//------------------------------// // A Perfect Day // Story: My Little Dragon // by Metal Pony Fan //------------------------------// In a tree in a town, there lived ( at least temporarily) a pony. Not a nasty, dirty, wild tree, filled with families of birds and oozy sap, nor yet a dry, bare, dusty tree with no leaves on it to sit under and enjoy: it was a library tree, and that means comfort. It had a not at all perfectly round door completely unlike a porthole, painted a color that wasn’t green, with a shiny yellow brass knob nowhere near the exact middle. The door opened onto a box-shaped room like a cave: a very comfortable cave without smoke, with wooden walls, and floors wooden and polished, provided with sewn cushions, and lots and lots of shelves for books and scrolls – the pony was fond of reading. The cavern went on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the center of the tree – The Tree, as all the dragons for many miles round called it – and many little(and not so little)doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. Lots of going upstairs for the pony: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries(not as many of these as you would expect), bookshelves(there were whole rooms devoted to books), kitchens(one of which was temporary), dining-rooms, all were on the three different floors, and indeed not on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left or right-hoof side(going in, as long as you stayed near the outside wall), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set possibly round windows looking over the town, and the meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This pony was a very well-to-do pony, and his name was Spike. He woke up near dawn as was usual for him, having grown up in close proximity to the magic that raised the sun each morning gave him a good sense of when one should be awake. Unlike the day before, when the sunlight hit his face through a poorly curtained window, the pony found himself in a dark room. The nearby window was well and heavily curtained, preventing the faintest trace of sunlight from gaining entry. But Spike could feel the light, just outside, awaiting its chance to shine on those who were waking. He stretched out on the bed. It was a lazy stretch, the stretch of one who feels no need to make a fuss at such an early time. The bed provided no motivation to exit, for it was quite comfortable. Rarity, its regular occupant, had gone to spend the night at home for the first time in a while, leaving Spike to care for the library and its contents. That included the luxurious bed on which he now rested. The pony’s idle mind drifted towards thoughts of white and purple scales. Rarity was far different from any other dragin he had met before. Of course, the only ones he had ever met were members of the military, so he couldn’t be sure how much that observation meant. Still, she was by far the prettiest dragin he had ever met, and definitely one of the nicest. A soft sigh escaped his lips. “I like her. What should I do?” He wondered for a moment whether or not he should be worried – it was not usually a good sign when one began talking to themselves. But there was no one else to talk to at the moment, and even if there was, would it be a good idea to share his thoughts? There were several dragons he would, and in fact did, trust with his life. Grumble was one of them, and he was nearby. He had been a good friend since the first day of military training, after figuring out that the pony wasn’t a wayward snack, but would he be the best dragon to talk to? Drakes tend to have a certain attitude towards friends who were romantically involved – a sort of unnecessary helpfulness. He could talk to Ice Heart. As infuriating as the old general could be sometimes, he- wait, no, telling Ice Heart would be a disaster. He could talk to one of the other Centurions. Discord usually has good insight into situations, despite his unusual outlook on life. Shining Scale mentioned having a romantic interest, he would probably have good advice too. Talking to Bluescale would probably be a mistake on the level of, well, the pony couldn’t think of anything, but something bad certainly. There was also Screwball, or Screwy as she liked to be called. Screwball was one of the few dragins Spike knew before coming to Dragonspire, so she should have a good perspective. But the last time he had seen her, she scolded him for being too emotional- he had asked if everyone was ok at the end of a week-long hike through the badlands. There was one other dragon he could talk to, one he could talk to about anything. But could he really talk to the Princess about this? How would that end? How does it usually end when one discusses one’s love life with their mother? Spike couldn’t imagine it would go well. Rather, he could imagine it going too well. Spike forced himself from the soft warmth of the bed. He wasn’t going to get anywhere thinking about who he should ask for advice. Besides, it doesn’t matter what anydragon else thinks about romance, if their advice doesn’t match up with what Rarity thinks on the subject, it’s useless. Not to mention, he still didn’t know exactly what being romantically involved, well, involved – there were very few books on dating in the royal library, and those were centuries out of date, as Grumble had pointed out. He stretched out before walking over to the window. He also didn’t know if Rarity would be receptive to advances from a pony. Or should that be the pony? And even if she would be, how could he find out? He knew almost nothing about his kind, so she would know even less. He didn’t even know what his lifespan was compared to a dragon’s, should he even risk becoming attached to someone who might outlive him? Or whom he might outlive? He pushed those unpleasant thoughts out of his head and opened the curtain, taking in the sunlight and preparing himself for the day ahead. Rarity wasn’t the only the dragon he had to consider. As the sunlight filled the room, he could see the basket poking out at the foot of the bed. He had to think about Twilight as well. He had shown up, out of the blue, and inserted himself into their lives for reasons unknown, even to him. Anything he did would affect both of them. He had to wonder, did he even have the right to intrude on their lives any further than he already had? He shouldn’t even be here, at the library; he should be at a hotel, or the local barracks, or even on a cot at the mayor’s office. He sighed as he started making the bed. It had only been four days, but for some reason, he felt at home here, as much as he had back in the capitol. This only confused him further. He didn’t feel like he was intruding, if anything, he felt like he was supposed to be here, but was that just him being selfish? Once the bed was made, he started heading downstairs, leaving Twilight to sleep in a little longer. He really should find somewhere else to stay, but he didn’t want to, and neither Twilight nor Rarity seemed to mind. But if he was going to stay, he was going to make himself useful. He could start by having breakfast ready by the time Rarity came over to get Twilight ready for the- “CAMPING TRIP!!” The shout from the top of the stairs was quickly accompanied by a weight on the back of Spike’s neck. It wasn’t much weight, but since the pony was walking down a flight of stairs, it was just enough to knock him off balance. He tumbled down the stairs, bouncing off a wall before coming to rest on the floor of the library’s main room. He stood up quickly and turned around, expecting to see a certain hatchling at the top of the stairs tossing camping supplies down. “Ugh, Spike?” The voice came from just above and behind him. “Slow down.” The pony looked back to see Twilight hanging on to the end of his mane. “Good morning to you too.” Spike used his magic to lift Twilight off his back and set her on the floor. “You need to be more careful. What would have happened if I landed on top of you? Or if somedragon had been coming up the stairs?” Twilight tottered on her feet, apparently dizzy from tumbling down the stairs, but puffed out her chest and pointed to herself. “I’m tougher than I look.” “Oh, good.” Spike patted her on the head. “Next time Grumble and I make dinner for everydragon, we’ll send you out after the river monster.” The hatchling’s eyes went wide and she stared at Spike. After a moment or two, she started tapping her claws together. “Maybe not that tough.” Spike laughed and laid down on the floor so he was at eye-level with the hatchling. “Ok. Then how about this,” the pony tapped a hoof against his chest, “I’ll take care of the monsters and cooking, and you,” he put his hoof on her shoulder, “can tell me what you want for breakfast. How’s that?” “Yes!” Twilight hugged Spike by the neck. “Thank you, thank you! I want bacon, some of that sweet oatmeal you made, um, hashbrowns! Got to have hashbrowns! And, um,” she let go of Spike quickly, “good morning, Rarity.” Spike was too busy trying to remember how much food was left in the kitchen to process the hatchling’s words. It was only when the dragoness said, “Good morning, Twilight, and you too, Spike,” that he got up and turned around. “Well?” Rarity looked back and forth between the pony and the hatchling. “Don’t I get a good morning hug?” Spike nearly choked on his own breath. “Is she serious? Does she really want a-” He was just about to step forward when Twilight ran over to Rarity. The dragoness leaned down and the hatchling hopped up to hug her around the neck. “Right. That’s what she meant.” He made a mental note to not get his hopes up next time. “You’re just in time, I was about to start breakfast.” Rarity smiled at him. “I had a feeling you would be, that’s why I’m here so early, to stop you.” Twilight gasped. “Why?” “Because, “ Rarity grabbed the hatchling with her tail and deposited the hatchling on Spike’s back, “Pinkie has a surprise waiting for us. Now, who’s ready to go camping?” “Fer the last time! Ah don’t see ‘em!” The camping trip hadn’t even started, and Applejack was already starting to lose her patience with a certain pink dragon that was currently bouncing in circles around her claws. Rainbow and Fluttershy were both waiting patiently, one on a cloud high above, the other on a checkered blanket nearby. The orange dragon looked around for a way to distract the hyper bundle of scales from asking the same question every twelve seconds. She found it in the form of a brown dragon lazing about under a nearby tree. “Grumble, can’t ya stop her?” “Huh?” Grumble opened one eye and looked up at the large orange dragon. “What makes you think I can do anything?” “Eh,” Applejack glanced around, looking for a way to dodge the question. “Can’t ya just try?” The orange dragon swatted the pink one towards the tree. Pinkie curled into a ball as she flew through the air. She bounced off the tree and rolled around the ground, coming to a stop near Grumble. “That was fun,” said the pink ball, “but it’s a good thing I gave Fluttershy the food, that would have smooshed everything!” The brown dragon glanced over at the yellow dragon and the large basket next to her. “Speaking of Fluttershy, is she okay? She keeps looking around, and she seems nervous.” “She’s looking for somedragon.” Pinkie unrolled from her ball, and found herself on her back. She tried to right herself, but her relatively flat shape worked against her. “Um, a little help, please?” “I, uh-“ Grumble blushed and averted his gaze. “Only if you agree to stop bugging Applejack.” “Aw,” Pinkie whined, but seemed to pay no mind to the fact that she was in a rather compromising position. “But Dashie’s asleep, that means AJ’s the only dragon tall enough to see them coming, unless you want to fly up and keep watch for them.” Grumble glanced back quickly to see if Pinkie had righted herself, but she hadn’t and he looked away just as quickly. “If it’s that hard for you to just sit and wait, I’ll do it.” “Yay! Thank you!” She reached her claws out to hug the brown drake, but she couldn’t reach him. “Um, could you flip me over first?” “Oh, uh, yeah.” Moving quickly, Grumble stepped towards Pinkie and shoved his nose under her shoulder. He then lifted, giving the pink dragon enough of a boost to roll over onto her claws. ”There you go.” “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Pinkie hugged the brown drake and then hopped in a circle around him, reveling in her newly regained mobility. After one full lap, she stopped in front of Grumble and stared at him. He stared back. Each dragon blinked every so often. After a few moments, Pinkie leaned forward. “Well?” “Well?” The drake’s thoughts were firmly centered on just how blue the pink dragon’s eyes were, not to mention how close. Pinkie reached out with a claw and flicked at Grumble’s wings, smiling the entire time. He looked back at his wings and gave them a little flap. “What? Is something wrong with my wings?” The pink dragon let out a loud sigh. She then turned towards Applejack and took a deep breath. “Are they here yet?” “One job, Grumble,” the orange dragon groaned, “you had one job.” Dragonspire – it’s a quiet town, nothing out of the ordinary ever happens there; no adventures, no monsters, nothing, but all that changed a few days ago. Twilight stared up at slow moving clouds as she traveled through town on the back of one of those changes. Spike, it’s a perfectly fine, perfectly dragon name, but it’s terribly inconsistent, both literally and figuratively, with the creature it’s applied to. The soft pelt beneath the hatchling, threatening to lull her into a state of sleep with each hoofstep, was proof of literal. As for the figurative, the hatchling wasn’t one to appreciate the subtleties and complexities of social interactions, but he was funny, he seemed to get along with everydragon, and he could cook a lot better than Rarity. There was something else though, something Twilight couldn’t quite place. He was like Rarity, and like the others, her “aunts.” She rolled over onto her side, staring at the green and purple fur hanging at the corner of her vision. His back was the perfect size for her to lay on comfortably. She usually rode on Rarity’s back, but Spike’s was much more comfortable. He couldn’t replace the dragoness in the hatchling’s eyes, but he wasn’t trying to. Rarity was walking beside him, and Twilight watched the two chat back and forth. It felt right, like everything was fitting together like it was supposed to. It was something out of a memory for the hatchling, a memory so old that she couldn’t place it at first, but when Rarity glanced back at her, a different face took its place for a moment. For a moment, white became light grey, and purple was mixed with stripes of white. That face turned to the one next to it, but it wasn’t Spike. It was another dragon, one with deep blue scales and a midnight blue crest. Twilight buried her face into Spike’s mane, hiding the tears forming in her eyes. “Why? Why did I have to remember that?” Of all the things she wanted to forget, that was- “We’re so sorry.” Those words hit Twilight like a shot. That was the last thing they said, the last thing they ever said to her. “We didn’t mean to wake you, were you enjoying your nap?” A claw descended onto the hatchling’s back. It was a soft touch, soft and warm. “We’ll keep it down.” The hatchling didn’t look up, if she lifted her head, her tears would show. If she lifted her head, she would see those faces again, the faces of her parents. She simply nodded her head, keeping it buried against the green fur of Spike’s mane. She listened intently as the two started whispering back and forth, ignoring the words and just listening to the sound of their voices. Her parents were gone, but now, she had Rarity. And now, she also had Spike, and she didn’t want to see him go. Twilight sat up quickly. She couldn’t do anything about her parents falling to sleep, but she had a family now. All she had to do was make sure Spike would stay. But how? The pony noticed the sudden shift in the weight on his back. “Twilight?” He looked back to see a pair of puffy, crying hatchling eyes. “Uh,” Spike stopped walking and blinked a few times, “are you ok?” Rarity didn’t notice the pony’s sudden stop and kept walking. The pony was instantly worried. “Why is she crying? Was it something I did? Something I said?” The hatchling stared at Spike with a look of determination on her face. He was going to stay, and she knew exactly how she was going to make that happen. She pointed a claw straight at his face. “You said you liked somedragon. Who is it?” “Eh?” A drop of sweat trickled down Spike’s forehead. “Y-you heard that? I thought you were asleep.” “I heard it,” Twilight’s gaze didn’t waver, neither did her claw, “and I’m going to help you.” “Huh?” The pony stared at the hatchling in confusion. “Help me how?” Spike winced. That wasn’t what he meant to say. “I mean, um, what are you talking about?” “You said you liked somedragon, and I-“ Twilight’s gaze drifted downward as she started thinking. She wanted to make sure Spike stayed, but what, exactly, would accomplish that? She wanted something that would make him stay for a long time. Her eyes snapped up as she came up with an idea. At the same time, she shoved her claw towards Spike, pressing it against the end of the pony’s nose. “I’m gonna help you marry that dragon!” To Twilight’s young and sometimes over-analytical mind, it was the perfect plan; if he got married, he would have to settle down, and there’s no better place to settle down than Dragonspire. “What?!” Spike’s face turned bright red and he turned away quickly. “Why are you saying things like that all of a sudden?” “Things like what?” The pony jumped at the sound of Rarity’s voice behind him, and quickly spun to face the dragoness. “Is Twilight cooking up some sort of scheme?” She put a claw to her chin and hummed softly to herself. “Has she been hanging around my sister’s little friends?” She laughed a little to herself and looked off into the distance. “Of course she hasn’t,” Rarity sighed, recalling some past event, “the library’s still in one piece.” Twilight hopped to her feet atop Spike’s back, before hopping up onto his head. She then jumped off his head, landing at Rarity’s feet. “I’m gonna help Spike get-“ The rest of the hatchling’s exclamation was cut off when Spike grabbed her and shoved a hoof into her mouth. “Why aren’t we walking?” Spike chuckled nervously. “The longer we stand around talking, the longer it’ll take to get where we’re going. Let’s not keep everydragon waiting.” The dragoness watched in confusion as the pony lifted the hatchling into the air and deposited her on his back. Rarity stepped in front of Spike just as he was about to trot off. “Help get what?” The pony backpedaled, and the dragoness advanced. “Spike? Twilight?” She tried to look at the hatchling, but every time she moved, Spike moved to block her view. “What’s going on, dears?” Spike glanced left and right quickly, looking for a way out of the current situation, but it looked like he was trapped. The pony had to think quickly. He had an idea, but whether or not it would work was dependent on Twilight’s reaction. There were too many variables, but it was beginning to look like there was no other choice. He gulped loudly. “Twilight’s going to help me get, um, data! On… um, plants, with, uh-” Spike was starting to worry; Rarity didn’t look like she buying the excuse, and Twilight wasn’t reacting at all. The pony glanced back at the hatchling. He had to get her to react, but how? Then it hit him. He looked towards Rarity with a smile on his face. “Twilight’s going to help me get data on various plants with magical properties.” “Yes!” Twilight nearly fell off Spike’s back in her enthusiasm. “Magical research!” Rarity’s eyes went wide. “Oh my! I nearly forgot!” Rarity looked around, taking stock of the current location. “Spike,” she pointed an alabaster claw off towards the distance, ”please keep heading in that direction until you reach a fence with apple trees beyond it. There should be a creek nearby, follow it upstream until you reach a gate. Follow the path beyond the gate, everydragon should be waiting there. Tell them I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She quickly ran off towards town. Spike breathed a sigh of relief as the dragoness disappeared from sight. But, his respite was short-lived, as the hatchling on his back quickly smacked him in the back of the head. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Why don’t you want Rarity to know that you like somedragon? She could have given us all sorts of advice to help- Whoa!“ She let out a short yelp as she was yanked into the air and gently set on the ground. With a soft sigh, Spike folded his hooves beneath him, lowering himself so he could face the hatchling at eye level. “Twi? Why are you doing this?” Twilight tapped her claws together and looked away, remaining silent. “Twi, look at me.” The hatchling looked at Spike and the pony gave a small smile. “Thank you for trying to help, but I think this is something I need to figure out on my own. Do you think you can hold off for a little while?” The hatchling looked at the ground as she thought about it. If he didn’t want help, then she would leave it alone, but that would make it impossible to keep track of things. She kicked at the ground. “Ok, I can hold back,” she looked up at Spike, “but you have to tell me who it is.” “You’re right,” Spike sat up with a sigh, “I do have to tell you, you deserve that much at least.” He glanced towards town. “It’s Rarity.”