//------------------------------// // Soap Suds and Villans // Story: Princess Protection Program // by Lola Dotz //------------------------------// Spike walked into the hall drowsy. Waking up at five in the morning was not healthy for a dragon, he needed his beauty sleep if he was ever to get done with his chores later. The dragon yawned as he dragged his claws on the crystal floor, going down the hallway to Twilight’s room. He had gotten a letter from Celestia that was addressed to Twilight with the utmost emergency. Spike knew it was important, so he left his bed as quickly as he had burped up the letter and headed for the Princess’s bedroom. The hall was cold and dark, the enchanted candles only illuminating small corners of the castle hallway. The adolescent dragon groaned slightly as his once warm claws walked the icy crystal hall. He came up to the door and knocked. When he received no answering call from the other side of the wooden barrier, he knocked again, this time calling out in a quiet inside voice. “Twilight? You in-” Before he could finish, the door opened on its own, revealing an empty bed with folded blankets and a tied up canopy. Spike sighed heavily and turned back around, back into the hallway he had come from. Should’ve known… He thought to himself, referring to the conclusion that Twilight can’t be anywhere else but the library. Spike trudged the floor once again, his tail dragging behind him lazily. He finally made it to the entryway of the hall where the library was, with the addition of a guard sleeping up against the door frame. The said stallion was slumped over on the door frame, drool dangling from his bottom lip, moving sideways ever so often when Flash released a snore. The young, adolescent dragon came up to the guard and coughed. The stallion jumped up and pointed his spear at the dragon's neck, scared out of his wits. The blade mere inches away from Spike’s throat. Wherever Flash was hiding that in his luggage the day prior, and just now, Spike didn’t want to know. Instead, the dragon flared his claws up in defense, his palms stiff and sweaty from the excitement. “Hey, woah, take it easy! I come in peace!” The dragon bared a cold sweat on his scaly brow. Flash’s eyes glared at him, but softened when he calmed down. “Sorry, I didn’t recognize you for a second...my vision is kinda blurry right now…” Flash rubbed his eyes tiredly. His round, owlish, blue eyes had dark circles under them. “She was up ‘till late last night, and didn’t fall asleep ‘till at least two...I fell asleep only a short while ago…” Flash finished. “Yeah, she does that a lot, you get used to it after a little while.” Spike came up to the door, but Flash stopped him from even touching it. “Why are you here anyway, she’s probably way too tired to wake up right now.” The soldier had his hoof on the dragon’s shoulder, and eyed him with a surprisingly piercing gaze considering his exhaustion. It made Spike a little uneasy, but he made his face firm and held up a pink envelope for the guard to see. “I got a letter from the Princesses, they said this letter needed to be given to Princess Twilight and read immediately by her. I need to see Twi now.” Flash let go of Spike’s shoulder and nodded, smiling tiredly. He came to the door and opened it for the dragon, revealing a magnificent library of pastel colored gem walls, with books stacked on every side. To Flash, it was new and something you didn’t see everyday, but to Spike it was an everyday room that he had been in many times and many nights with his alicorn mother. While Flash continued eyeing the place, as he probably had done the night before, Spike simply walked up to the sleeping alicorn seated at one of the small wooden tables. The table held remains of last night’s work mess, each paper stacked perfectly into alphabetical order. Books were slightly scattered all around the alicorn, and scrolls rested by her bottom hooves and the cushioned chair. The alicorn herself was sound asleep. Her sleeping figure slumped over the table, shaking from the cold air, and breathing shakily. Spike glared at Flash for a moment. The guard didn’t even notice. Some guard; didn’t even cover you up like I would usually do, knowing how cold it gets in here at night… Spike snorted, lifting a blanket on Twilight before shaking her awake lightly. “Twilight, hey, I got a letter for you…” Spike continued shaking her, adding a little more pressure every time she didn’t respond. At last, she opened her eyes and squinted at the bright lights. “Fla-oh-Spike…It’s just you…” Spike looked at her with shrewd eyes, and made his annoyance audible with a snort. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Spike pouted, his bottom lip poking out angrily, but only succeeded in looking adorable to Twilight. “Nothing Spike, I just thought you were somepony else.” She sat up and pulled the blanket over her shoulders, warming up to the cozy interior of the cloth up against her fur. “Oh, right, like Flash...of course you’d want him to wake you up…” Spike didn’t seem to like the guard as much after seeing he didn’t care for Twilight overnight. Spike always covered Twi in a blanket when she studied, she would always forget to when she was enraptured in her studies. “Spike, why are you so upset?” Twilight reached her hoof out in concern, but before she could reach Spike’s face he stopped her by putting a pink letter between them. “Nevermind that, the real reason I came here at the flank-crack of dawn was to give you this…” Twilight looked at him with a knowing look for his language, but then grabbed the pink envelope with her magic, looking at it curiously. “When did it come in?” She asked opening the top with her magic aura, her eyes focused on the envelope. “Only about ten or so minutes ago...it came with a note saying you had to read it immediately.” Spike bowed his head reflexively, now looking at the ground in thought of the letters note. “Hm...it smells like...perfume?” Twilight questioned the letter, mostly talking to herself. “Oh! It’s from Cadence! Cady is the only Princess out of all of us who sends pink envelopes and scented paper! She says opening a letter should be enjoyable and should always give you a feeling of happiness.” Twilight smiled cheerfully, her eyes closed as she pulled the scented paper out of the envelope. “That sure sounds like something she would say.” Flash laughed light heartedly from the entryway of the library. Twilight only looked up at him for a second and blushed innocently, then looked down at the paper to read. All the ponies in the room watched Twilight smile brightly as she read the letter’s contents, every second her face growing brighter and brighter. “Well?” Spike asked, smiling knowingly, he had already determined what it was just by watching Twilight's reaction. “You won’t believe this! All the Princesses, including Cadence are coming here this afternoon! Apparently something has come up where we must all meet and discuss something...but-” Twilight flips the paper back and forth, showing front and back repeatedly as Spike and Flash looked at one another confused. “But what, your highness?” Flash inquired, stretching out his wings as he spoke. “Well, what exactly we’re going to talk about isn’t mentioned anywhere...I don’t really know why they're coming...or why this was only for me and the castle residence to know.” Twilight repeated thoughts from the letter in question. She laid the paper down on the table, folding it neatly as it floated down. “Usually Celestia would tell me to come see her and warn me there was a problem, never with really any specific detail, but at least I would know if it’s good or bad. I’ve never received something like this, especially from Cadence, I’m a little worried. Is it a problem, or is it just something that needs discussion?” Twilight rubbed her eyes tiredly, obviously in annoyance as well as sleep deprivation. Spike smiled and walked up to his friend, resting his claw on her shoulder. “How about we worry when they get here? You’re exhausted, why don’t you rest before we clean up for their arrival? And you know what? I’ll get as many of my chores for today done before you wake up, so you won’t have to do much; sound fair?” Spike spoke gently, worrying, of course, for Twilight’s health. Her eyes swollen, her face pale from her lack of sleep. So much had happened recently, and Twilight hadn’t been able to do anything for herself, not even sleep. Twilight sighed and hugged her dragon son tightly. “Thanks Spike, I’ll only be a couple of hours, and Flash can help too.” Twilight looked at Flash, which he in return smiled half heartedly. He really just wanted to guard her door, but whatever his Princess wants, she’ll receive. “Of course, I will.” He bowed his head respectively. The gang left the library and broke off from one another to their separate tasks. Miles away from Ponyville, a train roared on the tracks with such speed the snow from each side of the train flew in opposition to the friction of metal and crystal. Cadence stood by the window and watched the Crystal Empire shrink in the distance, her eyes looking worriedly at the snow and shining crystal scenery gradually disappearing into nothing but mountain rock and ice. Once she could no longer see her home, she turned toward the inside of the train and it’s other passengers. Luna and Celestia stood by a jeweled box; small, ivory, crystalline jewels embedded in the top and sides of the container. Cadence eyed the jewels with content, feeling somewhat secure. Luna, however, was not so convinced, Cadence could tell by looking at her discomforted face. “It will hold him. These crystals are enchanted and are designed to block any magic from leaving the capsule. We use it for force fields and to keep the Crystal heart safe.” Cadence said calmly, her smile gentle and natural. She wanted to try and comfort Luna as much as she possibly could to soften the weight of the situation. Luna only looked at the box with shrewd eyes and unease until finally, she turned away from it, no longer able to look at the hideous thing. Cadence sighed heavily, then walked over to Celestia who was staring out the window. “Auntie…” Cadence acknowledged her beloved aunt as she stood by her and watched the snow as Celestia did. “Cadence?” Celestia questioned. Cadence turned to see her aunt’s face with mild surprise and exhaustion in her eyes. Celestia was such a beautiful ruler, but that day she looked distressed and disheveled. “Yes?” “When you think of evil, what is the first thing that comes to mind?” Celestia paused, awaiting Cadence’s answer. Cadence took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her mind wandered, searching for an answer, as she turned her head to watch the flying snow and mountain rock. “I think of...what could have possibly happened for somepony to change dramatically enough to become an evil pony.” Cadence answered in a low whisper, eyeing Luna from the corner of her eye. The elegant blue alicorn soon left the cargo hold to a dining area instead. “I feel the same way” Celestia said after a moment's pause. “At one point, I never thought of how the pony felt underneath all the powerful, wasted magic. I only looked at them as somepony evil who only wanted to inflict torture on others.” Celestia looked down at her hooves in thought. Cadence looked up at her aunt once again, this time in curiosity. “Why does Luna hate Sombra so much, Celestia? Why doesn’t she want to reform him? Does she think the same way you had once?” Cadence questioned, slightly annoyed by not knowing Luna’s reasoning behind her feelings for the tyrant. Celestia smiled slightly at the questions, they reminded her of a little filly who wanted to know everything about the world around her. “We were part of a family once, we had ponies who cared for us deeply...but,” Celestia paused for a moment, breathing deeply. She turned around and directed her attention at the box in the center of the train cart, “evil took it away. At that moment I felt like my world had dissipated, and the realization that everything must end came to me in the most horrible of moments. I had convinced myself that evil was evil, and there was nothing that could change it, that every creature who was or had been evil was somepony who was heartless and didn’t feel like others did. Like others do. I was proven wrong, however, when a dear friend close to me lost someone he cherished and it made him go mad. And again with my sister when she had become Nightmare Moon. I understood then that they were only broken down so much that they couldn’t find the strength to fight...they had suffered at one point, or they felt that it was something they were supposed to do and they had no choice.” “So, Luna was once broken. Every villain had been, or is evil because they suffered.” Cadence concluded. The white alicorn looked back at Cadence who had been watching Celestia’s face as she talked aloud, her strong but gentle voice carrying out in an echo throughout the empty cart. “Evil is its own being and only uses those of us who are broken as vessels to carry out its dark purposes. That’s why friendship is so important...that’s why we reform villains, because at some point, no one was there for them, but now they can have that friend to lean on and grow...and heal from their past.” Celestia looked back at the box with sympathy. “No pony is evil, they’re just lost and broken inside. What’s evil is believing the very thought that that’s what they're destined to do or to be and they have no control over their own fate. That they are to always suffer and life doesn’t give second chances.” Celestia pat Cadence’s head gently, while smiling calmly at her niece. “If that’s true, why doesn’t Luna treat Sombra more sympathetically?” Cadence eyed her aunt worriedly out of concern for Luna. “Because for some ponies, it's hard to forget.” Celestia removed her calming hoof from Cadence’s mane and instead planted it on the wooden floors of the train cart as Luna walked back in. “Ye train’s chef has yet to add peanut butter cookies to the food cart. As if this trip isn’t devastating enough. Thou royalty can’t even indulge in delectable sweets.” Luna complained as she waltzed in the cart, her muzzle in the air with aggravation and disappointment. Cadence tried not to giggle at the site of an annoyed Luna, but instead nodded in understanding. She seemed too preoccupied with her rant to give their expressions a second thought. “I’ll inform the chef once we arrive at Ponyville that peanut butter cookies should be added to the buffet.” Cadence smiled tenderly, her eyes closed. Luna only looked at her niece for a split second before turning back to a window, her head hanging low, and her shoulders tensing up in exasperation. Celestia and Cadence watched for a time as Luna made her way to one of the windows, then looked back at one another with worried looks and tired eyes. Neither was looking forward to the long journey ahead. Spike walked through the crystal halls of Twilight's castle with a mop in claw and a full bucket of soapy water being expertly balanced on his back. Flash wasn’t too far behind the young dragon, his armor off and a bandanna holding his blue mane back from his eyes. The two looked like the castle’s cleaning crew, as they carried supplies down the halls and through the corridors. Flash sped up faster beside Spike, their sizes noticeably different as they walked alongside one another. For every step the purple dragon took, Flash took two extra to keep up with the adolescent. Flash eyed the dragon for a moment, before questioning him, breaking the silence around them. “Why do you live among ponies?” Spike smiled thoughtfully, before answering with slight nostalgia. “They feel more like my family than any dragon I’ve met. I was born and raised by ponies, with ponies for as long as I can remember.” Spike banked a corner before setting down his cleaning supplies, motioning a pointed claw to a spot for Flash to set his things down too. “So, what makes you so different compared to other dragons? I thought they grow greedy, and that’s how they get bigger. Why are you grown, but not greedy?” Flash’s curiosity and nervousness was noticeable around Spike. It was uncommon to see dragon and ponies working together, and even more strange for one to be living with one. “I’m not greedy.” Spike said calmly, dumping his claw in the bucket of soap and wiping the suds across the window behind him with artistic movement. “Then how do you grow?” Flash inquired, his body mimicking the dragons as he wiped down the corners of the window to free them of dust. Spike stifled a laugh of annoyance, and instead answered knowingly. “This is as big as I’ll get. I grow slower due to my inability to be like other dragons and be full of greed. I started growing not too long ago, I would have grown slower if it wasn’t for Twilight’s studies into dragons. Apparently I’m not all dragon...according to Twilight’s books. When she learned that I was different she asked Zecora for help and I had to eat some weird stuff to help me grow faster.” Spike double dipped his rag back into the soap suds and stood up on his back legs to reach the higher corners of the window. Flash watched him for a second before he asked yet another question. “What are you then?” “I’m a pony and dragon hybrid; fifth generation to be exact. That means I’m more dragon than pony, but because of my heritage I don’t have to grow out of greed.” Spike explained, ringing out the rag, emptying the dirt from the previous window into the dirty bucket. He got back on all fours and pulled the buckets handle with the end of his tail across the floor to the next window in the hall. “Is there a name for that kind of hybrid?” Flash kept up the conversation for as long as he could, not wanting the daunting high walls of the castle to get quiet and awkward. “Not really...not that Twi knows of, I’m kinda one of the last of my kind. If there is any more like me they aren’t registered as Equestrian citizens. They’re might be more across the seas but we wouldn’t know. They were rare centuries ago, but not unknown to most ponies, mostly because it was a political taboo that ponies had to know about. So, consider me the last.” Spike looked at Flash with a proud, but somewhat sad smile, his sharp canines barely peeking through his scaly lips. The orange stallion looked at him with a return smile, his cheeks rising slightly and creating small dimples in his cheeks. “That’s pretty neat, though. I’ve never met any kind of dragon, so it’s cool to be friends with one.” Flash chuckled lightly, his wings flapping a little with enthusiasm. Spike eyed the orange pegasus with a raised brow and a toothy grin. “Am I really? I’m sure you’ve seen other creatures or something different than Equestrian beasts-” Spike’s words faded into a distant echo as Flash stood there with a blank, eye-wide face. His knees shook slightly and his forehead showed obvious signs of a cold sweat as Spike carried on talking. “I mean, you are a guard…er, a guard in training. You should’ve see more than a house trained dragon and Alicorn Princesses, right? Hm?” Spike stopped short when he had turned around to see Flash only standing in the center of the hallways staring wide eyed at the crystal floor. “Flash, buddy, you okay there-?” “Huh? Yeah, I’m just-” Flash rubbed his neck, his eyes softening, but his head furrowed in frustration. Flash picked up his bucket and rag and speed walked down the hall. “I’m gonna go do the library!” He called out to the purple dragon, now alone in the empty hall. Spike watched Flash turn a corner into a corridor, then scratched his scales on his head in confusion. The young dragon crossed his arms in annoyance after a moment's pause. “It’s because I’m part dragon isn’t it?” Spike said under his breath with a small snort from his nostril. Flash walked into the library with his back slumped down, head dragging just above the floor. The bottom rim of the bucket made a light screeching noise as it too met the ground. His tail and wings followed in the same depressing manner, his hooves leading him to the table Twilight had been at only an hour earlier. He dropped the bucket lazily on the table, and he sat down in the cushioned chair for a moment to rest. His head easily fit in the space between his front hooves crossed over one another on the table, his head comfortably leaning to one side so his tired eyes could watch the books across the room. The orange pegasus studied the bookshelf carefully, noticing every little detail. The shelves were sorted by date published, all of them being the same genre, poetry. Beside the large, occupied shelves was a stack of boxes, full of more books. Flash stifled a laugh at the book horse he now shared a home with, her intelligence and love for reading fascinating to him. Flash turned his head to the other side, his eyes landing immediately on the spine of a large journal, an emblem of Celestia’s sun shining like gold as the medium sized book laid on it’s side. Flash studied this too, the small cracks were clearly visible, determining its age could be spotted on even the spine of the book. Creases just as plain on each side from continued usage and turning of it’s yellow pages. The orange face of the pegasus concentrated harder on one scar the book had to display. It looked like a quick slice that could only have happened by a blade rather than simple aging. Flash recognized the angle of the cut immediately, his body reflexively sitting up to see the cover, it’s leather tearing and stretching. The book was a faded red color with a depiction of Equestria’s sun within the center of the book. Remains of small strands of golden detail circled around the sun, but had discolored over time leaving only a small glimmer of what was. Flash gently pet the cover with a shocked face, his pupils shrunk to the size of pin pricks. Memories flooded his mind with such speed he felt tears on the edge of his lids beginning to make their descent down his cheek. “This is where you’ve been.” He whispered to the book, before looking up quickly and watched his surroundings. Flash eyed the book again with a worried face before he snuck it under his wing, grabbed his cleaning supplies and fled the library with Twilight and Sunset’s shared journal.