//------------------------------// // Old Pet, New Pet // Story: Peewee and Spike's Ponyville Adventures // by AbstractThought //------------------------------// Things were going well for the residents of Golden Oaks Library on this sunny Saturday afternoon. Twilight had arranged a picnic lunch for her and Spike as a treat for his hard work and his sweet new gig as a comic writer. It was to be a special family bonding experience, at least until Peewee decided he wanted to join their picnic, totally throwing off the carefully planned bonding Twilight had prepared. Of course, she couldn’t just turn Peewee away without upsetting Spike, so the cute little third wheel was now a part of the familial bonding bicycle traveling down picnic lane…or however the metaphor goes. “Mmm, this is some good potato salad!” Twilight said, tactfully making sure to chew and swallow before speaking. “How did you get so good at cooking?” “Lozza pradice ed cugbugs,” Spike answered mid-bite, making sure to swallow after a disapproving look from Twilight. “Someone had to be the cook of the family, anyway!” “And just what is that supposed to mean?” Twilight demanded. “Come on, Twi, remember when you tried to cook bean burgers and hay fries for the Summer Wrap-Up barbeque? You ended up causing so much heat that autumn had to be delayed a week! Still not sure how that happened…” “Magic: the best and worst thing in existence!” Peewee chirped. “Okay, okay, you got me!” Twilight giggled. “So, how’s your first comic coming along?” “Oh, it’s going good!” Spike replied with an eager smile. “Going well,” Twilight corrected in her signature know-it-all manner. “That too!” Spike said, prompting another giggle from Twilight. “I’ve got this cool idea for a superhero bird that can fly superfast and attack with fiery spitballs, and he’s trying to save his dragon caretaker from an evil dragon that wants to turn the world into an edgy teenage wasteland!” Twilight giggled once again, because third time’s the charm. “That’s certainly an interesting idea! How did you think it up?” “Oh, it just came to me,” Spike answered with a surreptitious glance at a certain young phoenix who had just eaten a pudding cup in one bite. “I’m the very image of heroism!” Peewee cried out, a chocolate mustache adorning his ever-adorable visage. The three of them got a serious case of the giggles that seemed incurable, at least until an unexpected visitor came by and cured them more efficiently than Celestia’s personal doctor could have. “Spiiike?” They stopped short and stared at the diminutive green creature that had arrived at their picnic spot. “At last, I have found you again!” “Is that…one of your sea beasts?” Twilight asked in astonishment. “It sure is!” Spike ran up to the smiling creature with a cute smile of his own and gave him a big hug. “It’s so great to see you again! How have you been?” “Eh, good and bad,” the sea beast replied. “Good because I discovered the joys of gambling, but bad because it made me impure and I had to leave my brethren in shame, but good again because I found you again! Praise be to mixed blessings!” “Uh…okay…” Spike said, not sure whether to feel more delighted or concerned for him. Thankfully, Peewee came to his rescue by distracting everyone from the awkwardness. “Spike, who is this?” the young phoenix asked. “Is this one of those things I missed while I was away?” “Oh, sorry!” Spike picked up the sea beast and showed him to Peewee, allowing them to boop each other’s noses, the universal sign of friendship, even thought neither of them had noses. “This is one of the sea beasts I raised while you were gone…uh…I never gave any of you names, did I? …Oops!” “Don’t worry, Spiiike,” the sea beast assured him. “We all found our own names through meditation and looking deep inside to find our true selves…and my true self’s name is Greengye! Isn’t it glorious?” Spike and the others could only stare at the marvel of his spiritual essence. “Uh, okay! Hello Green…gye!” Peewee greeted with a smile, one that lasted all of two seconds before realization stomped all over his happy place. “Wait…you got another pet while I was gone?” “A whole colony of us, actually!” Greengye gushed. “Our great caretaker Spike raised us and gave us the sentience and knowledge to overcome our strife and achieve true enlightenment! If it weren’t for his guiding claw, we would be nothing more than just another cheap advertisement from the back of a cool comic book!” Spike felt his face grow hot from the glowing praise his reverent follower was giving him. “Aww, well, come on, it was nothing, really…” “You…you replaced me?” Peewee asked, his tear ducts welling up and threatening to flow like the faucet in the library bathroom that he may or may not have ripped off that one time. “What?! O-of course not!” Spike stammered. “It’s just…I missed you so much, and, well, I guess I really wanted to have that company again, to raise someone special and teach them all I know!” “And you couldn’t have done a better job of that!” Greengye assured him, giving Spike’s claw a warm hug. “Aww, come on, Greenie!” Spike said, his blush radiating enough heat to fry the metaphorical egg on his face. “Greenie?!” Peewee squawked. “You have an affectionate nickname for him?! You never gave me one! You do love him more than me!” “No no, I swear I don’t!” Spike cried out, waving his arms frantically and giving Greengye quite a dizzying thrill ride that he wished he could share with the rest of his brethren. “I hope…sniff…you two are real happy together!” With that, he flew away with a sobbing melody and a trail of tears. The other three could only stare at the scene that had just happened. “I sense that I’ve made a…how you say, boo-boo,” Greengye said. “Perhaps I should have come at a different time?” “Sometime when I wasn’t trying to bond with Spike would have been nice,” Twilight grumbled under her breath. “What was that?” “Nothing!” Twilight cried, a plastic smile stamped to her face. ---------- Peewee was sitting on his perch crying his eyes out, enough so that he had to use tape to keep them in, and was doing what he usually did when his heart was all cracked up: stuffing himself with chocolate while watching bad movies. He was currently watching a silly romantic movie and was at the point where the guy was doing a big, cheesy gesture to win back his beloved. Seriously, what is it with these movies having their couples do something over the top to win each other over? I may be young and naïve, but even I know that sort of thing isn’t realistic… His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice singing soulful lyrics accompanied by surprisingly good guitar strumming, because the laws of musicals bestow magical instrument proficiency upon anyone who takes part in them: I was a fool A sad and lonely fool I just wanted someone cool To ease the pain But once I was alone again I realized it wasn’t the same I was still the same lonely fool Who needs to better practice his rhymes Oh Peewee, don’t you see? You’re the only one for me I will do whatever I can To earn your love again Peewee felt his tears turn joyful as the song healed the cracks in his heart and distracted his brain from giving him a reality check. “Oh Spike, I can’t stay mad at you!” With his spirit now light as air again, at least partly due to a mighty belch before taking off, he flew outside toward the serenading Spike and hugged him so their hearts could touch once again. “Aw Spike, I’m sorry I was so jealous! I should have known you could never replace me in my heart!” “No, Peewee, I should be the one who’s sorry!” Spike sobbed, dropping the guitar on the ground and matching Peewee’s tiny hug with a great big one of his own. “I should never have tried to replace you! You’re one of a kind! From now on, it’s just you and me!” “Oh, Spike!” The two of them nuzzled each others’ cheeks, and then Peewee turned his face so that his beak met Spike’s mouth in a tender kiss. “Whoa whoa whoa, what the hay?!” Spike exclaimed, drawing back in shock. “What are you doing?!” “I was giving you a kiss, like everyone in those romantic movies does when they make up!” Peewee explained. “But this isn’t a romantic movie!” Spike shot back. “This is a ‘pet and owner reconcile’ type thing!” Peewee stared. “You mean…we’re not in love?” “No!” “Oh.” The two of them stood there in awkward silence for several seconds until Peewee broke it with, “So…whatever happened with Greengye, anyway?” “Oh, he said he wanted to ‘spread the message of his brethren’s zen’ to those who would listen,” Spike explained. “I think he went over to Fluttershy’s house to start.” ---------- “…and thus I say to you, the path to nirvana lies within you!” Greengye said to the crowd of animals before him. “As long as you keep the great Spiiike within your hearts, anything is possible!” The throng of animals before him burst into applause, partly out of reverence and partly out of gratitude for spicing up their normally plain lives, all except for a certain little bunny who was watching the whole spectacle with a scowl planted firmly on his face. That fool so needs to die, Angel thought. The End