> A breath across his neck.
>
> Spike whipped his head around. Icy blue eyes glimmered back. Somepony was standing behind him—somepony wearing a hood.
>
> “WAAAUGH!”
>
> Spike landed in a painful heap. His tail bunched up under his hind end. The echoes bounced off the stone and crystal walls, but he didn’t care. He screwed up his eyes, shutting them tight. Trembling, the messenger bag carrying the accursed artifact slipped from his sweaty claws. His breathing came out in chaotic, audible gasps.
>
> Spike, the World’s Bravest DragonKnight, had been vanquished.
>
> “Please! I-I-I’m sorry, Mom! Take it back—just don’t shoot me or zap me with your electricity…or run me over with Evy Junior!”
>
> Seconds seemed like hours. Sentences gave way to wordless whimpers.
>
> “Mom?” The hooded pony trotted over to Spike, using a hoof to pull him back to his feet. Her high-pitched, bubbly voice seemed to brighten the room just a little. “And what’s an Evy? Geeze!”
>
> She brushed the hood backward and shook her head. A curly, neon pink mane poofed out, freed from its cage. Spike could’ve sworn he saw bits of confetti coming out of Pinkie Pie’s mane as she glanced aside, giggled to herself, then looked back at Spike.
>
> “And you guys say I’m random.”
>
> Spike’s shoulders sagged as he tried to calm down his breathing. “Pinkie? What in Celestia’s name are you doing sneaking up on me in a hooded robe? You shortened my life by like a thousand years!”
>
> Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well, duh! It’s cold in the castle at night! Do I look like I want to be turned into a frosty-freezy Pinkie? Ice cream is already cold enough!”

The world is full of deep, dark mysteries—mysteries like "why did it take so long for Spectrum of Lightning to depict a member of the Mane Six who wasn't Twilight Sparkle?"

And that mystery shall go unsolved…for I do not know the answer.

But there are other, smaller mysteries, such as "why was Spike scared of his 'Mom' and being zapped by electricity and whatnot?" Or "what kind of role does Pinkie play in the wider context of this story?" Or heck, "what even is the wider story?"

And the answer to those mysteries and more shall be revealed to you…if you take the daunting yet rewarding task of reading my fanfic [Spectrum of Lightning](https://www.fimfiction.net/story/381182/spectrum-of-lightning).

…

Oh come on, don't look at me like that; it was an obvious place to plug my story! What would you rather have me say, "the answer to those mysteries and more shall be revealed to you…if you use today's sponsor, Curiosity Stream?" Ha! Nah man, I don't have that kind of clout…

…yet.