”Please, I didn’t do it!” Twilight sobbed as she was led onto the platform.
Celestia stood in front of her, glaring at her former student with a hatred she previously reserved only for Discord. “Twilight Sparkle, you have been found guilty of a most unforgivable crime. Congratulations are in order, I suppose. I never thought I’d be reestablishing this penalty.”
“Your highness, please...” she began, only to be roughly pushed down onto the wooden block.
She looked out into the crowd for support. She found none. Applejack and Rainbow Dash threw apples at her. Rarity glared at her with an intense hatred. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie just looked away sadly.
She turned back to the Princess to try and plead her case again, only to find her brother standing there.
“I’m ashamed we’re blood,” he said coldly. Then his horn glowed, and a large silver axe raised above him...
Twilight bolted upright with an audible gasp. She took a few deep breaths, sweat running down her face and neck. She looked down at the book of Equestrian law she had been reading when she had dozed off.
She sighed. Of course, the nightmares had started up again. Why wouldn’t they? After Discord’s defeat she had suffered nightmares for weeks afterward, all of her friends turning their backs on her. Now that it had happened again, without the cruel draconequus’ help no less, of course they’d return.
She looked at the clock. Only fifteen minutes had passed since she had begun her research. The weekend’s events must have tired her even more than she thought. She lifted herself up, levitating her tea cup with her. It looked like no sleep for her tonight.
As she reheated her tea, she took another look at the door Spike had barricaded himself behind. Wishing the little dragon would come out, her mind began drifting to the past.
”Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”
Celestia could only chuckle at the overexcited little filly jumping around in circles around her. With a light glow of her horn, she stopped the unicorn in her tracks.
“Easy there,” she said gently, setting Twilight on the floor. “I’m glad you’re excited, but don’t get ahead of yourself. I’d like to arrange for you to move into the castle first thing tomorrow morning, after you have the evening to celebrate with your family. I’ll have the servants prepare you a room.”
“I-in the castle?” Twilight asked, her eyes going wide for what felt like the thousandth time that day. “I’m not staying in the dormitory?”
Celestia shook her head. “You’ll be receiving private lessons from me. I want to keep you close so I can monitor your progress more effectively. You will still attend regular classes with the other foals, but...”
She trailed off, tilting her head at an interested angle. Twilight arched her eyebrow, but then gave a yell of surprise.
The dragon had just crawled across the floor to her side and grabbed at her side. Showing great strength for a newborn, he lifted himself onto the startled unicorn’s back. After which he curled himself into a ball and fell asleep.
“Huh, what?” Twilight said, a little alarmed and trying to stay upright. She was more than strong enough to carry the baby, though it was still a noticeable load.
“It seems he’s taken quite a liking to you, Twilight,” Celestia chuckled.
“Indeed,” one of the exam proctors noted, trotting over to them. “This is most fascinating. This might confirm some of our theories about dragons.”
“W-what do you mean?” the nervous filly asked.
“Well, my dear, if what we believe about dragons is true, the newborns often find safety with their mothers. Since your magic hatched his egg, you have imprinted yourself onto him as his mother.”
“And that might be a problem,” another proctor noted. “That dragon’s not going to want to be separated from her.”
“Actually, that would make things simpler,” the Princess noted, turning back to her charge. “Twilight, I’m placing you in charge of this child. It will be your responsibility to take care of him.”
“Wha? But… your highness, I don’t know how to take care of a baby.”
“You needn’t worry, my little pony. You’ll have servants helping you. The purpose of this is to teach you responsibility. A pony with your abilities must learn to use them for others. This will be a good start.”
Twilight was silent. She turned to the creature curled onto her back, and couldn’t help but smile. He looked so peaceful, so innocent.
“I think I’ll call him Spike.”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at that memory as she poured her tea. Indeed, that dragon had hated being separated from her. If he woke up while she was in class, he would deafen at least three servants with his crying before she returned. When he was old enough to reason, he declared himself her assistant to spend time with her. To her relief, by that point he also understood that Twilight had to leave him alone sometimes.
Going back over to her books, she tried to push Spike out of her mind. She couldn’t do anything about him tonight, though she badly wanted to. She had to think logically here. She couldn’t help her dragon, but she could help Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know ‘bout this, Rare,” Applejack sighed.
“Well, we haven’t come up with anything better. And besides, you love the spa.”
“I love gettin’ my back massaged, really gets the tension out, but I gotta agree with Dash on just ‘bout everythin’ else. Ain’t no point in me gettin’ a hoofacure if I’m just gonna chip it in the fields the next day.”
“I know. That’s why I don’t try to talk you into coming to the spa more often. But I think we can agree that helping a friend is worth a break in routine,” Rarity said, a bit bluntly.
“Yeah, you’re right. Still, you think Aloe and Lotus‘ll have any good ideas?”
“Darling, please, those twins’ special talent is helping ponies relax. We’ve been sitting here for nearly an hour and haven’t come up with anything, I’d say consulting those two is our best bet.”
“So, tomorrow after breakfast we talk to Twilight about all this, right? I don’t wanna be goin’ behind somepony’s back like we did with the Mare Do Well.”
“Relax, we’re going to be very upfront here. For now, you better go back home and get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow.
”And so, with the great evil slain, the brave knight won the heart of the beautiful princess. The two shared a sweet kiss as the sun set on the horizon.”
Spike gave an “Ick,” which the unicorn couldn’t help but laugh at. “Whya gotta keep all the mushy stuff in?”
“Just wait. One day you’ll fall in love, and all you’ll want to do is this ‘mushy stuff’.”
“No way,” the infant dragon shook his head. “But I’mma gonna be a knight!”
“Oh are you now?” Twilight said playfully, rubbing a hoof on his head. “Then who’s going to be my assistant then?”
“I will! I can do both!”
“Oh really? You’re just the greatest dragon ever then, aren’t ya?”
“Yep… I think.”
Twilight blinked. “What do you mean?”
“There’re no other dragons in Canterlot. Why?”
Twilight froze. “Well… dragons are very special creatures. We’re very lucky to have you here, Spike. You’re like a little miracle!”
“Cool!”
“Yes, it is,” Twilight said, trying to sound playful. She closed the book. “And now, I think it’s time for the little miracle to get in bed.” She used her magic to pull up his blankets. “Are you comfy?”
“Yes,” Spike said resigned. He had long since given up on contesting his bedtime.
“Good,” she said, leaning down and kissing him on the forehead. “Good night, Spike.”
The unicorn turned and began walking toward the door when Spike spoke up. “Twilight?”
She stopped. “Yes?”
“Why’re there pages torn from the book?”
“...They just got torn out. That happens with books sometimes. You don’t worry about it, okay?”
“Okay. G’night, Twilight.” The dragon murmured, curling up and falling asleep without any further questions.
Spike sighed at the memory. Twilight had read him the very book he now clutched in his claws. He was looking at the remains of what once were pages, little stumps of paper still left.
Of course they had been torn out. He had found another copy of the book and knew why. It had been a tale of a great and mighty knight slaying a horde of evil dragons. It was something Twilight had denied him, to hide how different he was from ponies.
He later realized that had been a day Twilight had been dreading. The day he realized he was a novelty in Canterlot, in all of Equestrian society really. A dragon who acted like a pony? How ridiculous.
His caretaker had, for better or worse, kept the truth from him for as long as she was able. Being raised in the palace by Twilight, Celestia, and servants paid enough to grit their teeth and feign politeness did a lot to help this. Still, inevitably he learned the truth. While life became much more difficult after that, he never once was angry at those that kept the truth for him.
He sighed, closing the book. Time spent with Twilight had felt the same as ever, even after the unpleasant revelation. She was a sanctuary; she was the only pony who was consistently there for him. Celestia had been kind, of course, and Cadence, ever the babysitter, spent some time with him, but they constantly had their duties to see to. Shining Armor was friendly as well, though by the time he was able to reason he was mostly busy with basic training.
No, it had been Twilight there for him every night. Sometimes difficult to get along with, he had to admit, but he loved her dearly.
Then why couldn’t I have been there for her? he asked himself silently.
Pinkie sat between her foster parents with a somber face. Mrs. Cake nuzzled her side. “I understand that was hard to tell us, Pinkie,” she said softly. “I… I always wondered why you never talked about your family.”
“Well… Princess Luna told me I shouldn’t be keeping something like this from you…”
“And you shouldn’t,” Mr. Cake assured. He paused, wondering what to say next. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah,” she said simply, looking at the floor. “I still have to tell my friends.”
“If you think that’s for the best,” Mr. Cake agreed.
“Pinkie, if you don’t mind me asking, what brought this up now?” Mrs. Cake asked.
Sighing, she began to tell them what had happened that weekend.
Scootaloo sat at her workbench, tinkering with her scooter. It scarcely needed any work done, but she found fiddling with her tools to be rather relaxing.
As she spun the front wheel, the door to her room opened. “Scoots?”
The tiny filly froze. It was the voice of her father, and he did not sound happy.
Speedy Delivery was a fairly big pegasus, not as bulky as the Big Macintosh, but he did have some noticeable build on him. Looking at him, it was easy to see where Scootaloo had gotten her fur color from, as his coat matched hers, though his mane was jet black. His cutie mark, an envelope with wings, stood prominent on his flank.
“Yes, dad?” she asked, somewhat nervously.
“I heard Rainbow Dash brought you home,” he said, simply and sternly.
Scootaloo thought about lying, but knew better. “Um, yeah, see...”
“I thought I made it clear you weren’t supposed to bring her around here,” he said angrily, but he never raised his voice.
“I-I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “She offered me a ride home. I couldn’t think of any way to say no.”
Hearing this, Speedy Delivery’s expression softened. “I see.” He thought for a moment, then went over and hugged his daughter. “You know I don’t like you hanging around that mare.”
“I know, but she’s so cool! I want to learn to fly like her one day, I know I can do it…”
“Have you been trying to fly again?” he asked in an accusatory tone.
The young filly quickly shook her head. “No, I remember what you said.”
“That’s good. Flying’s dangerous, especially for a clumsy little filly like you,” he said playfully, poking her on the nose. “You’re not ready for it.”
“But most pegasi are flying by my age!” Scootaloo pleaded.
“Well, most pegasi are better at it than you,” Speedy Delivery said in a casual tone. “You’re just going to have to grow up a little. I’ll teach you, I promise.”
“You always say that,” she sighed.
Her father shook his head. “That’s because my project is taking longer than expected. Come on, kiddo, you know how important it is. I just don’t have the time for you right now.”
“I know,” she said sadly. “I understand.”
“You should. You know what it will mean for us if I succeed, right? No more mail deliveries for me, and a new life for us. You know that, right?”
“Yes,” she nodded, almost robotically.
“That’s my girl,” he said, kissing her forehead. “Now, what do you say?”
Scootaloo smiled, nuzzling into her father’s chest. “I love you, daddy.”
“I know you do, kid.”