Under Princess Celestia's tutelage, one of the first things the pair had to know was how to read and write.
"Each day we're going to add a new letter of the alphabet for you two memorize," she'd say at the beginning of each class. "Each letter you learn will allow you to make more and more words that will allow you to be perfect companions for Twilight Sparkle and Dawnbreak Horizon."
A, B, and C went by pretty easy. Especially since it wasn't until they reached "C" that Celestia began to work on words with the boys.
"C, A, B," she said as Spike and Yosh took their notes. "That spells 'cab'."
Spike and Yosh really liked learning how to write letters and make words. So, it came as no surprise that D, E, and F day were very exciting for them.
"F, A, C, E," stated Celestia at the end of the F lesson, "That spells 'face'. Face is a four, letter word. Do either of you remember the four letter word we did yesterday?"
Spike quickly rose his hand to the air.
"Bead!" he cried.
Yosh's mind quickly recalled another word and he shouted, "Deed!"
"Great work," stated Celestia. "We'll soon be getting into the 5 letter words as we start into G, H, and I in the coming days."
With that, Celestia told the boys they were free to play for the remainder of the day until it was supper time as she headed off to court.
The two dragons looked at each other upon hearing there were words with more than four letters.
"I'm so on it!" cried Spike towards Yosh. "This writing stuff is easy as slurping a sapphire shake!"
Yosh, who was having a bit trouble with the four letter words, couldn't help but offer a challenge to his cocky companion.
"Oh, yeah!" he quacked. "If it's 'so easy', why don't you come into class tomorrow and write a five letter word for Princess Celestia at the start of class!"
Spike didn't hesitate as he replied, "You're on! And, when I win, I get your blanket for a week!"
Yosh's beak quivered, "My, soft, lovey, blue blankie?"
"That's right!" exclaimed Spike. "Put your blankie where your beak is!"
Yosh gulped as he whimpered, "You're on."
Spike spent the rest of the day trying to come up with a five letter word using the knowledge he had of the letters A through F. As Yosh added a "No looking at books" rule to the challenge, Spike really knew he had a challenge on his hands. However, if he was to be Twilight Sparkle's assistant, he knew he had to prove he was worthy and worthy he certainly would be!
After supper, Spike wanted to make a break for the classroom. However, Princess Celestia insisted that it was time for the boys to have their baths and be tidied up for bed.
"But, but!" sputtered Spike.
"You're thirst for knowledge is admirable, Spike," stated Princess Celestia as she nuzzled his cheek. "However, you and Yosh are both baby dragons and need your rest."
After the two were bathed and changed, Princess Celestia came by the room and wished them both a good night. Spike tried to ask he could go to the classroom, but Celestia told him "No" and that "He needed his rest." She then headed up to prepare for the bringing of the night.
"Good night, Spike," giggled Yosh as he cuddled tightly into his special blankie.
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Spike as he ran towards the pillow pile on the other side of the room, reached in, and pulled out a quill and ink.
"What are you doing?" asked Yosh as he watched Spike sit on the floor and spread his legs.
"If I can't get paper," began Spike as he eyed up the bare front of his diaper. "I'll use my diaper to figure out the five letter word!"
"Spike," said Yosh as he slipped out of bed and joined his friend. "You heard the princess, we need our sleep."
"NO!" cried Spike as his hand accidentally knocked over the bottle of ink he had managed to sneak out of the classroom. "I need to WIN!"
Yosh was a bit scared as Spike's eyes flashed a really deep shade of green.
Worried for his friend, Yosh stated, "I'm sorry I made that bet with you. I take it back. I know you are smart. Really, REALLY smart. Just please, come to bed."
Spike's eyes flashed that frightening green color again as his tongue began to stick out a bit.
"NO!" he shouted as he tried to write a letter on the front of his diaper. "I'M GOING TO WIN! I'M GOING TO HAVE YOUR BLANKET!"
Yosh was getting scared. So, in hopes of making Spike less scary, he grabbed his blanket and brought it over.
"Here!" Yosh cried. "You can borrow it tonight. You can even borrow it anytime you'd like. Just, please come to bed. Please?"
Spike's hand was shaking as what once was a letter was now a series of black smudges and lines across his diaper's front.
Yosh draped the blanket over Spike and hurried over to grab a pillow.
"Here, here," Yosh said soothingly as he helped Spike to lie down. He then removed the quill from his friend's hand, stuck it into what was left of the ink bottle, and returned to where Spike was now shaking.
"Wh-what's, ga-going, ah-on," worried Spike as he felt a strong desire to want to run all about and hoard everything in sight all for himself.
"I don't know," worried Yosh as he grabbed a pillow and quickly laid beside his friend. "But I'm here for you, buddy."
Spike felt his right hand wanting to reach for all that was before his eyes on his right side. However, Yosh was now latched onto him and he couldn't move. So, as he wanted to have all he could have, he latched back onto Yosh and cried, "MINE!"
"Yep!" assured Yosh as Spike clung to him. "I'm always your friend and always here for hugs,"
It took awhile, but Spike managed to calm himself and, eventually, fall asleep. The mysterious feeling that had come over him had gone. However, both Yosh and Spike agreed it should be brought up to the princess as soon as possible.
"Hmm," she thought as, honestly, her understanding of dragons was really what she was getting from raising Spike and Yosh to assistants to Twilight Sparkle and Dawnbreak Horizon. Though, as it was five letter word day, and the letter of the day was "G", she quickly made a connection that she had noted about dragons in her encounters over the many centuries. This being "Greed".
Princess Celestia didn't want to scare Spike about his natural, dragon tendencies. However, she did want to try and avoid such actions from happening again. To do this, she instructed both Yosh and Spike that making wagers was bad and would be met with punishment from that day onward. She also insisted that Yosh and Spike not ever see anything truly as "Just theirs" but rather something to be shared. If something couldn't be shared and/or made the other upset, the item would be taken away with haste.
The two boys apologized for what had happened yesterday and promised to never make bets and to share what they enjoyed about being a part of Princess Celestia's Selected. As they did, Celestia could only wonder what dormant traits lurked within Yosh and how she would need to prepare for a day when Spike's, or even Yosh's, greed overcame her taming magics.