“…Or not,” pouted Spike as all his friends dashed off in different directions.
The entire day, Spike had looked forward to giving the girls a grand tour through the palace while sharing good times with each one of them as a group. He had even been openly discussing all the wonderful highlights they could all enjoy while leading the carriage that was taking them all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot. Apparently, though, none of them were interested in sharing times with him and didn’t think twice about leaving him all dressed up and alone sitting upon the floor at the palace’s entrance.
Spike sighed as he stood himself up and watched as other ponies, mostly in pairs or groups, continued to enter Princess Celestia’s castle for The Grand Galloping Galla.
“Why do I even bother,” pouted Spike as he watched everyone come in with smiles on their faces while chatting amongst each other. “I was a fool for ever thinking the girls would want to spend an evening with me when they all have their own things to do.”
The sad, purple dragon watched as more and more ponies entered into the castle. There were a few griffons amongst the attendees, but not a single dragon.
Spike couldn’t help but tear up as he watched so many ponies and griffons happily march past him as if he didn’t even exist. He was Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant, but was that all he truly was to her? If they were truly friends she’d at least have asked him to join her instead of running off just like the others without a single word to him.
“Who am I?” Spike asked himself aloud as he moved himself away from the incoming guests. “Am I truly just a misfit assistant whose purpose is to serve Twilight and Princess Celestia?”
“Spike!” cried a familiar voice from the palace entryway. “Spike, is that really you?”
Spike turned about thinking that Twilight, or one of his other, pony pals had come back for him. However, he was shocked to see his old friend, Yosh, dashing his way.
“Spike!” cheered Yosh as he embraced his friend. “I can’t believe it is really you!”
Spike struggled to stay afoot after his friend’s tackle-like hug as he replied, “Yosh?”
“That’s me!” the dragon and duck hybrid stated proudly. “It’s so nice to see a face that isn’t a pony or griffon around here.”
“Shouldn’t you be off with Dawnbreak Horizon?” asked Spike curiously.
Yosh giggled as he replied, “Nope, nope! He’s been making his way back into Equestria just to attend this event and report our findings to Princess Celestia.”
“Don’t you just magically send them to her from the frontier?” asked Spike.
Yosh giggled again as he patted at his friend’s tummy.
“Silly, Spike,” he said. “I’m only half dragon and, unlike you, do not have the gift of fire breath.”
The two talked for a bit about their times together as newborns in the care of Princess Celestia as their respective, unicorn masters finished their schooling. Dawnbreak Horizon, like Twilight Sparkle, was a tremendously gifted unicorn whose special mission was to report of what cultures, magic, and other such things existed beyond the boundaries of Equestria. Of course, he did this through Yosh who transcribed all he had to report within a journal that would be eventually brought back for Princess Celestia’s review to decide whether-or-not a particular region needed further exploration or not before being sent out to discover more of the lands beyond those ruled by Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna.
“So how has your special mission been going with Twilight Sparkle Spikey-Wikey?” asked Yosh with a smile.
Spike paused as he thought of how to answer. His friend was off seeing the world while he was pretty much locked down in a library in the small town of Ponyville.
“Well,” he began to answer nervously. “Twilight and I are working on discovering the magic of friendship.”
Yosh blinked his eyes and gave a confused look before asking, “And how is that going?”
Spike normally would’ve answered positively, but that wouldn’t have been the truth. Well, at least for him and especially after being so thoughtlessly abandoned mere moments ago.
“Actually,” he began with a sigh. “Not so good.”
Yosh gave a look of concern as he asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well,” said Spike with a shrug. “Most of the time, I feel like a third wheel whose purpose is to simply serve as Twilight’s assistant.”
“A third wheel?” asked Yosh with curious concern.
Spike sighed as he tugged at his suit coat and stated, “All I seem to do is work and, especially after the whole Nightmare Moon thing, the only time I am really wanted around is when Twilight, or one of her friends, needs or wants something.”
Yosh gave his friend a quick hug and pat on the back as he said, “I’m sorry you feel that way, Spike.” He then put his finger to his bill and asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
“Not really,” said Spike. “Not unless you can tell me why I try so hard to please Twilight and her friends, but yet get left out and feel miserable and alone in a world full of ponies without a single dragon, or even other guys, to hang out with who might appreciate me more.”
“Well,” said Yosh. “Have you ever talked to Twilight about how you feel?”
Spike paused for a moment before replying, “There was that one time when I got all jealous of Owloicious and basically made a huge mess of things before running away, getting attacked by a big, mean dragon for eating his gems, and then got saved by Twilight and Owloicious.”
Yosh leapt into the air and fluttered his feet as he said, “Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!” He then gave a curious expression as he asked, “Might I ask whose Owlowiscious and what came of your adventure?”
“Well,” said Spike. “Twilight and I talked and she and I came to the conclusion I was jealous of Owloicious taking my job as her number one assistant and that she could’ve been a lot more sensitive of my feelings and that I shouldn’t try to make a big mess in order to get attention or make others look bad and that if I accidentally burn another of her books I should be straight up and honest with her about it.”
“Did this Owlowiscious take your job?” asked Yosh.
“No,” replied Spike. “He is actually now Twilight’s pet and I guess he helps out when I go to sleep at night.”
“Sounds like quite a guy,” stated Yosh.
“Actually,” stated Spike. “He’s an owl.”
“Oh,” giggled Yosh. “I s’pose that explains the whole pet part and why he is called ‘Owl’oicious.”
The two talked more about Spike’s feelings and the times he most felt left out on what was supposed to be his special mission to discover the magic of friendship within the boundaries of Ponyville and those occasional times when Twilight and/or her friends journeyed outside the town’s limits.
“So what I’m getting is that you feel left out on your special mission?” asked Yosh.
Spike lowered his head as he replied, “I s’pose you could put it that way.” He then threw his arms out to his sides as he cried out, “If friendship is magic, why do I feel like I don’t have any friends as Twilight and her other pals are all close, invite each other to do fun things, and typically leave me behind to do chores or write of their amazing discoveries in what it is to be friends?”
“Where is Twilight now?” asked Yosh.
Spike looked up at the large stairway that lead to where Twilight and Princess Celestia were greeting the guests to the Galla.
“Up there,” he said while pointing up towards the Princess and his master who were positioned at the second floor landing.
Yosh gave his friend a big hug before stating, “I think you need to go up there and tell her how you feel.”
“What good would that do?” asked Spike in an agitated tone. “She’d probably just ignore me and tell me to write something or do my own thing while she and the princess continued to share in fun times together.”
“But you don’t know that for sure,” stated Yosh. “Perhaps it is time Spikey-Wikey stood up for himself and showed he is more than just a lowly assistant and that you are worthy of being respected as far more than a convenient chore doer and scribe.”
Spike looked up at Princess Celestia and Twilight greeting the guests before returning his attention to Yosh.
“You really think that will work?” he asked with hope in his eyes.
“I not only think it will work,” grinned Yosh before giving his friend another hug. “I KNOW it will work!”
“How can you be so sure?” asked Spike.
“Well,” began Yosh with a smile. “Dawnbreak Horizon and I had a little talk about this ourselves”
“Really?” asked Spike curiously.
Yosh blushed as he stated, “You know how, well, I had that little potty problem?”
“Yeah,” Spike stated. “You were still in diapers when we were separated to be with our respective masters.”
“Well…” said Yosh as he pulled his shorts down a bit. The white of a diaper now clearly showing.
“Oh,” said Spike.
Yosh blushed deeper as he covered up his diaper and nervously tugged at his vest.
“Princess Celestia and I discovered that my being half dragon and half duck caused me a few, well, setbacks.”
Spike went to hug his friend as he stated empathatically “I’m sorry to hear that, Yosh.”
“Don’t be,” stated Yosh. “I sometimes can make it, but sometimes not. Though, the point is that Dawnbreak Horizon really made me feel bad about my little accidents and often would have me wait while he went and met with the other cultures we came across for fear I may embarrass him. That was until we found a land ruled by foxes and the one, who was blind, told me my condition is no reason to step out of the spotlight. She was so kind and I watched as she showed me around town and how everyone loved her despite her condition. When it came time to go, she told me I should have a talk with Dawnbreak about how much being a part of the team meant to me and let him know that, despite my condition, I am still an equal and worth not being hidden away.”
Spike appeared quite interested as he asked, “And how did it go?”
“Better than I expected,” replied Yosh. “Sure he was a bit reluctant at first, but he did start allowing me to accompany him and it turned out a winning situation for both of us asI was better able to take field notes and help in gathering data in which he will soon be showing to Princess Celestia herself.”
Spike thought for a moment before asking, “So wy aren’t you with him now?”
“That’s easy!” cried Yosh as he snuggled his old pal. “I told him I saw you and he said he and I could meet up later so I could have time to visit with my bestest buddy ever!”
Spike blushed as his friend hugged him yet again. Yosh was always very huggy, but he was a special guy and this made Spike remember he was a special guy, too, despite his being hatched by ponies and not exactly fitting in the way he might’ve liked to.
“Thanks, Yosh,” remarked Spike as he patted his pal on the back.
“No problem,” replied Yosh as he pulled a pocket watch from his vest and looked at the time. “Though, I regret I must go and meet with Dawnbreak to discuss how we will present our findings on the Eastern Territories.”
Spike and Yosh shared some final words and agreed to meet at the donut shop later to hear how things went for both of them.
“Okay,” said Spike as he fixed up his suit and tie. “It’s time to let Twilight know how I feel and not let myself be, or feel, left out on our special mission!”
Twilight Sparkle was looking rather miserable when Spike made his way up to face her regarding how he felt.
“Spike,” said Twilight as he approached and she forced a smile. “Having fun?”
Spike looked her straight in the eyes as he asked, “Can I talk to you in private for a moment?”
Twilight appeared caught off guard by Spike’s assertiveness. However, Princess Celestia quickly told her that it’d be okay if she didn’t help her greet the guests for a moment so they could talk. She even offered her private chamber as it was really one of the only places that was not being used for the galla.
“What’s this all about, Spike?” asked Twilight upon reaching their destination.
Spike closed the chamber doors before stating, “I need to talk to you about friendship.”
“Friendship?” wondered Twilight. “Spike, isn’t that what we’ve been working on for the past few months now?”
“I’m not talking about our special mission.” Spike stated firmly “ I’m talking about you and me.”
Twilight looked confused as she asked, “I don’t know what you mean, Spike.”
“What I mean,” began Spike firmly. “Is how you and all the girls seem to go and do all the friendship stuff while I get left behind to do chores until you all come back and tell me about what you have learned.”
Twilight was again without words as she looked towards her apparently frustrated assistant.
“Look,” said Spike. “I know you hatched me and that I was raised to be your assistant, but am I not more than just a dragon trapped in a world of ponies for which I am to serve?”
Twilight’s mouth dropped upon hearing Spike’s statement.
“Is that how you feel?” she asked with concern.
“It is,” he replied. “Especially after you all abandoned me without a word after trying my best to be a part of the group tonight at this event.”
“Spike,” sighed Twilight as she nuzzled against his cheek. “I’m so sorry I have even for a moment made you feel this way.” She then stepped back and said genuinely, “You are my friend and always will be. I guess I just get so involved in my studies that I forget to see beyond the work and fail to be the parent and friend you need me to be.”
Spike, like Yosh, was still considered a baby and certainly appreciated Twilight acknowledging on her own that he needed her to be both a parent and a friend rather than an owner who could boss him around as she so pleased.
Tears filled both their eyes as they embraced.
“I love you, Twilight,” said an emotional Spike.
Twilight nuzzled against Spike’s moist cheek as she emotionally replied, “I love you, too, Spike.”
Spike and Twilight left the room and talked about Spike’s friend, Yosh, and also about how Twilight was not having a very good time at the galla just greeting guests with Princess Celestia when what she really wanted was to spend time with her mentor. This prompted the two to go looking for Rarity, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Interestingly enough, none of them were having a very good time either and were happy to rejoin Spike and Twilight Sparkle as they ventured about the galla in search of everyone.
Once everyone had reassembled, the question came as to what to do next. As Spike had already been a part of showing everyone around as they hunted for one another, the suggestion was made to go to Joe’s donut shop and enjoy some quality time together over some hay coffee and donuts while Apple Jack brought her apple cart along to see if she may just have better luck selling to non-galla attendants.
As it turned out, the seven had a wonderful time telling stories about how their nights had each turned out far from what they had expected and were glad Spike and Twilight decided to get out before things got worse. Apple Jack was even impressed on how many of her Apple Family products she was able to sell along the way and how Joe, for a 50 / 50 split in profit, offered to serve up the rest of what she had left upon reaching his establishment.
Everyone was having a great time until Yosh and Dawnbreak Horizon arrived with Princess Celestia herself.
“I take things went well,” remarked Yosh to Spike.
Twilight and Spike shared an embrace as Spike replied, “Sure did!”
“Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight with a puzzled look on her face. “What brings you here?”
“Actually,” said the princess as she looked towards Yosh and Dawnbreak Horizon. “I thought it’d be a great idea to have Spike and Twilight’s friends here share their report of the Eastern Territories with all of you and then hear of what lesson in friendship you all learned from this evening.”
“Hey Twilight,” greeted Dawnbreak Horizon. “It’s been a long time.”
All of Twilight’s pony pals looked with interest as Twilight replied happily, “It sure has.”
The remainder of the evening was spent sharing introductions, stories, and adventures in both friendship and exploration. Apple Jack even got to enjoy seeing her Apple Family products selling and made a deal with Joe to provide him a steady supply so that both could profit.
By evening’s end, many lessons had been learned and everyone was glad to be spending time together at Joe’s rather than at the galla. Dawnbreak Horizon and Twilight Sparkle even agreed to try and keep in touch and made plans to meet up when next he and Yosh were in Equestria. It truly was the best night ever.