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magicalrealist((Set to the tail end of MLJ's Magical Mystery Cure event))
"Twilight! Twilight, we need your help with fixing everypony’s cutie marks!" Spike calls out while rampantly knocking on Twilight’s door. The young dragon had just about enough of this cutie mark exchange and set out to undo it all. Princess Twilight was already working through the first batch of swapped ponies, but there are simply too many of them for one Twilight to handle; they needed every element of magic they could get…especially the element of magic who got caught in the madness.
Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville’s magical party planner, tilted her head slightly as she opened the door. "What’s there to fix, Spike? Are you sure you didn’t just eat too much ice cream again?"
He furiously shakes his head. "It's not the ice cream; cutie marks got switched again, but it's affecting a lot more than six ponies."
"'Again?'" The unicorn rubs her chin. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember if that happened. Just think of how kooky things would get! Like if Zetta was the evil overlord or if Punchie a party planner. It'd be a total wreck!" The mere thought of such insanity makes her laugh.
"But Zetta is an evil overlord! And Punchie...uhh, Pinkie is the party planner! Don't you remember--"
"I remember always being the one arranging Ponyville's parties, from birthdays to bashes to bar mitzvahs! I've arranged parties ever since I went to my favoritest favorite party of them all: the Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight claps her front hooves together. "Did I ever tell you that story, Spike? Ever since I saw Princess Celestia raise the sun and saw all of the other ponies get so excited over that grand finale, I knew I was born for partying! I got my start with Lyra's birthday party. You should've seen the look on her face when she walked into class the next day and everyone sang happy birthday! That was the happiest I saw her yet! And she was really happy to play pin the jeans on the human..."
Spike's concerns simultaneously halted and accelerated. This conversation leaped off the rails at Sonic Rainboom speeds, but his worries grew at the realization of how deep in the madness the unicorn is. "...But what about all of that time you spent studying magic? What about Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?" He paused. "What about me?"
Twilight merely waves a dismissive hoof. "You're confusing me with Pinkie. She's the princess' prized pupil, silly!"
The dragon's claws began fiddling with each other. It's painfully obvious how little help she'll be in this condition, but this? Hearing so much of her story be rewritten felt wrong. "...And Mayfield?"
"Pretty bleak, but nothing a good bunch of parties couldn't fix! You actually caught me when I was putting together a scrapbook of everyone I remember from there. It's got a long way to go, but I can show you what's finished so far. Come on!" Twilight beckons the dragon into her room while she digs through her room for the appropriate book. Hints of the original organization are there, but much of it has been covered with bright decorations and the floor littered with confetti. This isn't the kind of organization Twilight would tolerate. Not even the digital one. With a raised eyebrow and a lowered morale, Spike enters the oddly unfamiliar pony's room. A book is suddenly levitated up to his face, the pages turned to a particular cowboy.
"This is Hol Horse! Funny name, huh? He may look like a mean old grumpy grump, but he's kind where it counts. and he plays a mean game of Monopoly; we finished the whole game in one sitting!" She laughs lightly as she sits on her haunches and turns the page, setting the book down on the floor and showing the next person. "This is Gakupo. He's a singer and an android! He winked at me one time during one of his performances and it was one of the most amazing things I remember because you're supposed to get really excited when someone winks at you or gestures towards you while they're performing. It. Was. AWESOME!" She giddily vibrates in place while recalling the memory.
Spike listened to these tales with confusion washing over him. They sounded at least somewhat like things Twilight would do (though he never could get through Monopoly in one sitting) and despite her diction, he began believing them...but were they the truth? Or were they part of the cutie mark mismatch? He wasn't sure; much of Twilight's behavior this past week was questionable, but there's such sincerity in her actions and her words...and this new life of hers sounds much happier than the other one. She deserves happiness, he thought. Is it selfish to want to take that happiness away from her to change her back to what she was? Is it okay to lie to her so she could stay happy?
"...Twilight?"
"Yeah, Spike?"
"Are...are you happy with how you are?"
Twilight better turns to face him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...with being you. As you are right now."
"Of course I'm happy being me. I'm me!"
The young assistant closes his eyes. "...Even with the whole...clone thing?"
"Even with the clone thing. Having that much in common with someone else doesn't mean I'm completely like them. It just means part of me includes being like someone else. Twilight and I could have a lot of fun with this, if we tried it out!" She jokes, offering him a smile with her words.
"Oh...I see." Her words sounded slightly more like the Twilight he knows, once he did away with the decor of the room. Not much, but the resemblance was closer. He exhales through his nose, his eyes opening and looking down at the confetti-covered floor.
Seeing Spike so worried set off Twilight's own concern, leading to a foreleg wrapping around him. "What's wrong, Spike? You sound so sad."
"I'm fine," he bluffs, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "I just...didn't think this was part of you. I still don't think it is...and I kinda don't want to, but I realized that I don't know as much about you as I thought." His pause only raises questions in Twilight's mind, who remains silent as she lets him continue. "Before this week, you were just like Princess Twilight in so many ways. That bothered you a lot, when you came here. You even acted strange around me, at the time...and it was hard to see you so down, especially when I didn't know what I could do to help. I didn't understand much of it, but you wanted to set yourself apart from her. You didn't like having so many things in common with her..."
"With your Twilight?"
"Yeah...with my Twilight." He stands back up and approaches her desk, looking over the various notes and items scattered across the top. "You wanted to be different, but at the same time, you didn't want to let go of all of that. It's a lot to leave behind. It's just...really strange seeing you like this. You may not be the Twilight of this Equestria, but that doesn't mean I won't want to be your assistant, too." He picks up the scattered notes and neatly stacks them on her desk, arranging them in the order he best knew she preferred. "I just don't want to see you that sad again...especially since I only know half of who you are."
He looks back at her. "Besides, if the part of you that's Twilight became Pinkie, then maybe the rest of you is still the same. I'm familiar with that part of you. That part of you learned to do things even Princess Twilight can't do! You learned how to wield a sword, how to fly without wings, you learned that crazy projectile magic, demon summoning...you're even a superhero! Precure, right? You promised you'd show it to me one day..." His smile begins to tremble as he looks back at the items on her desk, picking up a page of notes and the item she showed him when she first told him about Precures. He holds them out to Twilight for her to inspect. "I guess if party planner is in that list, then who am I to say that's not the real you? You're still figuring that out for yourself, right?"
Twilight levitates the items closer to her, the dragon sitting beside her. "It's like you said: you're happy being you because you're you. Even if you're partially someone else..." He wraps an arm around her, voice beginning to crack. "You don't have to be like Twilight, if you don't want to. You don't even have to call yourself Twilight anymore. You could be Party Favor or Disco Fever...anything you want. As long as it's you...as long as you're happy with you, I'll be okay with it. I just want to be your assistant, too...because even if you're not Twilight, you're still one of my very best friends. No digital town or cutie mark can take that away."
He rubs his watering eyes to better look up at the unicorn with a smile. "So...when's your next party? I bet it'll be as great as your sleepover. I can put together a checklist, if you have a list already...I'll get a scroll and quill." Spike makes a rather hurried dash to the desk to get together the things he'll need for the list. If Twilight has Pinkie's energy now, then his writing speed will get a good workout. Both of his hands clutch the desk as tightly as his eyes shut, trying to hold that brave face for the unicorn behind him. "...I think allergy season is coming early this year," he sniffles.
Twilight looked between the dragon and the floating page of notes. The various runes and remarks about demons would make little sense to most readers, but to the unicorn, it all made perfect sense. Strange, considering she never picked up a spell book in her life. The more she read, the more she understood what those symbols and words meant. It felt as natural as baking and decorating.
The Precure item next receives her attention. It's a lovely pocket mirror, she thinks to herself, but how could she use this to become a superhero? She doesn't recall ever getting this item, but at the same time, she feels so comfortable with it, just like those notes. Spike mentioned her showing this to him before, but she doesn't remember that, either. She just remembers a flash of light that engulfed her and let her save Mako from that worm...
...She feels a gentle moisture on her cheek and wipes it off with a hoof. Where did that come from? Where did any of this come from? Why did she feel her horn glow ready for a spell? Looking back at that page, she follows the instructions and a moment later, a strange, fairy-like creature hovers beside her. She rears her head back in surprise, looking between the page and the demon. How did she summon a living creature with such ease? Turning to her left, her horn glows again and she summons an ensemble of small red projectiles, watching them dance in midair. Twilight gasps as her eyes go wide and she sits there, speechless and paying no mind to the flash of light on her flank.
Spike pretends to be ready to take notes, his hand quivering as tears drip across the page. The relative silence unnerved him and made him anxious for a response. Any response. Just as long as he could hear her voice. "Do you...do you need a minute, Twilight?"
The unicorn's shocked expression melts away into a smile as she blinks the tears out of her eyes. "No...no, I'm ready." She sets the page aside and levitates the mirror directly in front of her. "First, I ready my device. I named it the Midnight Dial. Second, I summon my Heart Seed, a necessary item for the transformation...."
Slowly, Spike turns back around to face Twilight, whose teary smile meets his stare. "Then...then I say the magic words. After I say them, I insert my Heart Seed into the dial and spin it. The rest takes care of itself." Twilight stands back up on her hooves, giving Spike a better view of the star-shaped picture on her flank. "Precure...open my heart."
Twilight inserts the seed into the dial and spins it, as she said. After being engulfed in a flash of light, the precure's form becomes visible.
"The darkness from which dreams and nightmares arise...Cure Nocturne."
The dragon wastes no time in rushing towards Twilight, welcoming her back with a hug she happily returns. Spike already spoke earlier, so this embrace is silent. Long and silent.
The silence doesn't last, however, as a giggle slips past Twilight's lips. "...Disco Fever? Really, Spike?"
He gives his own weak giggle. "Gimme a break, Twilight; it was the best I could think of."
As she wipes her eyes, Twilight levitates the dragon onto her back while sending away the miniature projectiles. "Tell you what: how about we try thinking of a better one while fixing everyone's cutie marks?"
Spike nods. "Sure thing...Cure Nocturne. What about your friend here?" He gestures towards the fairy-like creature.
"This is Pixie. She might not help with the naming, but she might help with the main goal. Do you feel up for it, Pixie?" She asks, turning her attention towards the demon. She shrugs in response and joins Spike in hitching a ride on Twilight.
Spike smiles at Pixie before nodding to Twilight once more. "Let's do it."
Twilight sets the open book on the desk before opening the door and charging through to the cutie mark restoration. Her room lays unoccupied for the moment before the precure returns, poking her head in and shaking her head disapprovingly. With a glow of her horn, the party favors and confetti are done away with and the lack of organization is rectified, straightening out her books and notes. Once she's content with the arrangement, she confidently nods before leaving and closing the door behind her.
"Twilight! Twilight, we need your help with fixing everypony’s cutie marks!" Spike calls out while rampantly knocking on Twilight’s door. The young dragon had just about enough of this cutie mark exchange and set out to undo it all. Princess Twilight was already working through the first batch of swapped ponies, but there are simply too many of them for one Twilight to handle; they needed every element of magic they could get…especially the element of magic who got caught in the madness.
Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville’s magical party planner, tilted her head slightly as she opened the door. "What’s there to fix, Spike? Are you sure you didn’t just eat too much ice cream again?"
He furiously shakes his head. "It's not the ice cream; cutie marks got switched again, but it's affecting a lot more than six ponies."
"'Again?'" The unicorn rubs her chin. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember if that happened. Just think of how kooky things would get! Like if Zetta was the evil overlord or if Punchie a party planner. It'd be a total wreck!" The mere thought of such insanity makes her laugh.
"But Zetta is an evil overlord! And Punchie...uhh, Pinkie is the party planner! Don't you remember--"
"I remember always being the one arranging Ponyville's parties, from birthdays to bashes to bar mitzvahs! I've arranged parties ever since I went to my favoritest favorite party of them all: the Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight claps her front hooves together. "Did I ever tell you that story, Spike? Ever since I saw Princess Celestia raise the sun and saw all of the other ponies get so excited over that grand finale, I knew I was born for partying! I got my start with Lyra's birthday party. You should've seen the look on her face when she walked into class the next day and everyone sang happy birthday! That was the happiest I saw her yet! And she was really happy to play pin the jeans on the human..."
Spike's concerns simultaneously halted and accelerated. This conversation leaped off the rails at Sonic Rainboom speeds, but his worries grew at the realization of how deep in the madness the unicorn is. "...But what about all of that time you spent studying magic? What about Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?" He paused. "What about me?"
Twilight merely waves a dismissive hoof. "You're confusing me with Pinkie. She's the princess' prized pupil, silly!"
The dragon's claws began fiddling with each other. It's painfully obvious how little help she'll be in this condition, but this? Hearing so much of her story be rewritten felt wrong. "...And Mayfield?"
"Pretty bleak, but nothing a good bunch of parties couldn't fix! You actually caught me when I was putting together a scrapbook of everyone I remember from there. It's got a long way to go, but I can show you what's finished so far. Come on!" Twilight beckons the dragon into her room while she digs through her room for the appropriate book. Hints of the original organization are there, but much of it has been covered with bright decorations and the floor littered with confetti. This isn't the kind of organization Twilight would tolerate. Not even the digital one. With a raised eyebrow and a lowered morale, Spike enters the oddly unfamiliar pony's room. A book is suddenly levitated up to his face, the pages turned to a particular cowboy.
"This is Hol Horse! Funny name, huh? He may look like a mean old grumpy grump, but he's kind where it counts. and he plays a mean game of Monopoly; we finished the whole game in one sitting!" She laughs lightly as she sits on her haunches and turns the page, setting the book down on the floor and showing the next person. "This is Gakupo. He's a singer and an android! He winked at me one time during one of his performances and it was one of the most amazing things I remember because you're supposed to get really excited when someone winks at you or gestures towards you while they're performing. It. Was. AWESOME!" She giddily vibrates in place while recalling the memory.
Spike listened to these tales with confusion washing over him. They sounded at least somewhat like things Twilight would do (though he never could get through Monopoly in one sitting) and despite her diction, he began believing them...but were they the truth? Or were they part of the cutie mark mismatch? He wasn't sure; much of Twilight's behavior this past week was questionable, but there's such sincerity in her actions and her words...and this new life of hers sounds much happier than the other one. She deserves happiness, he thought. Is it selfish to want to take that happiness away from her to change her back to what she was? Is it okay to lie to her so she could stay happy?
"...Twilight?"
"Yeah, Spike?"
"Are...are you happy with how you are?"
Twilight better turns to face him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...with being you. As you are right now."
"Of course I'm happy being me. I'm me!"
The young assistant closes his eyes. "...Even with the whole...clone thing?"
"Even with the clone thing. Having that much in common with someone else doesn't mean I'm completely like them. It just means part of me includes being like someone else. Twilight and I could have a lot of fun with this, if we tried it out!" She jokes, offering him a smile with her words.
"Oh...I see." Her words sounded slightly more like the Twilight he knows, once he did away with the decor of the room. Not much, but the resemblance was closer. He exhales through his nose, his eyes opening and looking down at the confetti-covered floor.
Seeing Spike so worried set off Twilight's own concern, leading to a foreleg wrapping around him. "What's wrong, Spike? You sound so sad."
"I'm fine," he bluffs, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "I just...didn't think this was part of you. I still don't think it is...and I kinda don't want to, but I realized that I don't know as much about you as I thought." His pause only raises questions in Twilight's mind, who remains silent as she lets him continue. "Before this week, you were just like Princess Twilight in so many ways. That bothered you a lot, when you came here. You even acted strange around me, at the time...and it was hard to see you so down, especially when I didn't know what I could do to help. I didn't understand much of it, but you wanted to set yourself apart from her. You didn't like having so many things in common with her..."
"With your Twilight?"
"Yeah...with my Twilight." He stands back up and approaches her desk, looking over the various notes and items scattered across the top. "You wanted to be different, but at the same time, you didn't want to let go of all of that. It's a lot to leave behind. It's just...really strange seeing you like this. You may not be the Twilight of this Equestria, but that doesn't mean I won't want to be your assistant, too." He picks up the scattered notes and neatly stacks them on her desk, arranging them in the order he best knew she preferred. "I just don't want to see you that sad again...especially since I only know half of who you are."
He looks back at her. "Besides, if the part of you that's Twilight became Pinkie, then maybe the rest of you is still the same. I'm familiar with that part of you. That part of you learned to do things even Princess Twilight can't do! You learned how to wield a sword, how to fly without wings, you learned that crazy projectile magic, demon summoning...you're even a superhero! Precure, right? You promised you'd show it to me one day..." His smile begins to tremble as he looks back at the items on her desk, picking up a page of notes and the item she showed him when she first told him about Precures. He holds them out to Twilight for her to inspect. "I guess if party planner is in that list, then who am I to say that's not the real you? You're still figuring that out for yourself, right?"
Twilight levitates the items closer to her, the dragon sitting beside her. "It's like you said: you're happy being you because you're you. Even if you're partially someone else..." He wraps an arm around her, voice beginning to crack. "You don't have to be like Twilight, if you don't want to. You don't even have to call yourself Twilight anymore. You could be Party Favor or Disco Fever...anything you want. As long as it's you...as long as you're happy with you, I'll be okay with it. I just want to be your assistant, too...because even if you're not Twilight, you're still one of my very best friends. No digital town or cutie mark can take that away."
He rubs his watering eyes to better look up at the unicorn with a smile. "So...when's your next party? I bet it'll be as great as your sleepover. I can put together a checklist, if you have a list already...I'll get a scroll and quill." Spike makes a rather hurried dash to the desk to get together the things he'll need for the list. If Twilight has Pinkie's energy now, then his writing speed will get a good workout. Both of his hands clutch the desk as tightly as his eyes shut, trying to hold that brave face for the unicorn behind him. "...I think allergy season is coming early this year," he sniffles.
Twilight looked between the dragon and the floating page of notes. The various runes and remarks about demons would make little sense to most readers, but to the unicorn, it all made perfect sense. Strange, considering she never picked up a spell book in her life. The more she read, the more she understood what those symbols and words meant. It felt as natural as baking and decorating.
The Precure item next receives her attention. It's a lovely pocket mirror, she thinks to herself, but how could she use this to become a superhero? She doesn't recall ever getting this item, but at the same time, she feels so comfortable with it, just like those notes. Spike mentioned her showing this to him before, but she doesn't remember that, either. She just remembers a flash of light that engulfed her and let her save Mako from that worm...
...She feels a gentle moisture on her cheek and wipes it off with a hoof. Where did that come from? Where did any of this come from? Why did she feel her horn glow ready for a spell? Looking back at that page, she follows the instructions and a moment later, a strange, fairy-like creature hovers beside her. She rears her head back in surprise, looking between the page and the demon. How did she summon a living creature with such ease? Turning to her left, her horn glows again and she summons an ensemble of small red projectiles, watching them dance in midair. Twilight gasps as her eyes go wide and she sits there, speechless and paying no mind to the flash of light on her flank.
Spike pretends to be ready to take notes, his hand quivering as tears drip across the page. The relative silence unnerved him and made him anxious for a response. Any response. Just as long as he could hear her voice. "Do you...do you need a minute, Twilight?"
The unicorn's shocked expression melts away into a smile as she blinks the tears out of her eyes. "No...no, I'm ready." She sets the page aside and levitates the mirror directly in front of her. "First, I ready my device. I named it the Midnight Dial. Second, I summon my Heart Seed, a necessary item for the transformation...."
Slowly, Spike turns back around to face Twilight, whose teary smile meets his stare. "Then...then I say the magic words. After I say them, I insert my Heart Seed into the dial and spin it. The rest takes care of itself." Twilight stands back up on her hooves, giving Spike a better view of the star-shaped picture on her flank. "Precure...open my heart."
Twilight inserts the seed into the dial and spins it, as she said. After being engulfed in a flash of light, the precure's form becomes visible.
"The darkness from which dreams and nightmares arise...Cure Nocturne."
The dragon wastes no time in rushing towards Twilight, welcoming her back with a hug she happily returns. Spike already spoke earlier, so this embrace is silent. Long and silent.
The silence doesn't last, however, as a giggle slips past Twilight's lips. "...Disco Fever? Really, Spike?"
He gives his own weak giggle. "Gimme a break, Twilight; it was the best I could think of."
As she wipes her eyes, Twilight levitates the dragon onto her back while sending away the miniature projectiles. "Tell you what: how about we try thinking of a better one while fixing everyone's cutie marks?"
Spike nods. "Sure thing...Cure Nocturne. What about your friend here?" He gestures towards the fairy-like creature.
"This is Pixie. She might not help with the naming, but she might help with the main goal. Do you feel up for it, Pixie?" She asks, turning her attention towards the demon. She shrugs in response and joins Spike in hitching a ride on Twilight.
Spike smiles at Pixie before nodding to Twilight once more. "Let's do it."
Twilight sets the open book on the desk before opening the door and charging through to the cutie mark restoration. Her room lays unoccupied for the moment before the precure returns, poking her head in and shaking her head disapprovingly. With a glow of her horn, the party favors and confetti are done away with and the lack of organization is rectified, straightening out her books and notes. Once she's content with the arrangement, she confidently nods before leaving and closing the door behind her.
