Chapter 54: Lesson Zero
About a couple of weeks went by after their adventure in the Scottish Highlands and during that time, Spyro and his friends had managed to return to Equestria where they were greeted by the Apples and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, everyone pleased to see that they were ok and back home safe and sound. During that time, Spyro had gotten to work finishing the repairs to the Dragon's Crest, replacing the weapons systems that had been fried by the wormhole and running a full diagnostic on the vessel to make sure there weren't anymore blocks that had been severely damaged that he needed to replace while also unloading all the damaged and destroyed blocks, sending the ones that were damaged to the repair bay where they would be fixed while the ones that were destroyed were just scrapped, no longer able to be used. As he was coming out of the garage, he took in a deep breath of the fresh air and looked out, enjoying the peaceful setting until his stomach growled, indicating he was starving, so he went into town to find something to eat.
In town, he was heading towards Sugarcube Corner to get something sweet to eat, but when he arrived, he saw Spike and Twilight at the counter waiting for something and with the baby dragon was a long parchment and a quill in his hand.
"Hey Twilight, Spike." Spyro said.
"Oh, hey Spyro." Spike said, Twilight looking to see him.
"What's with the parchment?" Spyro asked. "You grocery shopping or something?"
"Sort of." Twilight replied. "It's a checklist and right now I'm here to pick up some cupcakes."
"Mind if I have a look at the checklist?" Spyro asked, Spike handing it over to him. "Quills, parchment, ink, extra ink, extra extra ink? Double check checklist... double double check checklist? Geez Twilight, and I thought I had an obsession for making things perfect. Is this for the week?"
"Oh no, that's for this morning." Twilight replied, making his jaw drop. "One cannot be too prepared."
"Twilight, you need a vacation as badly as I do." Spyro replied, handing the list back to Spike. "Trying to make things perfect is only going to stress you out."
"Here you are Twilight." Mrs. Cake said, walking in with a box of cupcakes.
When Twilight opened it, there were thirteen cupcakes with strawberry icing on them, but Twilight didn't look pleased about it.
"Um, Mrs. Cake, why are there thirteen cupcakes in the box?" Twilight asked. "I ordered twelve?"
"Oh, I had some extra cupcakes left over, so it's a bakers dozen." Mrs. Cake replied.
"Wow, they look great." Spyro said, looking at the delicious baked goods. "Are they for the picnic in the park?"
"They are." Twilight replied. "But, the extra cupcake is getting icing on the ones around it."
"Oh don't worry about that Twilight." Spyro said. "It's not that big a deal."
As he said it, Spike winced, backing away from as Twilight turned to look at him, looking like she was going to loose her mind.
"Not a big deal?" She asked, keeping herself from shouting. "It's a huge deal. I don't want everypony to think I'm favoring the other by giving them a cupcake with extra icing on it." She then used her magic to pull a spatula from the back of the kitchen so she could try and even out all the icing. "Alright, now I just to remove the icing here, oh, now that cupcake has more icing..."
While the lavender unicorn mumbled to herself, trying to spread out the icing to make them even, it soon grew more and more wild as she went with spreading the icing out, making the icing fly everywhere. Some of it ended up hitting both Mrs. Cake and Spyro while the majority of it ended up on spike, his whole face covered in icing as she kept going, her face contorting to make her look like a maniac as she tried to make everything perfect. When she was done and satisfied, Spyro looked at the cupcakes and saw there was barely any icing on them, only a small drop of icing remained on each one.
"Oh dear..." Mrs. Cake said, cleaning the icing off herself.
"Perfect." She said, putting the lid back onto the box before putting it on her back. She then looked at the two of them, seeing how they were covered in icing and giggled. "Guess I over did it a bit. Looks lie we can add 'Give Spike a bath' to the list." A moment later, Spike used his tongue to pinning himself around, then using it to lick all the icing off of himself, licking his lips as he tasted the icing that would have been on the cupcakes. "Efficient, but disgusting. You're still getting a bath Spike. See you at the picnic Spyro."
"See you then." Spyro replied, watching the happy mare trot out of the store with Spike following behind her, carrying the mile long list. "Honestly, I'm even surprised she hasn't cracked from stress."
He ordered himself a chocolate chip muffin and ate it as he walked, enjoying the nice sunny day when he got a little worried about Twilight as she seemed more than obsessed with making a checklist and doing double double checking a few of the items on the list wasn't exactly healthy mentally, so he went over to Golden Oak Library to see what was going on with her and knocked on the door, Spike opening it door for him.
"Oh, hey Spyro." Spike said. "Thought you'd be at the picnic by now."
"Well I was on my way, but the library was on my way, so I thought I'd walk with Twilight to the picnic." Spyro replied, walking in. "Where is she anyway?"
"She's upstairs right now." He replied. "Wants to go over everything before heading out to the park."
The two of them walked up the stairs where Twilight was at, examining the cupcakes when she saw Spyro walk up the stairs right behind Spike.
"Oh, hey Spyro." She said. "What are you doing here?"
"Well the Library was on my way to the park, so I thought I'd walk with ya." Spyro replied.
"Well, I won't pass up an opportunity to walk with a friend." She replied, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Spike, is that everything on the list?"
"Let me see..." Spike mumbled, looking at the checklist. "Triple-check checklist to make sure we didn't miss anything when we double-checked the checklist. Uh, check." As soon as check off the last thing on the checklist, he winced in pain, dropping his quill just as his claw started to cramp. "Ugh, I've been holding that quill for so long, I've got a cramp in my claw. Good thing we don't have any friendship letters to send to the princess this week."
As Spike said it, Twilight dropped one of the cupcakes, panic clouding her mind as she tackled Spike, fear in her eyes.
"You're saying that we haven't sent a letter to the princess this week!?" Twilight asked, panic in her voice.
"Is that a bad thing?" Spyro asked, immediately tackled by the panicking mare.
"Bad!? BAD!?" She shouted. "Of course that's bad! I'm supposed to send her a letter about a lesson on friendship that I have learned! Not every month, not every ten days! Every! Single! Day!" She then rushed around the room, pulling dozens of books and files looking for a calendar, panic in her voice. "Spike, where's my calendar!?"
"Where it's always been." Spike replied, pulling a calendar from a drawer underneath a shelf.
Twilight then pulled the calendar away from Spike, pulling him towards a pedestal and smacking into it.
"Spike, when was the last letter we sent?" Twilight asked.
"Um, last Tuesday?" Spike said, unsure of when it was sent.
"And what is today?" She asked.
"Tuesday." Spyro replied.
The lavender mares head shot up, her eye twitching as she ran towards the stairs, knocking down Spyro as she ran up the stairs and to the window, watching it as it ticked like the second hand, moving across the sky like the hour of a clock, freaking her out.
"No, no, no, no, no!" She said. "This cannot be happening! If I don't send her a letter by sundown today, I'll be... TARDY!"
"Um, what now?" Spike asked.
"Tardy, it means she'll be late." Spyro replied.
"No, no, this is horrible!" Twilight said. "If I send in a report late, she'll think I'm not taking my studies seriously, sending me back a grade. No, worse, she'll send me back to Magic Kindergarten!"
The lavender mare then started shaking uncontrollably, huddling up in the fetal position and rocking back and forth as panic overtook her mind. Spyro just shook his head and walked over, sitting down next to her as he blew i her ear, which made her yelp and blush, stopping her rocking as she looked up to him.
"Twilight, calm down." Spyro said, wrapping his wing around her. "I don't think the princess gave you a due date for when you learn something about friendship. Just calm down and think, you already went through school, so how can she throw you back that far when you're already her star pupil?"
She thought about what he said, knowing he was right and leaned into him, still shaking as he planted a kiss on her head to help her calm down, which worked as she smiled at him.
"You're right Spyro." She said, walking out from underneath his wing. "It's silly of me to think this, which is why I'm going to solve a friendship problem before sundown!"
"Oh boy." Spyro said, getting up and walking to the stairs, but was stopped by Twilight.
"So Spyro, do you have any kind of friendship problems that I, as a good friend, can help you with?" Twilight asked, smiling at him, hoping he had one.
"Well, there is something that I have right now." Spyro said, her eyes lighting up. "I have a certain friend who is currently worried about a deadline and is panicking over nothing and need help convincing her not to panic."
"That's great!" She exclaimed, oblivious to the fact it was about her. "Let's go find her and..." After she thought about it for a moment, she leered at him, annoyed to find out it was about her. "I hate you right now."
"Love you too bookworm." Spyro replied, the two kissing as they closed their eyes.
"Oh brother, get a room." Spike said, walking away.
"Twilight, just send a message to Princess Celestia asking if there was ever a due date for you to send her what you learned about friendship." Spyro suggested. "It'll save you the panic of-"
"Spyro, I can't take that risk." Twilight said, walking to the stairs. "I need to find something and send it in, then I can ask her."
She then walked down the stairs of the library, leaving Spyro alone with Spike as he got to work cleaning up the mess that Twilight had cause when trying to find her calendar.
"This is not going to end well, is it?" Spyro asked, already knowing the answer.
"Afraid so." Spike replied. "Wanna go make sure she doesn't loose her mind?"
"That might be a good idea." Spyro replied.
He then ran down the stairs and out the door, running with Twilight as he volunteered to help her with finding a friendship problem they could solve together. As they trotted through the town, they heard Rarity scream from her boutique, alerting both Spyro and Twilight as they rushed over to her boutique and Twilight kicked the door, making Spyro flinch as possibly damaged the door. When they entered, they found her on the floor crying, which Twilight asked what was wrong, thinking it was a Friendship problem, but in actuality, she just lost a Diamond Encrusted Purple Robbin, noting much else was happening. Twilight and Spyro searched for it, which Spyro found it on the ground in plain sight right in front of the mirrors. Rarity thanked him for finding it by giving him a kiss on the cheek and went back to work, dashing Twilight's hopes of a possible friendship report, so they left the boutique to look somewhere else.
They then went to the dirt road leading to Sweet Apple Acres, hoping that there was something there that could work for her, but when they arrived, they both saw that Rainbow Dash was bashing through an old barn, breaking it apart as Applejack took cover behind in a trench. Spyro knew exactly what was going on and was about to tell Twilight, but the overexcited mare was too quick for him and rushed towards them and used her magic to grab her by the tail, taking her over to a nearby bench and setting her down on it, Twilight acting like a psychiatrist to try and solve her issues. However, Spyro came to her and told her that Applejack asked Rainbow Dash to help demolish the old barn so they could build a new one to take it's place. A moment later, Rainbow Dash shot up into the air and dove straight down towards the barn, Spyro tackled Twilight and covered her with his body as Rainbow Dash hit the barn, destroying it in an explosion of rainbow smoke and a mushroom cloud, protecting Twilight from all the debris that landed right on top of them.
After digging themselves out of the rubble, they then moved on to find another place to find something for Twilight to write about, looking up to the sky and seeing it was already the afternoon, making the lavender mare panic and start to mumble to herself about how much time they had left, but then talked about how Fluttershy always had a fear she needed help getting over, so they then went to her cottage to see if she needed any help. But when they got there, they found that the door to her cottage was already open, so they walked around back and found she was wrestling a Grizzly bear, shocking the two of them as they watched the timid Pegasus actually wrestling one, and winning. She kept tripping the bear up, kicking it in the back and making something snap, then bending it's limbs in different ways and even in ways that made the bear pound it's paw in pain, actual tears rolling down the poor animals face. But what really drove the nail in the coffin was the fact that Fluttershy then rushed up to it's head and snapped the massive mammals neck, shocking the two of them as the snapped sounded extremely painful and the bear lied prone to the ground.
Twilight left after snapping out of her bewilderment, more panicked than she was before and Spyro was about to follow her, but saw the bear was still alive, it moved it's head a bit and roared in what sounded like relief, seeing it was just a massage and some chiropractics to help alleviate whatever tension the bear might have had. Relieved Fluttershy was still the same, kind, animal loving timid mare she always was, he left to go and find Twilight, looking around town until he found her huddled in a bench and stroking her tail, looking like she was going to have a mental breakdown; her mane and tail all frazzled and messy, her eyes were puffy and red as she looked like she had been crying and still was as she stroked her tail, mumbling to herself.
"Twilight?" Spyro asked, slowly approaching her.
"It's going to be ok." She said to herself. "The day is not over yet, but it will be soon!" She then looked to the sky, seeing the sun was getting closer to the ground, groaning in frustration as she looked in the puddle she probably made from her tears. "It will all be over, my advanced studies, my time in Ponyville, my time with Spyro, it's all over! No! No, keep it together Twilight. You're an excellent student! You can pull this off!" Twilight's personality began to change as she began to talk to herself, her insanity beginning to take over. "But what if I can't?" She asked herself, but her insane side started to take over. "You just have to keep it together, you understand!? Keep! It! Together."
"Oh great, she's starting to act a bit like Gollum, but without the voice. Or the cough" Spyro said to himself.
Spike then came walking up, carrying the box of cupcakes that they got earlier in the day, seeing that she was talking to herself and the worrying look on Spyro's face.
"Is she... talking to herself?" Spike asked, worried for her.
"Afraid so." Spyro replied. "Is she always been the kind of pony who works around keeping schedules and trying to be the perfect student?"
"Unfortunately." Spike replied.
A moment later, they all heard fillies laughing while they were playing jump rope, Spyro sensing an excessive amount of anxiety coming from Twilight as he looked over, seeing her ears were flicking in random directions and her eyes were twitching, about to have a nervous breakdown if Spyro hadn't rushed over and blew in her ear again, making her flinch and blush again as it snapped her out of whatever she was thinking about.
"Twilight, the stress about this whole finding a problem to write a letter about it, it's causing you to loose your sanity." Spyro said, hoping to break through to her. "Calm yourself, take some breaths, and relax."
She looked from Spyro and then to the fillies, staring at them as before rubbing her eyes to snap herself out of her delusions.
"Spyro's right Twilight." Spike said, bringing the box over. "Here, why don't you go and take the cupcakes to the picnic and relax with your friends."
"PICNIC!" She exclaimed loudly, taking the box from Spike. "Wonderful idea guys!"
She then rushed into the park, going towards her friends and the place where they agreed to the picnic.
"Seems she has come to her senses." Spike said.
"No she hasn't." Spyro replied, watching her run to her friends. "She's on the tipping point to complete insanity. Spike, get a letter to the princess, inform her of what's happening."
He then rushed off in the same direction that Twilight took, rushing towards her as she was running until they saw their friends in the distance, Applejack unfurling the picnic blanket right as Pinkie pulled off a checkered handkerchief, letting balloons carry the basket away right as while Rarity looked like she was crying in the same sofa again, how she got it there he didn't know, but decided not to question it. And he saw Rainbow Dash lie down on the ground like she was hoping to get a tan, but when everyone saw the state Twilight was in after putting the box of cupcakes down, all shocked at the state she currently in and were all worried.
"Twi, ya'll alright hun?" Applejack asked.
"No, I'm not alright!" Twilight said, surprising the girls as they asked what was wrong. "It's just awful. Simply terrible! I really, really need your guys help before the worst happens."
"Well spit it out Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said, everyone concerned for her friend.
"She's stressing herself out about not sending a letter this week about a lesson on friendship." Spyro replied, coming up behind her. "She think's she'll be sent back to Magic Kindergarten for missing a day, even though I don't think the Princess specified when Twilight would need to send a letter."
The girls breathed a sigh of relief, going back to relaxing while Twilight looked like she was going to loose her mind.
"Twilight, no offense, but ya'll are getting worked up over nothing." Applejack said.
"This is not nothing!" She argued, looking more unhinged by the minute. "Please, I need your help finding somepony with a friendship problem before sun down! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"
"Oh Twilight, you're so hilarious!" Pinkie replied, falling on the ground and laughed.
"Twilight, the stress is getting to you." Spyro said, wrapping his wing around her. "Come, have a seat and relax."
"He's right sugarcube." Applejack said. "Come and have a seat and stop sweating the small stuff."
Annoyed with her friends for not understanding her, she yelled out in frustration and broke out from under Spyro's wing, running away before teleporting using her magic, disappearing to some place else.
"Wow, I've never seen Twilight so upset before." Fluttershy said.
"She's just stressed." Spyro replied, lying down on his stomach while on the blanket. "She's trying to be the perfect student that it's become an obsession for her; needing to remain perfect."
"Still, missing one assignment doesn't automatically send ya back to kindergarten." Applejack pointed out. "She needs to relax and calm herself high horse down before she does something drastic."
"Plus, she's being a drama queen about this." Rarity pointed out, flicking her mane.
"Yeah and this is coming from the drama queen who couldn't find a ribbon while it was in plain sight." Spyro replied, everyone laughing while Rarity leered at him.
"He gotcha there Rarity!" Rainbow Dash said, laughing the hardest.
The six of them enjoyed the picnic, even though Twilight hadn't joined them do to her stress, they all had a fun time hanging out, joking around, playing a few games Pinkie brought, having an overall good time as friends. As they were enjoying themselves, Spyro got a call from Yen Sid, everyone looking to his bracers as they rang, Spyro sliding it open as an image of Yen Sid appeared.
"Master, this is a surprise." Spyro said. "How may I help you?"
"Actually Spyro, I am contacting you to give you good news." Master Yen Sid said. "I have managed to do a little rearranging and have granted your request for a two week vacation to a world of your choice."
"You mean it!?" Spyro asked excitedly. "Thank you master!"
"I know you have been working hard and been on many difficult adventures." Yen Sid said. "Therefore, you have earned a little rest."
"Is it alright if I take my friends with me?" Spyro asked. "They've also been on a few of my adventures and I'd like to treat them to a vacation as well."
"That is up to you young prince." Yen Sid replied. "They have also been through their own ordeals, so some time away from the stress of it all will be good for them."
"It will be, won't it?" Spyro asked, looking up to his friends. "Especially for a certain pony I know who's stressing over nothing and is loosing her sanity. Again, thank you master for the vacation. We'll be leaving this Friday for our vacation."
"Very well." Yen Sid said. "Enjoy your down time and get some rest and relaxation."
"Yes master." Spyro replied, ending the message and looking to the girls. "Well, looks like we're going on vacation!"
As he said it, the five mares all cheered and shouted with glee, Rainbow Dash shooting up and doing several backflips as she cheered, Pinkie bouncing so much that she ended up shooting into the atmosphere and landed on the ground with the biggest smile on her face while Applejack tossed her hat in the air cheering like a cowboy.
"A vacation would be exactly what this pony needs darling." Rarity said, still lying on her couch.
"It would be lovely to have some time to rest and relax." Fluttershy said.
"Darn tootin' it would be great to relax." Applejack said. "After all the excitement we've been havin', we deserve to relax and have some fun!"
"Well what are we waiting for!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Where we going for vacation?"
"Leave that to me RD." Spyro replied. "I'll let you girls know where we're going after consulting my maps. Right now, I need to find Twilight and tell her the good news."
Spyro got up off the blanket and took off into the air to look for Twilight while the girls all talked about the kind of world Spyro would pick for their vacation and what they would pack when he made his decision. On the other side of the park, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle playing catch with a ball, but just in the bushes, Twilight was watching the Crusaders, her eyes the size of pin needles and a deranged look on her face as her eyes started to twitch. She poked her head out of the bush under a birds nest, the nest itself on her head as she looked more insane and desperate than she did previously.
"If I can't find a friendship problem to solve, I'll make one instead." Twilight said, pulling out an old gray ragged donkey doll wearing blue pants with white polka dots. "Genius Twilight, pure genius."
As the fillies continued to play with their ball, Scootaloo knocked it from the air and made it hit the ground, rushing to pick it up, but it then started to glow, expanding until it popped, spooking the fillies, but saw Twilight where their ball use to be.
"Hi there girls." Twilight said, her sanity completely gone.
"Oh, howdy Twilight." Apple Bloom said, sensing something was wrong with her. "How ya doing?"
"Great!" She replied. "Just great. You three look like three good friends who down need the help of another GREAT friend!" She then pulled out the old doll to the confused crusaders. "This is Smarty Pants. She was mine when I was your age, but I'm too old for her now, so I'd like to give her to you!"
The crusaders looked at the doll in confusion, looking between Twilight and the doll, feeling like something was off about her behavior and how she suddenly appeared.
"Twilight, are you sure you're ok?" Scootaloo asked. "You seem a little..."
"Crazy?" Apple Bloom asked, finishing the sentence
"And look, she even comes with her own notebook and quill!" Twilight said, ignoring the question, hovering the notebook to Scootaloo and the quill to Sweetie Belle, putting the quill behind her ear. "That way you can make sure she 'pretends' to do her homework!" Shen then began to laugh insanely and tilted her head awkwardly, freaking the fillies out as they backed away. "I just hope she won't be a problem as there are three of you and only one of her. I hope she won't create a rift between GOOD FRIENDS!"
"Twilight, we like her and all, but..." Apple Bloom said, trying to find the right words. "Ah think Sweetie Belle should play with her first."
"Me?" She asked in surprise. "No, I think Scootaloo should play with her first."
"Oh no you don't." Scootaloo replied. "I think Apple Bloom should play with her first."
The three of them then got into, fighting over who should play with he doll first, causing Twilight to go into a panic and look to the sky, seeing her time was nearly up and needed to come up with an idea for the girls to want her old doll when she thought of something, smiling insanely.
"Oh, you're going to love Smarty Pants." Twilight said, her horn starting to glow. "And you're going to love her more than anything, whether you want love her already or not."
"Twilight, what's going on here?" Spyro asked. Twilight immediately looked behind her, seeing her friend standing behind her, but once her spell was fully charged, a beam of hearts flew from her horn and hit him, surrounding as he floated in the air and fell to the ground, thankfully he wasn't hurt, but he didn't understand what kind of spell Twilight hit him with. He looked up to the lavender unicorn, who seemed to be back to normal, but she looked fearful at what she had just done. "Twilight, what did you hit me with?"
"Oh nononononononono." Twilight said, fear in her voice. "Spyro, don't let anypony see you!"
But the warning came too late as the crusaders looked at Spyro and instantly, their eyes turned into hearts as they saw him.
"I want him." Scootaloo said in a dreamy voice.
"Ah need him." Apple Bloom said.
"I really like his mane!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Oh Poodoo!" Spyro said, leaping into the air as the fillies tried to tackle him. "Twilight, what's going on with the fillies!? What did you hit me with?"
"I'm sorry!" Twilight said in fear. "That spell was meant for my doll, not you!"
"What kind of spell is it!?" Spyro asked, the crusaders yanking his tail down and grabbing his forelegs.
"Ah saw him first!" Apple Bloom shouted.
"No, I did!" Sweetie Belle shouted back.
"Twilight, answers please!" Spyro shouted, trying to get the fillies off as they gave him pecks on the cheek. "I like my little sister and her friends, but not like this!"
"I'm sorry, I accidentally hit you with a 'Want-it, Need-it's spell." Twilight said. "It makes whoever sees you want you."
"Oh great!" Spyro said, finally getting the fillies off and hovering in the air. "Please tell me there's a counter spell because this is worse than being chased for the gala tickets!"
A moment later, he was dragged back down onto the ground and the three fillies then started to fight over him, getting into another brawl on top of him when Big Mac walked up to get Apple Bloom and saw what was going on, seeing the panicked mare and knew something was wrong. However, when Spyro managed to get the fillies off him and stand on his own legs again, the enchantment then took hold of him, hearts appearing in his eyes. Spyro managed to sneak away from the brawling fillies and took a breath, but then felt a disturbance in the Force, looking over to his left and saw Big Mac with the same eyes that the fillies have.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Spyro said, backing away from the big red stallion. "It works on stallions too!? This is wrong on so many levels!"
"Well howdy there Spyro" Big Mac said, starring at him.
"Nope, I'm out of here." Spyro said, taking off.
Spyro took off into the air, flying away from the infatuated ponies as fast as possible, Twilight running after them as it was her fault he was turned into a magnet where whoever looked at him immediately become infatuated with him, chasing him around. As he kept flying around, he soon caught the attention of a large majority of the town, the Pegasi immediately diving to tackle him while those on the ground tried to grab him when he was low enough, but thanks to his Force abilities he was able to sense where the Pegasi were coming from and and dodging them, but in the end he was too low and was too focused on the sky that he failed to notice someone grabbed his tail and yanked him down, dog piling him. The commotion was more than enough for the girls to looked away from their picnic spot to the dog pile, Spyro bursting out from the top and flying away again as the crowd ran after him.
"What in the name of oats and apples is going on here?" Applejack asked, right after that, Spyro fell to the ground due to more Pegasi tackling him, wrestling with the prince.
Before their friends could even fall under the spells power, Twilight diverted their eyes away from Spyro.
"Don't look at him!" Twilight shouted.
"What do you mean don't look at him?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Spyro and almost falling under the spells power if Twilight didn't divert her eyes. "Ow, what the hay is happening?"
"It's my fault." Twilight replied. "I accidentally hit him with a 'Want-it, Need-it' spell to create a friendship problem so I have something to write to princess Celestia about, but instead of my old doll I hit Spyro. Oh, what am I going to do? How am I going to reverse the spell and write something before sundown?"
"Ah'm afraid yer a little late for that." Applejack said, pointing to the sun as it set, turning day to night.
Twilight sank onto the ground, her time was up and she failed to turn in a letter, fearing she was going to be in a lot of trouble.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Princess Celestia shouted, a bright light appearing above her and hovering.
Her horn then started to glow as a flash of light washed over everyone, dispelling the enchantment on Spyro and snapping everyone out of their trance and looked around in confusion, wondering what they were doing. Everyone then looked down at Spyro, who was crumpled on the ground with his eyes spinning around his head as birds were spinning around his head chirping and was covered in bruises and a broken wing, green light glowing from his body as his injuries started to heal themselves. Everyone then started to go home, not wanting to discuss what had happened today, but Big Mac looked at the doll on the ground, making sure no one was looking before taking the doll and leaving, heading back to the farm to hide the stuffed animal. The princess then landed on the ground and approached Twilight, looking down at her in disappointment just as Spyro got up and walked over.
"Twilight, I would like to have a word with you at the library." Princess Celestia said, looking to Spyro with the same look. "Alone."
She then took off into the air and flew towards the town, heading to the library while Twilight hung her head low, trudging along the ground as her friends watched her walk away. Worried for his friend, Spyro rushed forward and without letting her know, he dove into her shadow the moon was creating, traveling with her as she reached the library, walking in to see a very disappointed princess. Through the shadows, Spyro could see and hear everything they were saying, Twilight explaining why she went crazy, how she was supposed to send her a letter every week and how she tried to make a friendship problem to solve so she wouldn't be tardy.
"I'm a bad student." Twilight said, tears rolling down her eyes. "I failed to turn in a lesson on friendship, I'm tardy. And because of my crazy attempt to create a problem to try and solve, I got Spyro hurt and he probably hates me now!"
"Oh Twilight, you're a wonderful student." Princess Celestia said. "And he doesn't hate you. He sent me a letter telling me what was going on and how terribly worried he was for you. He really cares about you and is probably on his way here now." Just as she said it, Twilight's shadow moved from under her to the nearby book shelf, extending as purple glowing eyes came from them and Spyro walked out of the shadows, freaking Twilight out while the princess seemed unfazed. "Or he was hiding in your shadow."
"I'm sorry princess, but I was worried for her." Spyro said, walking put to them. "She's a member of my herd, but more than that, she's my friend. I didn't want her to-"
"Spyro, it's ok." Twilight said, looking back up to the princess. "It's all my fault and if I am to be punished, I deserve it."
The princess could see how remorseful her student was, but when she looked over to Spyro, she watched him walk over to her student and sit down next to her, wrapping his wing around her and he pulled her in, hugging her as she was about to cry.
"Twilight, I told you to send me a letter about friendship 'when' you learned about it, not every week." The princess said, making her look up in surprise. "He told me how you were so worried about making the deadline that it was causing you to loose your mind."
"So Spyro was right." Twilight said, hugging him. "You were right, she didn't give me a due date."
Just then, their friends barged in through the door, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack on the ground after busting through the door while Rarity and Rainbow Dash came in to try and defend their friend.
"Princess, please wait." Rainbow Dash said, getting between the princess and her students. "Please don't punish her."
"It wasn't all her fault." Applejack said. "We should have been more helpful."
"I'm listening." The princess said.
"It's our fault, we didn't understand the gravity of Twilight's situation." Fluttershy said.
"We thought what she was worrying about was nothing to worry about at all." Rainbow Dash said.
"As such, this entire mess is also our fault because we didn't try and stop her." Applejack added.
"As her friends, we should have been more courteous of her feelings and been there for her." Rarity said.
"Please princess, don't take Twilight away from us because we weren't sensitive about her feelings." Fluttershy begged.
The princess looked at everyone, seeing how her friends were willing to protect her from punishment and how they all came to her aid when she needed it, even Spyro who disobeyed her and came to Twilight's aid, no matter what she said. She then smiled at everyone, their act of wanting to protect her.
"Well, it seems all of you have learned a valuable lesson today." The princess said, everyone nodding their heads. "Very well, I'll forget about Twilight's punishment, but on one condition. That all of you report to me your findings on the magic of friendship! But only 'when' you have discovered them."
"You can count on us princess." Twilight said, everyone cheering that their friend wouldn't be taken away from them.
"Oh, and Spyro, do me one favor please." The princess said, getting his attention. "Take Twilight with you on your vacation. She probably needs one just as much as you do."
"That's the plan princess." Spyro replied, Princess Celestia nodding her head as she flew off back to Canterlot. "And I think I know just the world."
"Oh, which one?" Rarity asked.
"I'm not going to spoil the surprise." Spyro said, getting up and walking to the door. "Just going to give you this one hint. Pack plenty of sunscreen."
He then walked out the door, leaving the mares alone in the library as they had an idea that the world they were going to has beaches and all six of them were excited, screaming in happiness as he was taking them to a beach, all but Twilight rushing out of the library to make plans for some fun in the sun. Back at the garage, Spyro walked into the main room and activated the display, AIVA popping up as a holographic head and looking down at him.
"Good evening sir." AIVA said.
"Good evening AIVA." Spyro replied.
"You seem to be up late tonight sir." AIVA pointed out. "Has something happened?"
"No, I just need you to pack the Dragons crest with enough supplies for six ponies for two weeks." Spyro said, looking up at her. "How soon can you have it done?"
"Within two days sir." AIVA responded. "I should have all provisions and necessities loaded into the Dragon's Crest within two days."
"Perfect. Begin loading procedures in the morning." Spyro said, allowing the hologram to deactivate. "For now, I need some sleep. Too much craziness for one day."
He walked out of the garage and back into the farm house, heading upstairs to get some sleep and heard how excited Applejack was, already making plans to buck a lot of trees and already packing for two weeks of beach fun. As he passed Big Mac's room, he noticed that the massive stallion had with him Twilight's old doll, why he would take it in the first place he had no idea, but decided to drop it as it was probably something personal with him. In his room, he removed his jacket and the shoulder guards, putting them on a couple of hooks and getting to bed, lying his head down on the pillow as he thought of the fun they would have, and the training they were going to do while on vacation.
