~The Night Before~
“……besides….we don’t even know if it’s dangerous….”
“But….but Twilight…..”
“No buts about it! I want to study that thing again….but first we have to find it…”
Fluttershy sighs as the purple alicorn rummages through yet another bookshelf in her search for…..whatever it was she was searching for. The yellow pegasus had only come over to ask her friend if she had a book on how to feed a stubborn bunny, as Angel refused to eat his food again. Twilight, on the other hoof, had decided that now was the perfect time to continue studying a strange gem that she had found on her front doorstep a few days ago, and Fluttershy would have to help her find it.
“How….how did you lose this….thing…..anyway?” The Pegasus asked a moment later while she looked under a nearby table.
“Well…..” Twilight admitted while using her magic to lift up several books from another shelf, “I had just assumed that some filly or colt had dropped it on their way home the other night, so I decided to keep it until they came looking for it…..” She soon replaced the books and glanced at her friend with an embarrassed look on her face.
“When nopony came, I began using it as a paper weight instead.”
“A….paper weight?”
“I lose those things all the time you see,” she explained, “And now I’ve gone and lost THIS one!” The mare walked over to a small parchment and enveloped it in a purple aura, levitating it up into the air. She then floated it towards Fluttershy so that she could read it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Twilight,
I am writing this to you on urgent business. Discord has informed me that a certain gem has gone missing from his collection. If left alone, it can create powerful catastrophes the likes of which Equestria has never seen before. Since this is Discord that we’re talking about, he’s likely to be exaggerating, but, just in case, I wanted to inform you of the gem anyway.
Because Discord has been living in Ponyville, the gem should be somewhere around there. I trust your judgment if or when you find it.
Sincerely,
Celestia
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Oh my….” Fluttershy gasped, “…and…..and you think the one you found is THIS gem?” She asked once Twilight had replaced the letter.
“Not really……” Twilight admitted again, “but I want to make sure…..I know a good spell that will help…..” She walked over to a nearby desk and opened it up. She shoved aside its contents and looked around it. Fluttershy began to come to her side to help, but the front door opened up just then. Both mares turned around to see Spike sauntering inside, his tiny arms clutching a large brown bag of groceries while his tail pulled a little red wagon with stationary supplies in it.
“I’m back!” he called out from behind the bag, “Where do you want these again Twilight?”
“Put the food in the kitchen,” she replied, “and I’ll take the supplies to my desk upstairs.”
“Got it!” Spike called out. He let go of the wagon with his tail and began making his way towards the kitchen. Fluttershy moved over to help the baby dragon get there, but as soon as she started to move, Spike stepped onto a stray book.
“Wh…whoa!” he yelled just as he slipped forward. Fluttershy gasped in shock as he fell, but he never hit the ground. Twilight’s magic had enveloped him entirely before he could, but the bag was less lucky. It had collapsed and split open along a seem, spilling its contents all over the floor. A lettuce head was sent beneath the table while a couple of bananas were bruised upon the ground. A bag of bread managed to bounce across the room and into a desk, sending several quills, inkwells and other objects onto the floor as well. Among those items were a bunch of apples that were still rolling from the now broken grocery bag.
“Oops………” Spike muttered as he looked at the mess. Fruit and vegetables were now mixed with writing supplies upon the ground. Fortunately, nothing broke, not even the jars of ink. Sighing in thanks, Twilight set Spike down again before she began whisking the items into the air again.
“Oh Twilight….I’m so so sorry!” Spike pleaded at her while he helped clean up, Fluttershy repeatedly asking him if he was alright, “I didn’t mean to-“
“No Spike it was my fault,” The alicorn interrupted, “I’ve been looking for a gem here and-“
“A gem?” Spike suddenly asked, “What gem?”
“The one that she’s been using as a paper weight….” Fluttershy explained, “And you’re sure that you’re okay? Oh.....you could’ve been hurt so bad just now……if Twilight hadn’t-“
“I’m fine Fluttershy…..really!” Spike interjected. He spun around for her to show that he was indeed alright before he ran over to the mare who hatched him, Fluttershy still following behind him. By then, most of the food was sitting upon the table while the bag they used to be in was balled up inside of a trashcan. She was just organizing the desk again when Spike tugged at one of her wings.
“So….” he asked her once she was looking at him, “What was this about a gem?”
“Not now Spike...” Twilight told him, “Maybe once I find this……..” She paused for a second and stared at him. Soon, let her lips creep up into a wide, happy smile.
“Y….yeah?” The baby dragon asked her.
“What is it Twi-“ Fluttershy tried to say, but the purple mare suddenly leaped back and yelled.
“Spike! You’re a GENIUS!”
“I…I am?” Spike asked her.
“He is?” Fluttershy questioned. The mare before then jumped back in front of them and crouched down before her scaly assistant.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, “Since you’re a dragon, you can sniff out certain minerals….right?” Spike stepped back and pounded a clawed hand into his chest.
“Well……maybe I can….maybe I can’t…..” he boasted before giving her a questioning look.
“Why?”
“You can help me find Discord’s gem!” She yelled in his face. Spike tumbled back into Fluttershy’s hooves, but was quickly grabbed by Twilight’s purple aura once more.
“Hang on….I’ll explain once we’re down stairs!” Twilight said, and she ran over towards the basement door. Just before she dragged the protesting dragon through it, she looked back at Fluttershy as if she just remembered that she was there.
“Oh…..and Fluttershy?” She asked.
“Ye….yes?” The shy mare asked back.
“You can help yourself to an apple while I get Spike ready.”
“Get me ready for what?!” The dragon exclaimed, but the door slammed shut on him before Fluttershy could hear an answer. The yellow mare gave a deep sigh. She had only come here for a book after all, and while she would have liked to help her friend, Angel still needed to be fed back at the cottage.
The book should be easy to find. If Twilight didn’t mess up the library too much in her search, then it would be in the shelf full of animal books. Fluttershy walked straight towards the bookshelf in question, passing the table full of food on the way over. The smell of the red fruits enticed her nostrils as she did so, and her stomach began to growl in hunger.
She paused and placed a hoof onto her empty belly and sighed again. I guess I shouldn’t have skipped lunch trying to feed Angel Bunny…., She thought. The scents from the food upon the table drew her to it, slowly making her belly growl even more.
Well…., The mare thought as looked at the apples, Twilight DID say I could have one…...after a time of looking, Fluttershy spotted an apple that seemed…..rounder than the rest. It was also a deeper red, smaller too by the looks of it. Smiling in hunger, the mare picked up the apple and slipped the whole thing into her mouth…….and stopped.
Wait…..this isn’t an-
KABAM
“SPIKE! GET BACK HERE!” Twilight hollered out after her scaly assistant who had just crashed out of the basement with a strange device upon his head. The sudden commotion startled Fluttershy so much that, in her state of shock, she swallowed.
GULP!
The mare, realizing what she had done, placed a hoof onto her chest just as a round bulge vanished into it. She felt her “snack” fall into her stomach and felt its weight bounce around inside of her. Fluttershy turned her head to look at her belly with a frantic look. Meanwhile, Twilight managed to grab Spike within her magic again, finally getting the device over his face.
“MMMMMPH!” Spike protested, but the helmet like machine muffled his voice. Twilight set him down and flicked it on. Once a puff of steam erupted from it, she smiled and stepped back.
“Now remember Spike,” she said, “That helmet will help you track down that gem. It’ll enhance your natural ability to-“
“MMM! MMMM!”
“Oh….right…..well….you’re looking for a small red gem. Does that help?”
“R….red?” Fluttershy asks out loud. She looks up again and stares at her friend in mock terror. Twilight doesn’t notice though and keeps talking.
“Yeah…..red……and it’s round like a ball……a bit rough though…..”
“L…like an apple?” Fluttershy asks her.
“Yeah!” Twilight says as she finally takes her attention away from Spike, “It’s smaller than one though…..wh-“ She says, just when she notices Fluttershy’s panicked face beside the food filled table.
“Wh…..why?” Twilight asks her, a feeling of dread rising in her gut.
“Oh…I…..um…” Fluttershy stammered for a second. Soon, she just closes her eyes and proclaims, “Oh Twilight! I’m so sorry, but I…I think I ate it!”
“Wha….WHAT!” Twilight exclaims. She quickly grabs Spike and drags him over to the yellow mare, practically shoving his masked face into her belly, all the while Fluttershy was apologizing over and over again, saying she didn’t know, that she tried to spit it out when she found that it wasn’t an apple, how Spike’s sudden entrance had made her swallow it, and that she was just so so sorry.
After a moment of silence from the mare as she caught her breath, Spike’s helmet blinked once, indicating it had found a mineral. Twilight heaved a deep sigh before dropping Spike into a heap onto the ground. He quickly jumped up again and ran off to the kitchen, probably to get the helmet off his face.
“It’s in there all right……” Twilight later muttered out loud, “Oh Fluttershy I’m so sorry. I thought-“
“No no…..I’m sorry for not looking right…..” The mare replied, the shock from earlier passing away. She sat down and winced when the gem bounced again inside of her. She placed her hooves onto her belly and sighed.
“What now?” She asked her wise friend.
“Well……I can’t cast the spell on it while it’s inside of your stomach……and teleporting it out would be too dangerous….”
“It…..it would?”
“Yes….Teleporting a whole pony a short distance away is easy……but teleporting something small OUT of a pony……well the spell could damage your insides…..even take some of them out along with the gem if I’m not careful…..” Both mares shuddered at the thought before they stared at each other in solemn silence.
“So….um……Fluttershy muttered after a while of uneasy silence, “What now?”
“We wait.” Twilight said, standing up again. She raised a hoof towards Fluttershy to help her up.
“W…wait?” The nervous mare asked, taking her friend’s hoof.
“Yep.” Twilight said, “Ponies can’t digest gems like dragons can, so we’ll just have to wait for it to….pass through…….” Fluttershy opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but she soon stopped herself and blushed.
“O….oh….” Twilight smiled at her and explained that she highly doubted that the gem she ate was THE gem, but she wanted it back after her friend…..”Retrieved” it in the next few days……just in case. Fluttershy told her that she would be happy to, and went to leave the library. Just before she did though, she remembered to get her book for Angel.
“Oh yeah……I’ll go get it,” Twilight told her, and within a few moments she was sliding the book into Fluttershy’s saddlebag.
“Thanks Twilight…..” Fluttershy said, “And I’m-“
“It’s MY fault Fluttershy, okay?” Twilight interrupted, “Besides, it’s only a small gem, so it should pass through just fine. I mean…..” She stepped back and gave her the most sincere smile she could give to her panicked friend.
“….what could go wrong?”
