“Whaddya mean gone?” Smolder said.
“Without all of us here, the whole friendship thing is over.” Sandbar stared at the ground. “If you think about it, it was gonna happen sooner or later. Everyone drifts apart sooner or later.”
"Yeah… no." Smolder stomped up towards Sandbar. "We covered that. I could sorta get you guys losing track of me, seeing as I wasn't here or dropping any letters, but there's no way you guys wouldn't be keeping in touch even if you were a world apart." She spread her hands wide. "Get real."
“It’s not--”
“And what’s this crap about you not being excited to see me anyway?” Smolder frowned at her friend. “Even if everyone else was gone, where’s the relief that I am here?” She looked down at her friend, who was dumbstruck, but then up, as if expecting there to be someone looking down on her from above. “I’m coming back and soon, and not only will you guys not have split up, you’ll be the happiest to see me ever.”
With a burst of light, a door appeared in the middle of nowhere, and Smolder went straight for it.
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"You can't treat me the same way anymore." Two Spikes in two places said the same thing.
Twilight's ears turned about against her head. "Spike, you've been through a lot… I understand. But I still love you."
"And I… love you, but I can't be your little brother."
Twilight smiled at that. "When I go home, do you know what my mother does? You've been there before. Me, savior of Equestria, future princess of the entire land, defeater of great and terrible monsters."
Spike smirked a bit, remembering the last time. "She grabs you around the neck, hugs you, and none of that matters."
"None of that matters," repreats Twilight. "Because no matter how big I get, she is still my mom, and I wouldn't want it any other way."
Spike rubbed behind his head. "But you're not going to be at home, you'll be busy becoming a princess."
"And you'll be busy becoming an amazing dragon," she returned fire. "And I want to be there, to see it, as part of your life. If you'll have me…"
“Of course,” Spike said, protesting. “Why would I change that just because I went through a thing like that?”
“Hmmhmm,” Twilight said, almost a smirk on her face. “Why would you?”
“Why would--oh,” Spike said, looking sheepish. “And why would you, right?”
“That’s right,” Twilight said, smiling back at him. “Why would I not be a part of your life because of this.”
Spike flushed red. “I guess it’s pretty silly of me to worry.”
“It’s not silly to worry,” Twilight said. “But it’s also not something you need to worry about.”
“Yeah, I’m getting outta here… and I’m getting back,” Spike said.
The glowing door appeared, and both Twilight and Spike saw it, and when Spike reached for it, Twilight found herself back in her room, out of the illusion she was in. She pulled out her notes on the other world, which she started writing the new observations in.
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Garble sat on a rock, frowning, fuming.
"You shoulda stayed wherever you were," taunted a passing dragon.
That was an option, sure. He was a hero, a superstar. Everyone wanted what he had. He had money, sweet stuff… like his sword! He had everything…
But not his home. He growled and pushed to his feet in an angry motion. "And I ain't giving it up," he muttered to nothing at all.
"You starting another poet thing?" asked a dragon, laughing at the idea.
"And what if I am? I'm going to keep right on doing it until you idiots get how dumb you are." He smirked at the dragon. He had been dumb. However moronic the world. However stupid the people in it… He wouldn't give up! He was going to knock their heads together until it clicked, however long it took. "You guys are just another tower."
"Wha?" asked the dragon, not getting the reference at all.
"I'm going to climb the tower." To Garble, this made complete sense, an epiphany that only he understood. "And ain't nothing going to stop me!"
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The light appeared and the door was there, and he reached out for it.
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Garble walked through his door, finding himself in a room with a binding reset point. But also the rest of his party was there, with Spike and Smolder off on the side, talking about something.
Smolder flapped over, “Hey Gar Gar, you got through.”
He looked back and forth. “Wait am I the last one?”
Spike shook his head. “No, Tabitha is still in there.”
“Yeah, I got out second,” Smolder said, grinning cockily. “Guess I just got the tower better.”
“Shut up!” Garble spat. “So what, did the runt get out first?”
“Well--”
Smolder grabbed him by the neck, giving him a noogie. “He came out after me, actually.” She laughed. “I’m ready to tackle the tower more than he is, I guess.”
Garble looked over, and Sandra was looking at her own guildchain, somewhat pensively. He leaned down and whispered, “What’s up with her?”
“Beats me.” Smolder shrugged. “I came out ready to clear this tower and she was uh… well she keeps looking up, I guess.”
“I’m worried,” Spike said, also quietly. “She didn’t want to talk about what she saw… and I guess I’m worried about Tabitha, now. You and her are taking a lot longer.”
“I had a lot to think about!” Garble protested, which caused Smolder to erupt into laughter.
The three of them looked to the last door with Tabitha’s rune on top…
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Tabitha threw her hands wide. "I'm a hero!"
"And what will you do, as a hero?" asked that lone questioning person.
"Heroic things… Save people. Save… everything." Her words lacked punch, uncertainty thick.
"What would you save? What do you care to save? Would you save your friends?" Her old group faded into being briefly, fading almost as quickly. "You had your chance to walk with them."
"Just because I went to the top doesn't mean I can't help them!" She half-shrieked, a panicked edge to her voice. "Heroes don't play favorites, or only save other heroes. That's a pretty lousy hero."
"Are you better? What do you want?"
"I want to--"
"Be a hero, yes."
"Yeah…" It was fizzled and weak. "Look, Sandra, who I thought was everything not a hero, is in this to the end, to the very end… I can't let her be the hero." He raised a brow. "What?"
"You plan to take her heroism?"
"No! Just… I have to be there, to walk with her. I'm the only one there that's been part of her… from the start. She loves her dragon friends, but they don't have that." She leveled a finger at the man that had become the source of the great internal struggle. "I will be her hero, then I'll figure out the rest."
“And the glory you wanted?” The voice echoed, stopping Tabitha. After a moment of pause the voice continued. “Isn’t that the real reason you didn’t want to go with your friends? You are focused on your glory.”
“I’m also helping Sandra, and the dragons. I can be a hero,” Tabitha said weakly.
“But are you willing to sacrifice for it?”
Tabitha’s mouth went dry, and she struggled out the words, “Is that what a hero really is?”
“Isn’t it? What else could it be?”
Tabitha stared at the man, and lowered her brow. “It doesn’t matter what it is, really.” She stepped up closer to him. “I’m going to the top. I’ll be there for Sandra, and I'll get the glory too. Then I’ll leave it and do whatever I want.”
“And if you can’t?” The man smiled.
“I can.”
Her door appeared in the darkness, the man stepping aside. “Well, we’ll see, won’t we?”
He allowed her to depart, shaking his head only after the door closed. "Loose ends."
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"There she is." Garble huffed a little fire. "What took you so long? Was it trying to rag on you too?"
Spike nodded quickly. "It did that for all of us, so why wouldn't it?"
Sandra laughed nervously, the one that didn't get 'ragged' on. She did not rush to correct them.
That didn't stop Smolder from noticing her reaction. "Hey, what'd you see?"
Sandra looked back and forth. “Well, you know, trying to get me to… say why I needed to go up the tower?”
Smolder glared at her for a moment. “Sure. We all had that, I guess.” She continued as if she was oblivious to Sandra’s evasive answer. “Like, I saw one of my friends at Twilight’s school, trying to tell me that nobody was looking forward to me coming back and everything would be a disaster. Which was an obvious lie, and I walked past it real fast.” She took a step closer. “But you got out before me, so what did you see?”
“It was just trying to get out of me why I wanted to go up,” Sandra said, still a little evasive. “But I already knew what it was, there is no way this doesn’t end without me seeing the top of the tower and figuring it out, so I was upfront about that. I got through.”
"Wait," came in Spike, joining that conversation with a quizzical expression. "You were asked? Like, my thing didn't really ask me anything… It was… kinda just personal stuff between Twilight and I…" He rubbed one arm with the opposing hand. "It was… awkward, but, you know, looking back, I'm actually kinda glad we got that worked out."
It was Garble's turn. "Wait, you actually talked to her? Everything I saw in mine was acting annoying and weird, like Smolder's! And you get to just chat with someone you know?" He crossed his arms, a big frown on his face as he considered the preferential treatment Spike had received.
“Well she started out acting weird!” Spike protested. “She was telling me about how I had to leave, but sooner or later something uh… changed? And I’m pretty sure at least I was talking to Twilight for real.”
“That still doesn’t count, I had to deal with Ember being a jerk to me, alright. You get to talk with someone you see all the time!”
“Well I can’t hear her,” Spike continued, the two of them squabbling as Sandra sighed a breath of relief, the attention turned thankfully away from her. As she stepped back, though, Tabitha, who was also being ignored, was giving her a look, but looked away as Sandra met her view.
Smolder suddenly slapped down a hand on either of their shoulders. "Let the boys argue, but, c'mon, between us girls, spill it." She hiked a thumb where Garble's angry voice came from. "We all saw stuff that bothered us, I get that. I do. We're here, together. A team! Right?"
Tabitha nodded firmly at that. "A team! Yes, exactly." She returned the favor, hand on shoulder with Smolder, squeezing. "Look, sorry, again… I was treating you like a random… well, dang, thinking back at it, I thought you were a summon at first, which is even less." She shook her head slowly. "You proved me wrong, so wrong, and I'm not too big to admit that."
"Were they picking on you about that?" asked Smolder with a raised brow. "It's cool, past us." She slicked back the hair she didn't have. "We're a team."
"A team." A little of her spirit didn't make it into the agreement.
Sandra reached out, not placing her hand on a shoulder, but Tabitha's arm instead. The two shared a look, somehow understanding one another just a touch more.