Unforeseen Consequences - Chapter 28


                                            >When you woke-up this morning, you kind of expected that your day would be spend reading a pile of books on a balcony. Nothing complicated, just you getting to know better how Equestria works on a more technical level.

                                            >You should’ve considered that this was Equestria, and that one of its major rules is that things tend to not go as expected, or to quote Eris: “Life is a mystery box. Sometimes you get cool things, sometimes it sucks”.

                                            >This complete derailment of your plan for the day started surprisingly nice. That psycho bat-pony of Cherrywood isn’t the absolute worst as you initially thought. As a matter of fact, she could be genuinely cool at times.

                                            >The actual problem came a bit later. Due to a series of situations, you and Celestia were now at the castle’s entrance hall, and have been standing for a good five minutes in front of an unconscious purple alicorn and a young dragon.

                                            >In all honesty, you actually were starting to get nervous about those two. Other than the dragon occasionally babbling about something, neither of them had really moved, and where you come from, that’s usually a bad sign.

                                            >Adding to the list of concerns, Celestia wasn’t doing anything about it, nor did it feel like she was planning to. Going by the looks on her face, she was actually amused by the situation. Weird, but you were starting to learn that Celestia’s sense of humor was a strange one. Which in all fairness, you kind of liked.


                                            >A small idea popped in your head: Just poke them and see what happens. A simple yet effective technique that helped you a great deal back in the slums. Usually to know when you had stumbled upon a dead cat, or just a really lazy one.

                                            >You carefully approached Twilight and slowly moved your front-hoof to her. Just to be sure that you weren’t about to get in trouble, you turned to Celestia in seek of guidance, and considering that her grin somehow got wider, you assumed that you had her blessing.

                                            >After gulping down all of your remaining fears, you proceeded to quickly poke Twilight’s belly. As a first time since you arrived to Equestria, your assumption was proven correct: This mare really needed to do some exercise. She felt like one of these little bags filled with plastic beans or other soft materials that some ponies sold as toys at the slums’ market district.

                                            >The reason as to why those bags were so popular is because poking was a fun, almost hypnotic act on its own. Eris never allowed you to buy one of those things, she always said that they were for lame ponies. However, things were different now that you had Twilight and her fatty belly.

                                            >Considering that Celestia didn’t mind your continuous poking, you continued to do it until you finally got a sign of life from her.

                                            >Twilight jolted back on her hooves, and immediately slapped your hoof away, “Can you please stop doing that?! It’s rude!” She said completely annoyed by your amazing poking skills.

                                            >After rubbing your poking hoof, you looked at Twilight with a complete calm expression and shrugged.


                                            “Don’t blame me, man. It ain’t my fault that you feel like a soggy balloon”.

                                            >Twilight gasped in shock at your little comment. She then narrowed her eyes and huffed, “Are you calling me fat? Because that’s even ruder!”

                                            >You let out a small chuckle as your eyes drifted to the dragon. As fun as poking some fun out of Twilight could be, the fact that the dragon was still unconscious made you feel somewhat uncomfortable.

                                            “Listen, man, I think there’s other things you gotta worry more about than your weight problem. Like, I dunno? Making sure that dragon friend of yours ain’t dead or something?”

                                            >“What are you talking… oh, no! SPIKE!” Like she had been struck by lightning, Twilight dashed to the inert dragon and started shacking him with her front-hooves, “Spike, are you okay? Oh, no! Oh, no! Please wake up, Spike!”

                                            >While those weird gargling sounds the dragon coming from the dragon made you think that he was indeed gravely hurt, it took Twilight just a few more shakes to finally get him up. Just not in the way she probably wanted.

                                            >The dragon started running in circles across the hall. All while he flailed his little arms and yelled out of the top of his lungs, “AAH! WE’RE GOING TO DIE!”

                                            >You’re not going to deny that watching Twilight’s fruitless attempts to stop the dragon’s panic attack were sort of funny, but after a couple minutes it really started to get a bit tiresome. So once again you turned to Celestia in hopes that she’d take command of the situation.


                                            >Of course, that was all wishful thinking. Celestia was still standing there, trying her very best to not burst into laughter. However, she did something this time. She motioned you with her head to the dragon, and moved her lips to silently say, “Surprise me”.

                                            >Panic attacks weren’t a new concept for you. Back in the slums, Eris always handled whatever major freak-out you could have in the best way possible. It was an infallible tech that you were sure would work here too.

                                            >You calmly walked by Twilight’s side, and followed the dragon’s trajectory with your eyes. When he came close enough, you quickly slapped his face as hard as you could. The fell on the floor like a sack of bricks and started whimpering.

                                            “Oh, man! I’m sorry!”

                                            >You seriously didn’t see that one coming. Every single fight you’ve gotten with a young dragon has been like hitting a pile of rocks. Even your books detailed dragons as creatures with a super hard endurance. This one however, was as soft as any regular foal, probably more.

                                            >Twilight of course wasn’t pleased by this. She grabbed you by the shoulders and furiously glared at you, “What’s your problem?! You have to apologize to…” She was interrupted by another whimper, which made her dash to the dragon at the speed of sound, “SPIKE!”

                                            >The dragon was sitting on the floor, rubbing his cheek. He took a glance at his surroundings before turning Twilight with confusion in his eyes, “Twilight? What happened? Why does my jaw hurt like I just ate one of Rainbow Dash’s muffins?”


                                            >Twilight let out a huge sigh in relief and tightly hugged the still confused dragon, “That rude kid hit you, but it doesn’t matter. I was so worried about you, Spike! Thank Celestia you’re alright!”

                                            >That last bit confused you so much that you quickly turned to Celestia in search for an explanation. She just shrugged to make you know that she had no idea either.

                                            >The dragon finally looked at you and to your surprise, he wasn’t angry or hateful, just confused, “Hey, dude, that’s not cool. Why did you hit me?”

                                            >You calmly walked to the dragon, which caused Twilight to hold him in a sort of protective stance. She could go hug a cactus for all you cared.

                                            “Because you were in full panic mode. Best way to stop that sorta stuff is with… y’know a good smack. Makes the brain to snap back into reality”.

                                            >The dragon scratched the back of his head, “Really? I don’t remember that”.

                                            >You kept a relatively close yet safe distance and with friendly smile on our face, you extended your hoof at him.

                                            “Trust me, man! You were losing your mind hard-time back there. Sorry if I hurt you, though. I didn’t mean to knock you out, promise”.

                                            >The dragon gave you a cautious look. It just lasted for a moment, though. In the end he shrugged off whatever he was thinking and grabbed your hoof “Meh! It makes sense, I guess”. After you helped him to stand up, he gave you a quick glance from hooves to head and scratched the back of his head, “So… what’s up with all those scars? And those old goggles.”


                                            >While this guy lacked any real malice behind his question, questioning your sacred goggles was something you simply couldn’t allow. You tapped his belly a bit hard, and looked at him straight in the eye.

                                            “Listen, man, here’s the deal. You leave the scars and especially the goggles alone, and I’ll do the same for this chubby belly of yours. Sounds like one heck of a bargain if you ask me!”

                                            >The dragon firmly nodded as he tried to avoid any eye contact with you, “S-Sounds good to me! And uh… my name’s Spike, by the way. I guess I should’ve started with that, huh?”

                                            >Twilight barged in before you could give your own introduction, “I’m sorry, rude kid! But Spike and I are on a very tight schedule”. She then levitated Spike to her back and stood up on her hinder legs as if she was about to gallop into the horizon, “We have to meet up with Princess Celestia!”

                                            >You could’ve sworn that for a second, you saw these weird highlights appearing behind Twilight. It was also sort of impressive that this wasn’t the weirdest thing you noticed.

                                            “What the heck? Are you frickin’ blind, man?! She’s right there!”

                                            >Twilight abruptly stopped her whole dramatic exit. She rolled her eyes and replied with a whole lot of sarcasm in her voice, “Really? You think I wouldn’t notice if Princess Celestia was standing… right… there? Oh…”


                                            >It was really hard to try not laughing at Twilight. Celestia certainly didn’t make things any easier for you. She perfectly handled the situation by simply acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

                                            >Seriously, Celestia simply walked to Twilight and started speaking in the most casual tone imaginable, “Twilight Sparkle, there you are! I’m so glad that you could finally join us. Say, do you want something to drink? I’m sure all that… interesting extreme flying must have made you very tired”.

                                            >Twilight didn’t seem to be nowhere near Celestia’s improvisational skills. She was clumsy in her demeanors, and completely awkward in the way she spoke, “What?! I-I mean, no thank you! I-I mean… G-Good morning, Princess! We sure have a nice weather today, don’t we? Heh, heh!”

                                            >Celestia subtly raised an eyebrow and continued with her super casual attitude, “We sure do, don’t we? I’ll have to congratulate the weather patrol for another job well-done. Are you sure that everything’s fine, though? I was a bit worried that maybe you wouldn’t come. Not that I wouldn’t understand, of course. I’m sure you have your hooves full these days”.

                                            >Spike quickly answered before Twilight had the chance to say a thing, “Nah, we took forever because Twilight here just lost it after reading the letter. It was hilarious! She started doing these …”

                                            >“SPIKE!” Twilight shouted as she used her magic to shut Spike’s mouth like a zipper. She then turned to Celestia with the most awkward smile you’ve ever seen, “So…uh, heh heh! I’m really sorry about being late, princess. Pinkie always says that special occasions deserve special gifts. I just took some extra time to find that special gift”.


                                            >Celestia gently placed her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and gave her a genuine reassuring smile, “Thank you so much, Twilight. That’s a beautiful detail from you. I’m sure that my Resonance will love whatever gift you’ve brought him”.

                                            >Spike unzipped his mouth and shrugged at the comment, “Speaking of the guy, where’s he?”

                                            >“Oh, you’ve already met my Resonance”. Celestia replied as she used her hoof to point at you, “He’s right there. Quite charming wouldn’t you agree?”

                                            >Something inside of Twilight’s brain must have broken at that moment. She was staring at you with this completely dumfounded look in her eyes. You could see her mouth moving, but the only things that came from it were these incoherent rambles.

                                            >On the other hoof, Spike took the news in a much better way. He hopped off of Twilight’s back and walked to you with a reasonably doubtful attitude, “So… you’re the colt Princess Celestia and Luna adopted? Really?”

                                            “Yeah, man. Resonance’s my name! And that cool looking lady you see there is my mom now. Same as that other cool lady that ain’t here. Have a problem with that?”

                                            >“What? No, dude! You got it wrong!” Spike hurriedly said before scratching the back of his head, “It’s just that, I kinda expected you to be more… royal-ish, I guess? It’s not like I hyped you up as much as Twilight, though. She thought that you’d the ultimate colt or something like that. Crazy, huh?”


                                            >That was some real irony right there. Maybe there was a lesson in all of this. Maybe you shouldn’t assume things from others before actually getting to know them.

                                            “Yeah… that’s super crazy, man. You think your friend Twilight is gonna be ok, though?”

                                            >During all this time, Twilight had just been standing there with the same crazed expression. At the very least, Celestia was right by her side trying to comfort her.

                                            >“Meh, don’t worry about it”. Spike calmly replied, “This is just Twilight being Twilight. Give her a couple minutes and she’ll be as good as…”

                                            >“SO!” Twilight abruptly interrupted Spike by pushing him to a side. You gotta say, she had one heck of a wide grin, “Where do you come from, Resonance? I’m from Canterlot but I’ve been living in Ponyville for a few years by now. Do you like books? Because I absolutely love books! Do you have a favorite book? I can recommend you some pretty good ones, if you want! Oh, how do you like being a prince? Pretty stressful, am I right? In a scale from one to…!”

                                            >This barrage of rapid-fire questions was mercifully stopped by Celestia, who elegantly placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and kindly said, “I appreciate your enthusiasm, Twilight but why don’t you start with a nice and simple introduction instead?”

                                            >“Sorry, I got carried away”. Twilight awkwardly chuckled before taking a deep breath and extending her hoof at you. This time, with an actually normal expression on her face, “I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Prince Resonance”.

                                            “What the…? Where did the prince thing come from, man?”


                                            >“Oh! You were adopted by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, right?” Twilight said as she tapped her hooves together and looked up to Celestia, “That would make him a prince, right?”

                                            >Celestia nodded and directed a subtle smirk at you, “That’s correct, Twilight, but I think my Resonance still hasn’t gotten used to his title.”

                                            “I didn’t even remember that part. Does that mean I gotta call you a princess too? Geez, man! This title stuff is really weirding the heck outta me”.

                                            >Twilight let out a tired sigh as her ears dropped for a second, “You’re not the only one”. She then turned back at you with a more grounded attitude, “Ah… how we just call each other by our names? I think that would work better for the both of us”.

                                            “Sounds like a plan to me, man. Uh… about your questions, I also like books, like a whole lot. I ain’t sure what my favorite is, though. I just read whatever comes my way, y’know?”

                                            >“Oh, that works perfectly, then!” Twilight said as she started shuffling through her saddlebag, “I didn’t know your tastes would be like, so I decided to bring many different books as I could!”

                                            “Y’know, that’s actually what I do. I just grab a lot of different stuff and worm my way through. Dunno about you, but it helps me to not get bored”.

                                            >Spike rolled his eyes and clearly bored with the topic at hoof, he leaned against Twilight’s side, “So this where we’re going, huh? Well, guess there’s nothing for me here”.

                                            >With a smile of complete satisfaction, Celestia extended her long wings and said, “I hate to interrupt, but why don’t we take this conversation somewhere more pleasant? I think the castle’s gardens would be perfect for it”.


                                            >Both Twilight and Spike agreed without any hesitation. You on the other hoof were more wary about the proposal. Celestia’s horn was glowing with magic and you had a very bad feeling about the spell she was planning to use.

                                            “You’re gonna use the teleport spell, ain’t you?”

                                            >Celestia levitated over to her, and with a huge smirk masked as a gentle smile she replied, “Why, yes. That’s exactly what I’m about to do! You have some impressive observational skills, my dear son”.

                                            “Aw, dang”.

                                            >A flash of magical light later, all of you were suddenly standing on a small hill overlooked by an old willow. It was quite the prime spot to be, the tree with its many branches provided the perfect shadow to rest under, while the hill gave you a complete view of the castle and everything in these majestic gardens.

                                            >You weren’t going to deny that this landscape blew your mind away, it always did. It’s just that the teleportation spell gave you nausea like nothing else. Screw that thing, man.

                                            >Once you were finally back on your hooves, you noticed that both Twilight and Spike had their attention focused on a particular spot of the castle. To be more exact, they had their eyes locked on the tallest tower, the same one that looked like someone sliced half of the darn thing.

                                            >By this point, you had gotten used to that. In fact, you began to recognize a lot of the ponies who worked in its reconstruction. That said, the question as to why the tower was damaged in such a bizarre manner never left your mind.


                                            >Your parents would always used the same explanation whenever you asked what caused the incident: an experimental spell went wrong. Reasonable, but the lack of details always bothered you.

                                            >Celestia gave this same explanation to Twilight and Spike, and while it was clear as the sky above that they had the same doubts as yourself, they simply let them slide partly for what you assume was out of respect for your parents’ privacy.

                                            >Celestia sat on the lush grass of the hill and joyfully clapped her hooves together as she exclaimed, “Well, I think this weather lends itself perfectly to have nice picnic. What do you say, Twilight? I’m sure that a nice lunch would hit just the right spot after flying all the way from Ponyville!”

                                            >Spike happily adjusted his bag pack and walked to the old tree, “That’d be awesome! I’ll want a diamond sandwich! No, wait. A sapphire casserole! Or maybe…!”

                                            >Much to the poor guy’s dismay, Twilight stopped him right in the act. Her face was drawn with friendly yet oddly authoritative smile, “Spike, could you please go to the castle and make the lunch?”

                                            >What an odd joke to come up with, or that’s what you thought. There was no other explanation in your mind as to why Twilight would say that. Especially when the castle had no shortage of staff that gets paid to do that sort of stuff.


                                            >Spike’s enthusiasm obviously dropped like a ball of lead, “But…” He sighed after noticing that Twilight’s smile had grew into a creepy grin and threw his bag pack on the ground, “Fine! I’ll do the sandwiches”. He then turned to you with nothing but defeat in his eyes, “Do you like nachos, dude?”

                                            >Maybe you were getting everything wrong. There was no frickin’ way that Twilight could use Spike as some sort of mini-servant, right? Maybe she simply forgot about the hundreds of employees in the castle and you just had to remind them about it.

                                            “I’ve no clue what those are, but… you don’t really gotta do that, man. We can just ask some maid or whatever”.

                                            >Spike briefly glanced at Twilight before letting out a tired sigh, “It’s no problem, dude. I’ll make you those nachos. I’m very good at that sort of stuff”.

                                            >The fact that this wasn’t some elaborate joke made you feel both baffled and annoyed. More than anything, you wanted to yell at Twilight for being such a frickin’ jerk to her friend, but you simply couldn’t do it. Not when this was supposed to be a very special moment for Celestia.

                                            >Maybe Celestia was thinking the same as you were, because she quickly stood up and used her magic to levitate Spike to the base of the old tree, “You must be awfully tired too, Spike. Please, allow me to make lunch for everypony, while you have a well-earned rest”.

                                            >Twilight looked up to Celestia and nervously replied, “Are you sure, princess? I’m sure Spike can handle it”.

                                            >Celestia politely replied before you could get any real chance to berate at Twilight, “Absolutely! Cooking is a little passion of mine, so I’m always looking for opportunities to do it. Meanwhile, you and my Resonance can get to know each other a bit more. Same to you, Spike.”

                                            >Both of them guys accepted the whole deal without any further question asked, no real surprises there considering the way Celestia worded everything. Nice and simple, but with a subtle hint of authority behind her voice. Really, you have a lot of learn from her.

                                            >Maybe it also had to do with the fact that they didn’t know Celestia for who she really was. That wasn’t the case for you. It was hard to shake off the feeling that something was weird was going on. Especially after she made such a big fuzz about Twilight’s visit.

                                            >This didn’t go unnoticed by Celestia. That didn’t came as a surprise, you were starting to get used to the fact that she could often read you like an open book. She walked over to you and then covered you with her ears so she could whisper into your ear, “I know this came out of nowhere, but there’s a couple details I need to check on with Luna.”

                                            >Your heart ached after hearing those words. You just wanted to spend an entire day with Celestia without having to worry about anything else. There was nothing you could do, though. She had to run an entire kingdom after all. You let out a sigh and nuzzled your head on her warm chest.

                                            “Does that mean I ain’t gonna see you until nightfall?”


                                            >Celestia pulled you closer and rubbed her muzzle on the back of your neck, “Of course not! I’ll be gone a couple hours at the absolute most. You’ve my word on that”. She then giggled softly and whispered with a subtle mischievous voice, “Don’t get sad, though. You can do whatever you want while I’m not here… just don’t overdo it. Twilight has her flaws, but she’s not bad at heart. Oh! And keep it in the gardens, it’ll be simpler to find you that way”.

                                            “When you say “whatever I want”, what are we talking about here?”

                                            >“Exactly what it sounds like. As long as nopony gets hurt and you don’t go outside the back gardens, you can do anything that comes to your mind. In other words…” Celestia’s smile turned into a massive smug grin, “Let’s see if you can surprise Twilight”.

                                            “Sounds like a bet… I like it! You go and do your job, I’ll blow Twilight’s mind so frickin’ hard that she’ll need a new brain after I’m done!”

                                            >Celestia broke the hug and gently tapped your chin, “That’s my boy”. She then cleared her throat to address everyone, “Very well, I’ll be off then. Please enjoy yourselves”. That’s all she said before disappearing in a golden flash

                                            >Twilight nodded to herself, and turned to you with a bright smile on her face, “Don’t be sad, Resonance. Just think on all the fun we will have!” She levitated both Spike and her saddlebag over to your side, “In fact, I know a very good way to pass time with friends!”

                                            >“Me too!” Spike quickly replied as he started to go through the contents of his bag pack, “Where are they? I swear I put them somewhere…! AHA!” He then took out a couple of very worn out comic books and showed them to you, “Here, check these out!”

                                            >You tilted your head and scanned their covers. They portrayed a bunch of mares and a very small colt standing at the top of a roof while dressed in super exotic costumes.

                                            “The power ponies? What’s that?”


                                            >“Only the best comic book ever!” Spike laid on his belly and flipped through the colorful drawings that composed each page of the booklet, “Just imagine the coolest heroes in the history of the world saving everypony from the evilest villains you can come up with! And they have these awesome superpowers too!”

                                            >You’ve read stuff like this before, and as silly these stories can go, you actually kind of liked them. After all, who wouldn’t want some sick superhero back at the slums?

                                            “Really? And what kind of powers…?”

                                            >“I don’t think that you should pay attention to that kind of reading material, Resonance”. You were cut off by Twilight, who with the tact of a hedgehog dropped like at least ten books of different sizes in front of you, “Now this is more in-line with what a prince really needs!”

                                            “Didn’t you say we ain’t gonna use the title thing?”

                                            >“Yes, I did say that it would be for the best if we called each other by our names” Twilight replied with an overly sanctimonious tone, “However, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the responsibility that comes with your title, Resonance.” She picked one of the books and basically shoved it into your face, “And what better way to learn that than with the “art of organizing”, am I right? This little friend has helped me a lot in the past, and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you. We can read it right now if you want!”

                                            >Your gaze quickly shifted to Spike. The guy just shrugged to let you know that this was a common occurrence with Twilight. Then he picked up his books and sat on the ground.


                                            >No frickin’ way you were ever gonna read that glorified manual, especially after how sick that power ponies comic sounded like. However, Twilight was genuinely trying to have a bonding moment together, you couldn’t possibly hate on that.

                                            “Eh, I dunno, man. It ain’t like that book doesn’t look cool or anything like that. I just feel like doing something else, y’know?

                                            >“Are you sure?” Twilight said as she eagerly took a couple of little paper cards from her saddlebag, “We can make notes and exchange them afterwards. I wouldn’t want to miss on that fun if I were you!"

                                            >Spike looked at Twilight with a thousand yard stare and basically said what you were thinking, “Nopony could ever find that fun, Twi. Not even Pinkie”.

                                            >The comment immediately made Twilight to start lecturing Spike about the importance of good organization and the definition of fun. You didn’t really care, though. This was quite the perfect opportunity to come up with something that would be both fun and completely unexpected to Twilight and Celestia.

                                            >In order to achieve this, you decided to take a page from Eris’ book and keep things simple: You were going to do a “performance” just like the many you did back at the slums.

                                            >Even better, you had plenty of resources to pull this off. There were a bunch of guards standing in a group not too far from your position. Those were going to be the audience, and considering the fact that their armors were made of pure gold, you were sure that they had bits to spare.

                                            >Twilight had already provided all the materials you needed. Some of the books she brought were about math and physics. More than enough to get the show started.


                                            >Only thing missing was a good excuse to set everything into motion. After giving your surroundings a quick scan, the answer came from the gardens themselves. Man, you were good at this.

                                            >After Twilight and Spike’s discussion came to an end, you calmly walked to them, took a deep breath and excitedly said.

                                            “Hey guys, I think I’ve got a good idea on what to do! There’s a bunch of pretty flowers over there. Maybe we can pick some of them and set up a nice picnic place for Cele… I-I mean mom. She loves that kinda stuff, y’know?”

                                            >Twilight tapped her chin and glanced at the castle before looking at you with a little yet oddly patronizing smile on her face, “That’s a lovely gesture, Resonance, but I’m not sure we have enough time. This is Princess Celestia we’re talking about here! I’m sure she won’t take more than a few minutes to make a five-star lunch!”

                                            >What kind of insane expectations could this mare have, man? Celestia was definitely awesome, no doubt about that, but this mare just took it to a whole new level. One that you definitely had to use to your advantage in order to make your plan happen.

                                            “Oh yeah! Mom does cook some sick stuff, no question about it! But I’m sure we have like a good hour before she comes here, maybe a bit more. I dunno if you knew this, but mom really likes to make sure everything goes perfect. That takes some time, man”.


                                            >“That’s an excellent point, actually”. Twilight hurriedly said before rubbing her chin once again, “I’d hate to ruin Princess Celestia’s perfect garden. We should ask permission to pick those flowers first”.

                                            >“Why, though?” Spike quickly replied with a frown on his face, “You said it yourself, Twi: these gardens belong to the princess. Why would her son need to ask anypony to pick a bunch of flowers from here?”

                                            >That dragon was one heck of a savior. He was cool too, maybe you could include the guy into your plan. It’s not like you weren’t used to share the revenue of a show.

                                            “Exactly! And you know else? Mom said we should have some chillin’ time together. If you think about it, my idea is a total win-win. Mom gets a sick thank you for her work, and we get one heck of a time together!”

                                            >“That’s a fantastic way to optimize, Resonance! Count me in!” Twilight eagerly clapped her front hooves, and hopped past you like a filly going to the candy store, “Oh, this is going to be so fun!”

                                            >Spike was understandably less excited about the whole thing. He walked to your side, and asked with disappointment in his voice, “I don’t want to be rude, but… really? Couldn’t you have come up with something less lame?”

                                            >A little grin appeared on your face as you observed a large group of guards standing not too far from your position.

                                            “Don’t worry about anything, man. Just trust me on this, okay?”

                                            >Spike let out a heavy sigh and shrugged, “If you say so”.

                                            >Luckily, Twilight stopped at a spot near the group of guards and called to you as she contemplated all of the beautiful flowers surrounding her, “So, what do you say if we start here, Resonance?”


                                            “Sounds great to me, Miss Twilight! But uh… can I go with Spike to pick those pink flowers over there? They are mom’s favorites!”

                                            >Twilight giggled like a little filly, a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she placed her hoof over her chest, “Aww! Of course, you can! Just don’t get into trouble!”

                                            >You had to give it to Eris. Suckers always fall for the cute act. You eagerly nodded to Twilight and waved your hoof at her, “Yeah, don’t worry, Miss Twilight. I’d never do anything like that”.

                                            >With a much more serious expression on your face, you picked a couple of the books and turned to Spike.

                                            “Alright, she swallowed it. Come on, man. We’ve got work to do”.

                                            >“Swallowed what?” Spike asked with pure confusion, “And what’s with the sudden change of attitude?”

                                            “I’ve got one heck of a deal for you, man. I’ll tell you everything soon enough. Just follow me and keep your voice down. I don’t wanna spoil the surprise for our princess over there”.

                                            >Spike scratched the back of his head and frowned, “I’m not sure. It sounds like you’re going to get us into a world of trouble”.

                                            “Not if you do what I say. Now, why don’t you tell me more about those Power Ponies’ comics, huh? They sound kinda sick”.