slapping his forehead with his paw in frustration. As for the other two girls, they smiled at each other over how oblivious Twilight was being. But, soon afterwards, they noted that the girl seemed to be deep in thought over something, which became all the clearer when she finally spoke up.

"Although...this will make phase two of my plan rather tricky."

Raising an eyebrow, Spike looked to her.

"Er...what's phase two?"

Glancing at him briefly, Twilight gave a small and earnest smile before getting back to her notes.

"Oh, nothing much, I was just gonna breed you two."

As one would expect, that wiped the smiles off all of her friends, as Spike took a fearful step backwards and Applejack held Winona closer to her.

"Like Hell ya will!" she called angrily.

Twilight looked up from her notes, confused at all of this.

"But...it's an important part of the study. If Spike has been fundamentally changed by this magic, we need to know if that change has gone right down to his genetics. If he has puppies with another dog, we may find out if these traits, like talking, can be passed down."

Looking away, Twilight's smile widened.

"We may even have the dawn of a whole new intelligent breed of dog on our hands!"

Again, she started writing enthusiastically, all while Spike looked in a pleading manner to the other two girls.

"Please stop her!" he whispered.

Sighing, Sunset shook her head, looking to Applejack with a calming expression. Looking to her, the farm girl got the message, and let out a deep exhale to pull herself back a little. Afterwards, the former unicorn started to walk towards Twilight, placing a hand upon her shoulder and gaining her attention.

"Twilight...I understand that you want to know more. Believe me, there was a time when I too wanted to learn all there was to learn. But maybe...just sometimes...we can accept things for what they are?"

Here, Twilight frowned, prompting Sunset to continue.

"Look, a while back, Princess Twilight told me a story. It was about her and the Pinkie of Equestria. There was a time when Pinkie did something she didn't understand, and she spent all day trying to study her and get her head around it."

Her expression softening, Twilight watched as her friend carried on.

"In the end, Twilight accepted that there were some things she couldn't understand, and so simply accepted that her friend could do those things."

An air of calm permeated the room, and Spike looked to both his master and her friend, waiting for somebody to speak up again. In the end, it was Twilight who did so, speaking up with a frown.

"What?! She just accepted it? But...but that goes against the very idea of science!"

Sunset sighed.

"Yeah, I know, but it was a whole lesson on acceptance and tolerance and stuff, so...you know."

Twilight also sighed, giving a brief nod.

"Okay, I get the picture. I guess...I can cut out breeding Spike."

The dog laid on his belly, letting out an exhale of immense relief.

"Oh, thank you!"

Unfortunately, this was short-lived, as Twilights face lit up again.

"But, in the spirit of discovery, I will continue to study him in every other way!"

Sunset smiled and nodded.

"Deal!"

Hearing that, Spike looked aghast.

"Wait, what?!"

Looking to him, Sunset shrugged.

"Hey, let's face it. This is the only compromise she'll give no matter what we say!"

Spike, realising this, planted his face firmly into the table.

"Ugh! Fine! So I get to keep being a guinea pig for Twilight's experiments? Yay!"

Not noticing the sarcasm in his voice, Twilight smiled, patting him on the head.

"That's the spirit, Spike!"