[Spike]
>Gems.
>Thousand of gems of every color and size.
>Delectable, mouth-watering-
>”Spike.”
>Wha?
>”Spike!”
Whaizzit?
>”This isn't funny, Spike.”
I was having such a delicious dream, Twilight. Can't it wait?
>You turn around and bury yourself under your blankets.
>”Well, you should have thought of that before you made this.”
>What was she even talking about?
>You're not going to get any peace and quiet until you deal with this, are you?
What is it, Twilight?
>You drag yourself out of bed and walk up to her.
>”You know darn well what it is!”
>Sigh...
No, I don't.
>She uses her magic to hand you a piece of parchment.
>”|This| is what.”
>You stare at the crudely drawn picture on the parchment for a few seconds.
>It looked like...
>Twilight, but with a giant head and a dumb expression on her face.
>Her horn was floppy, her tongue was hanging out of her grinning mouth, and her eyes were unfocused.
>There were stink lines coming off her flank, and her cutie mark had been replaced by a strange curved line.
>The picture was captioned “I am Twilight. My butt is dumb and my face is a butt. Also, my cutie mark is a butt.”
>So |that's| what that line was!
>Twilight did not take kindly to your hysterical laughter.
>”Darn it Spike, this is mean. Not to mention incredibly childish. I expected better from you.”
>You finally compose yourself and look up at her, tears of laughter still in your eyes.
Sorry, Twilight, but I didn't draw that. I've never seen it before.
>”At least be honest with me, Spike.”
>This was starting to get insulting. You had nothing to do with that admittedly hilarious picture, so why wouldn't she believe you?
Twilight, seriously. I didn't draw it. I really didn't.
>You actually try to sound serious this time.
>”Look, there's no point in lying. I found it on my nightstand, it wasn't there when I went to bed last night, and the front door is locked. We are the only ones in here, so it's obvious that-”
 
[Twilight Sparkle]
>Oh no.
>Nononono.
>Oh Celestia no.
>You turn and sprint down the stairs to your study, leaving Spike, picture in claw, wondering what just happened.
>You charge up a spell as you practically fly down the stairs to the main library.
>Fourth Circle, Lunar register: Blackout.
>Checking the front door with your hooves, you find that it's still locked from the inside.
>Basement.
>You push open the door and see him... sitting in the Warding Sphere right where you left him, reading a book.
>You allow your prepared spell to dissipate as you descend the stairs in the brief few seconds between seeing him still in his prison, and realizing what you just saw.
>He was reading a book!
>He didn't have any books hidden in those strange robes when you imprisoned him!
>Your blood freezes as he turns his head up from the book, looks at you, and smiles.
>”Good morning, Twilight.”, he says in a friendly voice.
How did... how did you escape?!
>He looks down at the book in his hand and starts reading again, his smile growing ever so slightly wider.
>”I have no idea what you're talking about.”
>How did... How could... It was impossible! Your scans didn't show any magical ability in him, and even if he had any, he wouldn't have been able to cast any spells! And there's no way he was strong enough to break free through brute force!
>And why was the Sphere still there? Even if he broke it or dispelled it or something, it should just be gone!
>Did he recast it?
>No, you recognize that magical aura. This was your spell.
>Maybe his species could teleport?
>No. Inherent, species-level magic was still magic. The Sphere would disrupt it.
>But that meant... that meant you weren't safe at all!
>Any second now, he could reach through the barrier or teleport out or...
>”Anything the matter?” You flinch as you hear his voice, still the height of friendly bemusement. “You seem a little nervous.”
>He was big. Too big. He could catch you if you tried to run.
>Your teleportation spell took too long to charge, and you were too scared to cast a spell that complicated properly anyway.
>Before you can stop yourself, you do the most instinctual thing your body can think of. You scream.
>”Twilight?”, a response comes from somewhere near the kitchen.
>Oh no. Spike was going to come down here. Your stupid slip put Spike in danger! You have to-
>”Could you please try to be a little more quiet? I'm trying to read.”, the creature says in a polite tone.
>Would he just shut up already?! Doesn't he realize that you're standing face to face with a dangerous... him.
>You hear the front door being unlocked, and then the partially closed basement door slams open.
>A blue-and-rainbow blur shoots down into the room and hovers next to Twilight, followed by a small purple-and-green shape wielding a frying pan.
>”What's wrong?! What did he do?!”
>RD must have heard you screaming and been let in by Spike.
>Another pony put in danger by your carelessness.
Be careful Rainbow! He can escape the barrier!
>”What? How? When? Wait, why is he still in there then? How do you know that he can escape?”
Don't you see? He has books! He didn't have those books last night! And I found a picture on my nightstand that Spike didn't put there! The front door was locked. He's the only one who could have done it!
>You point a hoof at him accusingly.
>”But I'm locked in your spell. It's so secure that you can't even give me a mattress or bathroom visits. How could I possibly escape?”
>Again, that polite, curious tone. Not overtly sarcastic, and all the more infuriating as a result.
Then where did you get those books?
>”You should be happy. I've heard that reading is a great way to rehabilitate prisoners.”
Tell me right now, er...
>Darn, what was his name again?
>He notices your confusion.
>”Anonymous, but Anon will do.”
R-right. Anonymous, tell me how you escaped!
>”Yeah, |Anon|, what did I tell you about escaping?”
>”That you would smash my head in if you saw me outside the sphere.” he says, his words accompanied by another friendly, purple smile.
>”And you igno... I mean, you... I... GAH!”
>She throws her hooves up in frustration.
>”I can't deal with this jerk. You talk to him Twilight. I'll be here if you need me.”
>She flies further into the room, keeping roughly the same distance from the Sphere.
Tell me how you got out or I'll tell the Princess what you did! Escaping from the custody of the Royal Guard is a serious offense!
>”But I keep telling you, there's no way I could have escaped! It's not like there'd be any huge, obvious flaws in a spell cast by Princess Celestia's own personal student, right?”, he says, his carefree smile flashing into a cruel one for a second.
>You feel the air leave your lungs.
>What if the Princess found out? What if she finds out that you put everypony in danger because you were too stupid and incompetent to properly cast a spell you should have mastered months ago?
>Do you lie to her? Pretend that nothing happened?
>Do you ask Dash and Spike to back you up if you lie?
>Would Anonymous tell her, out of spite?
>You are shaken out of your panic by the voice of someone you had almost forgotten was present.
>”Uhm... Twilight? Who is that?”
>Oh, right. You never told Spike about him. He just knows that Fluttershy was hurt in the Everfree and that he's not allowed to go down into the basement.
He might be the one who... who hurt Fluttershy.
>You see a mixture of fear and anger on Spike's face.
>”I most certainly am not!”
>He's looking up from his book and, for the first time today, he actually looks angry.
>”Treating me like a suspect, locking me up, and not even letting me visit my friend in the hospital is understandable, but if you're not even going to give me a big enough prison cell or provide me with basic necessities, you can't really expect me to take your claim of legitimate authority seriously, now can you? It's a damn thin line between emergency detainment and kidnapping, and locking me in a tiny bubble and telling me to piss in a corner puts you |one hoof firmly over that line|.”
>You stare at him, trying to process the sudden outburst.
>”Now, if you'd like for us to handle this like grownups, feel free to shut down your spell. Ideally sometime before my spine snaps in half.”
>That's... you can't do that, right?
>Then again, he's had plenty of opportunities to escape or hurt you throughout the night, and he never did.
>All he did was draw that stupid picture and borrow some books.
>And all that stuff he said about Fluttershy sounded honest. Sincere.
>”You're not actually considering it, right?”
I... don't know.
>”You |don't know|? Remember what he did to Fluttershy! You saw her! You |were covered in her blood|, Twilight!
>Spike is starting to look even more scared and uncomfortable.
We don't know that! He had plenty of chances to hurt me last night! Or he could have escaped! Besides, he's right about the spell. I had to make the sphere smaller to increase its strength. What if he's innocent? We can't treat somepony like this when we don't even know if he's done anything wrong!
>You take a few shallow breaths and look at Rainbow Dash. You hate fighting with your friends, but it was starting to look like Anonymous might actually be innocent.
Besides, it's not like the spell can hold him anyway. I don't know how, but he found a way past it.
>”Maybe it's a trick! Maybe he smuggled the books in there or maybe they're just illusions or something!”
I would have found them when I checked his clothes for hidden weapons, and I made sure there was no active magic around him. He got out, Dash. I don't know how, but he got out. My spell failed.
>”But.. still. We could... just in case, I mean.”
I'm sorry, Dash, but there is no point in keeping him in there. If he's innocent, he should be set free. If he is guilty, he could just escape again anyway. We have nothing to lose.
>You charge your horn and input the correct dissipation codes. The Sphere shudders for a moment, and then disappears.
>He puts the book down, lies flat on his back, and stretches. You hear several pops and a satisfied groan.
>He slowly rises to his full height, causing the three of you to take an involuntary step backwards.
>”Brilliant. Now what's for breakfast?”
 
[Anonymous]
>That went far better than expected.
>Demonstrate that you can break out of the spell as a show of power, then draw that ridiculous picture to lighten the mood and to let them know that you mean no harm.
>Heh. “My cutie mark is a butt.”
>You do feel a little guilty about what just happened. You didn't expect them to get quite that emotional.
>Still. Nobody tells you to piss where you sleep and gets away with it.
>Time to earn the trust of your hosts by not violently murdering them the first opportunity you get.
>This sure is easy when the bar is set so damn low.
>Food now.
>You stride past your fear-stricken captors and walk up the stairs and into the library proper.
>A left turn, some more walking, a few more turns with a bit of walking mixed in, and you find yourself in the kitchen.
>What do horses in your world eat?
>Grass?
>Do they eat fruit?
>Do these ponies eat fruit?
>For the second time, you mentally slap yourself for forgetting about Fluttershy's earth pony friend.
>She owns an apple orchard, dammit. Her name is freaking Applejack.
>And didn't the other earth pony work at a bakery?
>Hang on, you're the prisoner here. Don't they have a duty to feed you or something?
>...are you still a prisoner?
>You decide against claiming to be one just to get out of cooking, and start going through her fridge.
>Salad, bread, blue rocks, yellow stuff...
>Apples!
>You like those!
>The design of the sink means there's probably running water, but you don't know if it's safe for you to drink.
>You grab a couple of handfuls of apples, put them on the table, move the chair out of the way and sit down on the floor. Your head seems to end up at roughly the height you estimate that theirs would if they sat on one of the chairs.
>The others, probably shaken out of their collective stupor by the realization that there was a possibly murderous alien wandering around unsupervised, seem to have caught up.
>You take a bite of your first apple as they eye you nervously from the entrance to the kitchen.
S'good appl.
>...you say with a mouthful of apple, trying to lighten the mood and seem nonthreatening.
>It... doesn't seem to have worked.
>Fine, then you'll force them to respond.
There are still apples left if you want some.
>”That's... ok, Anonymous.”
>”Yeah, |I'm not hungry|.”
>Wow. You didn't expect somebody like Rainbow Dash to be able to pack that much venom into a sentence.
So instead of being stuck in a cage all day, I'll be followed around by the three of you?
>It was an improvement, but still.
Don't you have jobs?
>Ok, now you're just being a dick to them for no reason. Stop it.
>You sigh, shrug, and go back to your apples.
 
[Rainbow Dash]
>Darn it, you |do| have a job.
>There's a thunderstorm coming in from Las Pegasus and you're supposed to be in charge of making sure it behaves.
>Things could get pretty bad around here if you don't siphon off at least sixty percent of the clouds.
>You should just take a sick day. Storm Chaser can lead the team. He's been itching for a chance to prove himself since he joined.
>But he is pretty inexperienced, and they put you in charge for a reason.
>You can't just leave Twilight and Spike alone here with the freak, though.
>Applejack and Rarity put together should be enough to make up for a lack of Dash.
>But Rarity is still shaken up about what happened...
>Pinkie Pie would make a terrible guard. She'd probably throw him a party.
>At least that's what she would have done a couple of days ago.
>You actually heard crying coming from her room when you were passing Sugarcube Corner last night.
>On top of all the other horrible stuff he's done, he made Pinkie cry.
>Probably.
>All the stuff he probably did.
>No, it fits together too well. That freak appearing, the blood, him running off to the forest.
>He was guilty.
>Probably.
>Either way, you're not going to abandon Twilight.
>You take a couple of steps back from the door and motion to Spike to join you.
>He takes one last look at it and joins you as you whisper your request.
Hey, Spike. I hate to do this, but I really have to go stop a thunderstorm from... y'know... destroying Ponyville. Could you go get AJ? I don't want to leave you and Twilight alone here with that thing.
>He looks back at Twilight with a worried look on his face, then turns to you and nods.
>”I'll take care of it. Just make sure she's safe.”
If it wants to hurt her, it will have to get past me first. No worries.
>He gives you a weak smile and heads out into the sunrise.
>Now there's just you and Twilight against it.
>Not that Spike would have been much help in a fight. He's cool and all, but...
>You walk back to the entrance to the kitchen and continue staring at him.
>He was down to his last pilfered apple.
>Having finished it, he get's back up, once again startling the both of you with his sheer size.
>Great Celestia, he's big.
>He grabs the boring-looking book he brought from the bubble and starts moving towards you.
>What the hay is he doing?
>You adopt a fighting pose with your legs apart, ready to charge or dodge as needed.
>He sees your change in stance and stops moving.
>”I'm just going to the couch, Rainbow Dash.”, he says, his voice tinged with annoyance.
>You eye him carefully and start to back away, making sure that Twilight is also moving away at the same speed.
>He sighs, waits for you to clear a path, and then starts walking again.
>True to his lying, cheating word, he walks up to one of the comfy couches Twilight keeps in the library, sits down, and starts reading.
>Looking at Twilight, you see her swallow, take a deep breath, and- is she...?
>She walks up to the couches and sits down on one across the table from his.
>Is she crazy? He could probably clear that table in a single step!
>He glanced up from his book when she sat down, and you think you saw a faint smile on his face.
>Probably just happy Twilight is starting to believe his lies.
>You spend some time watching him read until, suddenly, a sharp whistle causes you to drop back into your fighting stance.
>What happened?! What did he do?!
>He's... he looked startled too, and now he looks confused. Why did-
>”Attention all members of the Ponyville weather team! The storm coming in from Las Pegasus is moving faster than we expected! Gather at point Alpha-Bridle in five minutes! I repeat: gather at point Alpha-Bridle in five minutes!”
>The magically amplified voice rings through the library.
>What? No! They can't call you out there now! AJ isn't here yet!
>The creature is staring off into space, as if he was trying to remember something.
>Whatever it was, he seems to have succeeded. A look of realization dawns on his ugly face as he turns his head to look at you.
>Does he know? If the part about him talking to Fluttershy was true, he might know that you're on the weather team.
>”It's ok, Rainbow.”
>What?
Twilight, are you kidding me? You'd be completely alone!
>She looks scared.
>”I... I know. But I read about that storm in the paper. It could do a huge amount of damage to Ponyville if nopony stops it!”
Then let the others handle it! I'm not leaving you here.
>She gets off the couch and turns to face you while still keeping an eye on him.
>”You're the best weather pony in town! You know where all the funnel breaches and cloud lanes are. Without your expertise, somepony on the team could get hurt.”
Without me here, you |will| be hurt! AJ will be here soon, I'll just wait until she shows up.
>You look at Anony- it- him. He is listening to your debate with a concerned expression on his face.
>”I am not going to let Ponyville burn just because I'm too weak to defend myself!”
>”While I am reluctant to offer strategies to be used against me, it seems like time is of the essence.”
>You turn your head towards him in surprise, having almost forgotten that he could actually speak.
>”Wouldn't it be possible to simply use repeated applications of the spell you used in the forest to render me unconscious until one of your friends arrives?”
>That... could work, couldn't it?
>Twilight seems to consider his suggestion, and then speaks.
>”I'm afraid not. The target quickly builds up a resistance to it, so each use will only last approximately half as long as the previous one.”
>”But last time that was about three hours. Another three spells at the appropriate time should buy you at least two hours.”
>Why was he doing this?
>”The speed at which one builds resistance varies a great deal based on the individual. Casting the spell on a target while the previous one is still in effect could either wake him up or kill him. Both would be undesirable.”
>You hear the wind picking up outside.
>Apparently, so does Twilight.
>”Dash, go. That's an order!”
>Who does she think she is? She can't order you around! You're not leaving until- Woah!
>Everything is purple, and you find yourself floating towards the door.
Twilight!
>”Ponyville needs you! I'm not going to let you abandon it.”
>You try to struggle, but she gently places you on the ground outside and locks the door before you can get to it.
>Darn it Twilight.
>I hope you know what you're doing.