Twilight, the filly, sat against a tree, overlooking the pond nearby the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, Spike following her every step, stumbling every now and then. Understandable - she was his only family in a city full of ponies. What a week it had been! Twilight would have never guessed seven days ago that she would have earned her cutie mark, hatched a dragon, and become Princess Celestia's very own protege by the weeks end! Twilight, reveling in these thoughts, let out a hearty sigh as she gazed upon her new school, no doubt the finest of it's kind in all of Equestria.
"Oh, hey Twilight! Here already huh?" said a cheery colt's voice from the otherside of the tree Twilight was resting on.
Twilight turned and grinned as she remembered why she had come here to the pond in the first place. To study of course, with a friend! Her only friend, she mused to herself with a grimace. And that silly teddy bear he brought with him everywhere he went... what was him name again?
"Well, alright... but we gotta study first okay" Twilight said sternly.
She had made a simple deal with the unicorn colt - he would be her test subject and help her finish her studying ASAP, so that the colt could show her "how to have a good time" for a change. He was always teasing her about being such a hermit sometimes, albeit playfully. Eventually, he suggested that they have some fun of their own - just the two of them. Twilight had giggled at the thought of it, but she hadn't given in easily.
"Come on Twi, you need to loosen' up a bit," he had said bouncing up and down.
"But I have to study for next week's test - you have to study too! We can't slack off for the sake of fun!"
"We WON'T slack off! We ARE going to study; we're just not going to do it for a DECADE. I have it down, so I'll help you out, and in return, we'll have some fun for a change! We'll go for a walk, and play some ball, and go get a smoothie or two, and all kinds of stuff I'll bet you've never done befo-" He paused at his last statement, but it was too late to take it back as Twilight was staring at him with a stern, half-eyed gaze.
"Excuse me," She said jabbing him in his shoulder with considerable force. "I have TOO done those things before!" The colt rubbed his shoulder, and was about to rest his case, but his big mouth allied with his occasionally large ego defeated his humility before reinforcements could arrive, so to speak.
"Oh yeah? When?" he said with a smug grin. Twilight proceeded to open her mouth, but closed it in an instant, as she looked away from her friend and her face went red. He had her there. In a matter of seconds, the colt frowned at his dispirited friend.
"Awww, hey, Twilight... " he said nudging her head up with his. "I didn't mean it like that! It's not that your boring, or uncool! I guess you just pay extra attention to what matters most, he-heh," he said in an effort to make amends. "But you shouldn't spend your entire life in books Twi - there are some things you have to learn and experience yourself!" In response, the little filly looked up at her friend again with a hint of a smile on her face, as she considered the colt's repentant words.
"Sooo, do we have a deal? Huh, do we, do we?" asked the ever exuberant colt. Long story short - Twilight took the deal.
Twilight could only smile shyly at him as she contemplated how similar, yet how different two foals could be - excluding the gender difference of course. Her friend was an exceptionally talented unicorn, perhaps only a notch below her, and he was just as intelligent, but he, much unlike her, appreciated society and got around town in his spare time. He also didn't take the time to assert his I.Q. with elaborate wording and speech as Twilight preferred sometimes. Needless to say, he wouldn't bother substituting words like "showy", with something like, "scintillating". He wasn't afraid to express his opinion, and in this manner was something of a noble little foal - he wouldn't stand for somepony being picked on or humiliated, although he couldn't exactly defend his beliefs against the bigger ponies; he wasn't exactly athletic, just average. Not to say he wouldn't fight anyways. It was this trait that brought the two foals together as friends in the first place; Twilight was being picked on for being such an "anti-social egghead," when he had jumped into the fray and told Twilight's assailants off. The colt wasn't violent, but he would fight for what he thought was right, and the bullies were well aware of this. The colt had a reputation, both at a party and in a battle of wits - or hooves. Twilight, sniffing, and her cheeks stained with tears couldn't help but admire the colt's courage, and by that fateful day's end, Twilight had made her first real friend. She couldn't help but smile whenever she saw him, and he reciprocated all too well. He always made her feel good about herself - confident, a feeling she had never been sure about. The colt never talked ill about her, and always appraised her, as the "most talented, most coolest filly in Equestria!" Twilight blushed upon hearing of these rumors, and if with the colt's reputation, everypony at school believed it. Twilight Sparkle was never picked on again, and she had her best friend to thank for it. Snapping back to the present, Twilight noticed her friend staring at her with a dull expression. How long had she been there thinking?
"Hellooo, Equestria to Twilight Sparkle," he said waving his hoof at her melodramatically. Twilight went red and scowled at him in response.
"Oh, cut it out," she shouted, while pushing his hoof away roughly and proceeding to open one of the many textbooks she had sitting next to her. "I'm still brushing up on advanced telekinesis and transmogrification techniques... hmm, let's start here! 'Pinpoint Telekinesis'. For grasping and/or manipulating extremely small objects, or manipulating particularly minuscule parts of larger entities. Doesn't look too hard - are you ready?"
"Well, okay - just try to grab a hair or something okay?" the colt suggested before sitting down. He felt easygoing about this. It was probably just one of Twilight's warm-ups before she got to the really intense (possibly dangerous) spells and techniques. She just had to grab a hair or something and move it around well enough. Maybe snatch a bug off his back or something. What could go wrong, he thought leisurely. Not for long though.
"OW! OW, OW, LEGGOOO!" the colt cried out as Twilight magically grasped him by a clump of his mane and lifted him a good four feet into the air.
"OMAGOSH! SORRY!" Twilight cried before losing focus entirely and dropping her friend onto the grass rump-first, stuffed bear in tow. The colt didn't respond for a bit, being caught up in overwhelming pain and shock at the moment. When he recovered he got up and glared at Twilight for a moment, who was shocked and hung her head, looking up at him meekly. The colt sighed, and said plainly, "You... need more practice... a great deal of it maybe."
"Oh... you think?" Twilight said in a whisper.
At this, the colt chuckled a bit before replying in relatively good spirit, "I don't think, I know." And at that both foals broke out in laughter. They paused for a moment to glance at the rather ignored Spike, before Twilight made him float over to within their reach. Twilight hugged her "little brother" and resumed laughing.
"Hey! No fair!" cried out the colt suddenly. "I wanna hug Spike too! Come over here little guy!" he said, reaching out to Spike, now being hugged by two foals laughing in hysterics. Spike merely smiled and sucked his claws while he waited for them to finish and be reasonable again.
Yes, they all thought. What a great week it had been.
Twilight Sparkle and her friend trotted home, with Spike aboard Twilight's back. Being but a filly, Twilight had some difficulty carrying Spike after the poor baby got to keep up the pace with their four-legged walking. So her accompanying colt took turns with here, and he decided to carry Spike on the last leg of their journey home. The two were more or less neighbors. Not next door, not by far, but they were still well within walking distance of each other nonetheless. Celestia's sun was setting gracefully behind them as they walked home in the warmth of early autumn, the leaves having just fallen from the trees, and there was not so much talking as the crunch of the dead leaves beneath the foals' weary hooves.
What a splendid day it had been after all. The colt really did know how to have a good time, and although Twilight didn't admit it, she wished she had realized that the world outside of even the best book could be so wonderful earlier. She also didn't admit how right she was - she really did need to get out more often. After all, if every friend she made was as great as this colt, she might just give up reading altogether! Twilight giggled at the thought dismissively within seconds. Spend time out, sure, why not! But to give up reading? Not this filly - not now, not ever. At least the colt was so kind as to not remind her of how right he was. Still, with the joy Twilight exerted with every step, and her ecstatic expression, her friend most likely already knew. As they neared their respective homes, the two fillies prepared to depart each other company. There was a bit of awkward silence, but surprisingly Twilight was the one to start.
"Hey, so... I guess this is where we have to part, right?" she stated somewhat blankly as the colt nodded.
"Yeah, well... I just wanted to say.. ha-HAAA, that was AWESOME! I really hope we do it again sometime!.. and, well, I just wanted to give you this! I mean... you know, I may have lotsa' friends, but none of em' are quite like you. You're there for me, and I'm there for you and.. I just wanted you to have this to remember us being friends and stuff! I mean, we're gonna be friends forever but still!" And with that Twilight's friend procured a package from the bag, which he placed gingerly in Twilight's sack.
"Oh wow - a gift for me?" Twilight almost exclaimed - she had never received a gift from anyone but her parents of immediate relatives.
"Of course! I just know you'll love it! I just wanted it to be a surprise - open it when you get home.. oh and, I have the other half! Thanks for hanging out an-" The colt started then abruptly paused. Somepony was approaching them... check that, two ponies were approaching them. They were wearing long, black cloaks and hoods. Not something somepony dresses in if he wants a warm reception from two foals and their baby dragon.
"Hey! You, yeah you!" the colt voiced with all the bravado he could muster. "What do you w-want? Why are you f-following us?!" The two figures, not five yards away, only exchanged looks and nodded. One of them procured a large sack out of his cloak via telekinesis... the mere action of doing so marking them as unicorns.
"I... I-I don't think you should've done that," squeaked Twilight, ears laid back in fear. Her legs shook spontaneously.
"Twilight," the colt whispered not tearing his gaze from the advancing unicorns. "I think you should t-take Spike." He was being as brave as any colt could be, but brave is not synonymous with fearless. He was stuttering, and he was trembling himself. But he tried not to display this to his already fearful best friend.
"Oh... umm, okay. Wait! But why? You don't m-mean..." Twilight said placing Spike on her back with some fidgety effort. He was giving her Spike... but why did it matter? He could run faster than him... unless... no - he couldn't be serious.
The colt nodded, and looked her in the eye for a stint of a moment. But Twilight Sparkle saw it all. He wasn't coming with her, and somehow, he was sure of it. Twilight saw the fearful determination in his eyes, and she knew - he wasn't going to sit there and let her get hurt. He would protect her, with what little might he could offer, and he would see to it that Twilight made it home safe and sound. It was horrifying - it seemed Twilight was peering into his very soul. What she saw was heartbreaking. He was in pain, he was subconsciously despairing, and he feared not for himself, but for the fact that he might never see his best friend again... but there was more to it. She saw something even deeper than friendship. They had known each other for but a week, and yet Twilight saw an inseparable bond between them. Twilight simply could not explain it. She caught a last glimpse of his pained expression, a tear streaming down his face, before he turned to face the unicorns. They weren't slowly advancing now - they were charging. But not for her - only for him... why? The air was pierced with a deafening screech.
"AAAHH! TWILIGHT SPARKLE! DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU IDIOT! RUUUUUN!"
Twilight didn't need to be told twice, and she ran, as fast as anything on four legs could possibly run. She wanted to look back, she wanted to fight. She wanted to save her friend, so desperately. But she couldn't, she wouldn't, and the struggling voice behind her only reminded her.
"GAH! GET OFF MEE! TWIIII - DON'T LOOK BACK, GET HELP! DOOON'T LOOK BAAACK! DON'T STOP RUNNING! HEEEEELP!"
She heeded the voice's warning, and she ran, all the way home, not stopping, no matter how Spike's weight pained and strained her efforts. She got to the front door, and ran indoors, to find her parents casually lounging in the living room.
"Twi, sweetie, what's wrong?" her mother demanded, more than asked, noticing promptly the alarmed expression on her daughter's face.
"What in Equestria? Twi, why in the blue blazes are you so sweaty? Are you alright?" Her father said almost interrupting her mother. Twilight could only pant and collapse as she tried to speak for her friend's sake.
"Walking... home... cloaks... unicorns... best... friend... save... him," she gasped, holding on to every word, before passing out.
Twilight Sparkle awoke in her bedroom. She sat up in her bed, her heavy eyelids slowly opening. She saw her room, as it always was, simple and tidy, and Spike sleeping in his basket. Then it all hit her. NO! They took him! Have to tell mom and dad! She leaped out of her bed, and dashed to the door... only to have a black cloaked unicorn appear in front of it.
"YOU! W-what did you do with him!? WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE!?" Twilight said, her rage intermingling with her underlying fear. The hooded figure made no response, but Twilight could feel herself being lifted in to the air as the unicorn's horn glowed.
"LET GO OF MEEE! MY PARENTS WILL CALL THE PRINCESS! HEEEELLP! SOMEPONY, ANYPON-" she started, but never finished. The world plunged into darkness once more.
Twilight awoke, once more in her bed. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves casually, before stretching a bit, and stepping onto the wood floor. The first rays of light raining through her partially closed windows. Well, she thought. What a lovely day! Just perfect to curl up and read a book beside her windowsill before breakfast! But, wait... oh, no, she couldn't do this in this condition. She had a throbbing headache, worse than any before it... simply dreadful. Spike was awake, she noticed, and was wandering around the room. She noticed something strange... he was upset. She had only had him for a week, but he never woke up in such a dreary mood.
"Awww, Spike, what's wrong? Huh? Tell Twilight about it?" She asked him with a cute smooshy face. Spike only cried and sniffled a bit, and hopped over to the windowsill. He pointed with his little claw down the street - across, and a couple homes down. The home he was pointed at was a site of great commotion. There was a large crowd of ponies, and at the doorstep, there was a group of police-ponies talking to the couple who live there. They seemed to be distraught - clearly, something horrible had happened recently - but what?
Spike continued to point to the house. He moved his gaze momentarily to face Twilight, before uttering something. A word... his first word. He kept repeating it, sobbing and crying in between. It sounded something like, "Va-wee-ent". What did he mean? Twilight thought it over, sounded it out a bit, before she recognized the term. He was saying, "Valiant," over and over. And apparently he was sad about it. But what did the word have anything to do with the crowded house? Twilight couldn't piece it together. Spike... knew something Twilight didn't? Where did Spike even learn the word? Twilight knew fillies her age who weren't familiar with it.
Twilight simply gave Spike a comforting hug and closed her curtains - maybe the house was making him upset for some reason? But valiant... how was this relevant? She looked the word up in the dictionary for reference - maybe there was another definition she was not aware of? She only found what she expected:
Valiant [adjective]: boldly courageous; brave; stout-hearted
This was ridiculous. Spike was being ridiculous, and she was becoming exasperated. Twilight forgot about it, and she never paid a second thought about it. She proceeded to read a book, as she desired. She never found the magic of friendship until much later on in her life. It's a shame she hadn't been introduced to it sooner - she might have liked it. But she was a reader, a fledgling scholar, not a socialite. She wasn't an egghead - she merely focused on what mattered most. You can't argue with that logic.
Twilight opted to shuffle through her satchel - she still had to study for an exam!... but... what's this? A package? Twilight looked at the thing curiously. It had a boy on it and a tag addressing it to 'Twilight Sparkle'. A present.. but from whom, and wouldn't she have remembered receiving a gift? And more importantly, what could it be? Only one way to find out... Twilight briskly unwrapped the package, wrapped carefully in some sort of blue wrapping paper... and inside was, quite simply, a box. She opened the box only to find... another box. Still inquisitive with increasing ferocity, she opened that box... just another box within. Whoever crafted this infuriating package definitely had an interesting take on sardonic humor. Dreading yet more unseen mockery at her expense, Twilight opened the box... but this time the prize being revealed. If you could call it a prize, for it was quite simply a key and a locket - the former being a golden skeleton key to be exact, the kind of thing you would expect to unlock a pirates chest or the like, but otherwise indistinguishable... save for a card tied to the key reading "Best Friends Always, Now And Forever!" Besides the apparently generic key, was a map. Twilight unfolded it - it was poorly drawn, but what's more... it was clear that Twilight only had half of it.