//------------------------------//
// Day 1 
// Story: The Vacation 
// by Hope Caster 
//------------------------------//

Spike the Dragon was called on official Canterlot business. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be his last, but he felt annoyed. Princess Celestia had procured him his own private car; no, this was not why he was annoyed, he was annoyed because three of his friends had forced their way into his room. It was not any of the Main Six, it was the CMC or Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, his beloved’s little sister. Their class was apparently scheduled to spend 5 days in Canterlot on an extended end of year field trip to see the sites of the capital city. Unfortunately, the CMC shared the same train as Spike.

Seeing as they were supposed to sit with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, The Crusaders were more than happy to enter Spike’s humble room.  Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were talking about how they would see the Castle’s guards and how cool it would be to get cutie marks in self-defense or as foot soldiers. Spike could only imagine the amount of bandages they would need to fix that adventure… or the amount of money that it would cost to fix. 

The train came to a halt early in the afternoon, just as Celestia’s sun peeked in the sky. With his duties heavy on his mind, Spike made his way to the Castle while the CMC made their way to their teacher. When he reached the castle, he was met with a warm welcome. Like always, Celestia stood at the gates with a smile. “Welcome, Spike,” She said as she used her magic to draw him close to her head. She nuzzled him a little too affectionately.

“Princess, this is getting weird,” Spike said after a while, trying to free himself from the aura. He was placed on the ground as the Princess blushed from embarrassment.

“I apologize, Spike. I got carried away. Now, the summit is Thursday. So until then, please, enjoy yourself these next few days.”

Spike smiled, “I always do Princess.” He knew exactly where to go. When on personal trips, Celestia made certain to procure Spike a small suite; his room as he liked to call it. Spike dropped his small bag of belongings in his suite. It was just as he left it the last time he came. There was even a row of his Power Ponies comics still above his dresser, waiting to be read. “I hope that you enjoy the accommodations,” Celestia smiled.

“Everything’s great,” Spike said as he hopped on the bed, slowly sinking into the cloud like mattress. Sighing, he closed his eyes. Celestia took this as her queue to leave. Spike dozed off for just a few moments, only to wake up to the sound of three fillies.

“Come on Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo begged, “if the guards catch us, we’re in big trouble.”

“But aren’t you two looking for the training room?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah, but we're kind of near the personal suites.... I really don't think we're supposed to be here.”

The door to Spike’s room opened and the fillies turned around. “Why are you three in here? Do not answer that, I already know why,” Spike sighed. “Look, I can tell you how this ends… It ends badly. Guards will find you, Celestia will bail you out because the case of the murderous, school fillies sounds stupid, and then Ms. Cheerilee keeps you on the world’s shortest leash for the rest of this trip… Tell me I am wrong,” Spike demanded.

“And yer solution?” Apple Bloom inquired.

“…I cannot believe what I’m doing,” Spike muttered. “Follow me.”
 


There are times when fillies would be left in shock. For the CMC, this was one of those times. When the drake talked to the guard in front of the training room, the Guard was as submissive as any servant in the castle was. “So do you think you can show them around, maybe give them a quick run through with some practice weapons? The stable foam ones, I mean.”

“I don’t see why not,” The guard saluted. He opened the door and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ran into the training room, giggling uncontrollably. Sweetie Belle let out a soft sigh as she followed her two friends.

In the first few minutes, Sweetie Belle was being pushed to her limit. “Come on!” the head guard shouted, “Trot faster you piece of trash! Are you a stallion or a filly?!” Was it a legitimate question? She was a filly! She was a filly, not a colt wanting to join the army! She liked tea parties, going shopping with her mom and sister, playing dress up, and not running around as some roided out stallion yelled at her. “Come on, two fillies are already done! Those two fillies make you look weak! Actual ten-year-old fillies are worth more than you! Do you hear me you piece of trash?!” He kept on flinging insults at her, slowly breaking down her emotional barriers. “If you can’t handle this then why don’t you just leave!?” he shouted. “Go into the hall and cry, you worthless maggot!” Sweetie tore from the training group, tears welling in her eyes, and ran out into the hall. “Why did that filly just leave?” the guard asked himself. Shrugging he continued to yell at the colt he had been yelling at the entire time, “Lieutenant, did I say you could slow down!? Keep trotting! I mean come on, I’ve been yelling at you since the start of this session and you still suck! The filly that just left had more brass then you did!”
 


For some reason, Spike waited outside the door for a few minutes. He expected the CMC to come out in just a few minutes, begging to be led to the lunchroom or the kitchen to earn a cutie mark in fine dining or eating, but after twenty minutes, only Sweetie Belle came out. She let out an exasperated sigh and leaned against the wall, keeping her eyes shut. “Just don’t cry, you not worthless,” she silently said to herself. The guard was just like Diamond Tiara; his opinion meant nothing… right? She rubbed her eyes dry before leaning against the wall.

“Are you okay, Sweetie Belle?” Spike asked.

She let out a small hmm, and opened her eyes. “Oh, hey Spike. Yeah I’m fine…” She sighed. “Just trying to get my cutie mark… as always… doing things that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suggest… getting hurt in someway... like always…. ” Sweetie mumbled the last part under her breath, but it was enough for Spike to understand.

“So, I take it you don’t exactly like what they suggest?” Spike asked.

“It’s not that…” she whimpered. “I mean it is fun and all, but we always try things that… I hate. When I suggest that we get cutie marks doing modeling or sewing, they just pretend to gag saying that’s too girly or not as awesome as something Rainbow Dash would do.” She closed her eyes again, letting out a sigh before opening them again, “the thing is, I am girly. I’m a girl! I don’t know…. I just want to do something a little different for once.”

Spike saw exhaustion in her eyes. He could understand doing something that he didn't really want to do. The least he could do was help her out for a day. “Would you rather go into the city?"

"... Sure, I wouldn't mind it." 

"What do you want to do? All you have to do is say it and I’ll be up for it.” It was something Twilight had hammered into his head, reaching out the hoof/claw of friendship to someone that could use it.

“…Would you mind doing something girly?” she asked sheepishly.
 


Sweetie Belle felt a surge of joy as she showed off yet another dress she would probably never buy. Spike sat patiently giving her feedback. The enter day he went to every store she wanted to enter, letting her try on every dress she wanted to. Luckily, the clerks saw it more cute than annoying. She didn’t crusade; instead she just had fun with a friend. “So how do I look?” she smugly asked, twirling.

“I would say you look good… actually amazing, but not as amazing as Rarity. Sorry, but you still have a while to go before you look as good as her.”

Sweetie let out a loud humph, “Is that anyway to talk to a lady?”

“No,” Spike said, “but come on, you’re like number two on my top ten mares/fillies…” Sweetie Belle merely turned her head, trying to look disgusted but coming off as amused. “Okay… You’ve twisted my arm. Look me in the eye and I’ll take you to the greatest place in all of Canterlot… besides the castle.”

“… I’m listening….”


 
Meanwhile, Scootaloo savagely put a recruit in his place after he said the most disrespectful thing in the world, “This will teach you!”  Scootaloo’s hoof met the colt’s face. It was well deserved though. Again, the colt had said the dumbest, blaspheming thing in the entirety of the world. “How dare you! Say what you said again and I swear to Celestia, I will end you!”

“Sir, shouldn’t we stop her!? I don’t think Skull Crusher’s leg should be bending that way!”

The commander nodded in accordance and sent two colts to pry Scootaloo off of the recruit. When they got close to the filly, they were smacked across the muzzle and given an equally savage beating.

While this happened, no pony noticed Apple Bloom break away from the group. She entered what one of the guards described as the weapons vault that would get a stallion executed for even thinking of going in there and using anything. Inside there were mostly enchanted spears or armor, but one weapon stood out amongst the rest. It was a simple orb. One that had a sign under it that read ‘Do Not Touch’. Apple Bloom was an adventurer though, about to get her cutie mark as part of the royal guard. Touching the orb would probably give her awesome powers or even more experience for managing weapons. She reached out her hoof and touched it. “Explosive armed,” the orb said, coming to life with a bright light, “Detonation in thirty seconds... Please get home safely and have a nice day.”

“Well… let's just cancel that….” she tried to stop the countdown by touching the orb again.

"Detonation in 22 seconds…" She touched it again. "15 seconds…" She tried one last time. "Nine seconds… if you have not yet figured it out, touching this form of explosive will only significantly speed up the countdown…" The orb finally admitted. "Eight seconds…. Seven Seconds…”

Apple Bloom dashed out of the room only to slam the vault door close, praying it would contain the explosion. She silently counted down to zero until she heard a muffled boom. The door held, but the crevasses seeped out a thick black smoke. Nothing went unnoticed. “...You touched The Orb… didn’t you?” The head guard asked. 

Apple Bloom saw that Scootaloo had been restrained using a coat meant for a dangerous mental patient. “….How much trouble are we in?” Apple Bloom asked, knowing what would happen next.
 


Sweetie looked through the endless rows of ice cream. Spike said this shop had the best choices, but she didn’t know one place could have this many flavors. “Are you going to decide?” The clerk asked. “Look, I need you to either make a choice and pay or get out.”

“Mm. I guess I’ll have… Mint Chocolate Chip!” She finally decided. The clerk loaded a cone with two scoops and handed it to the filly.

“I guess that you’re paying?” The clerk asked Spike.

“I have a choice?” Spike said, putting a diamond on the counter.

The stallion let out a gasp as he gawked at the gem. “Kid, I think you just saved my marriage.” The stallion pocketed the gem and returned to his work.

Sweetie Belle ate her ice cream with a satisfied smile. “Thanks, the others would have probably dragged me to safety when they saw me look at the first dress shop.”

“Do they hate it that much?” Spike asked eating a small spoonful of ice cream at a time.

“I don’t think so, I think Apple Bloom just wants to find her cutie mark in something Diamond Tiara wouldn’t do in a million years and Scootaloo wants to earn Rainbow Dash’s respect. Spike, what time is it?”

The Dragon shrugged, “I don’t know, late afternoon? Why, meeting your boyfriend?” He playfully asked.

“No, but I need to meet Ms. Cheerilee at the hotel for check in, if any of us are late for curfew we have to follow Ms. Cheerilee’s original class schedule.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Spike asked, finishing off his frozen treat.

“Twilight helped Ms. Cheerilee make it.”

“Oh, so you’ll be doing ultra-boring stuff,” Spike sighed. “I’m sorry, if I knew I would have stopped her.”

“Look, the Hotel is right around here, think you can drop me off?” She batted her eye lashes.

“…Why are you...?”

“Rarity said that whenever I ask a colt do something, I should bat my eyelashes to give it effect.”

“Oh… Okay, why not?”


 
Cheerilee couldn't even think straight. Getting a call about the CMC causing 25,000 bits worth of damages was not how she wanted her 'educational' trip to go. "You three...!” 

“Two,” Apple Bloom corrected, “Sweetie Belle left before Scoots hospitalized them three recruits and before ah blew up the room and incinerated every single weapon,” Apple Bloom admitted.

“Sorry, force of habit. You two are in so much trouble! First off, Scootaloo, why did you attack the first army recruit?!”

“He said something so wrong that I had to take action! He said that Shining Armor could take Rainbow Dash in a fight. What was I supposed to do!?” Scootaloo asked, angrily.

“Not attack him! You put that poor colt in critical condition! And Apple Bloom, when you see a sign that says ‘Do Not Touch’, why do you ignore it?”

“Come on we were victims of circumstances,” Apple Bloom answered. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Spike’s!”

“So Spike forced Scootaloo to attack and beat three recruits and you to blow up an armory?”

“Well… no… but come on! We can’t be the only ones that messed up!” Scootaloo argued.

“You’re not,” Ms. Cheerilee sighed, “Snips and Snails were being Snips and Snails; they’ll be joining you two on the trip to the Star Swirl museum tomorrow, The Princess Museum the day after, and the… incredibly long lectures for the next four days.” The CMC and Cheerilee let out frustrated groans just as Sweetie Belle entered the room.

“Am I interrupting something?” all heads turned to see Sweetie standing next to Spike.

"Just us getting yelled at," Apple Bloom mumbled.

Cheerilee let out a sigh as she faced the young filly. "Okay Sweetie Belle, what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"The damages, how much money are we talking? 1000 bits, 10000 bits?"

"I just got Ice cream with Spike... I didn't do anything except window shop."

Cheerilee could hear a choir of angels sing. For the first time in a long time, one of the CMC didn't cause massive property damages. Instead she went... shopping like a normal filly. She even charmed a dragon that stemmed from a relatively high class family to take her around the city. But how... why? Her answer lied with the young dragon, he was what kept Sweetie Belle out of trouble! He was what would keep her from hitting the mini bar during her stay! All she had to do was keep them together. "Spike~" Cheerilee said in a song like voice.

"Um... Yes, Ma'am?"

"Can you do me a favor? This is huge! Since Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are unable to keep Sweetie Belle company, I need you to make sure that she does not cause thousands of bits worth of damages.... Can you do that?" Her eye began to twitch as did her smile. Spike could tell she was close to snapping. "Here's a schedule of check in times and class events.... you literally need to make sure she comes to the one on Friday and only the one on Friday if you choose to keep her."

“O-okay, I can do that." Spike took the schedule. "I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Sweetie Belle,” Spike waved. He quickly made his way out of the hotel before Cheerilee’s psychosis could deepen.

“Bye Spike!” Sweetie Belle sang. “So, what did I miss?”


 
“Wow, that much?” Sweetie Belle said as she nestled into her hotel bed.

“Yeah, I think the only reason we didn't go to jail was because I showed up War Trotter’s top trainee and Apple Bloom destroyed every weapon that was labeled as 'Too Dangerous for Anypony to Wield,” Scootaloo mussed. “But I have to say, four days of school is going to suck. What about you, what did you do?”

“Me? Well, Spike showed me around, we went into a few stores and I tried on some dresses, then we got lunch at a Café my sister said I had to try, we went window shopping for a little while longer, and then we got ice cream,” She mussed. “It was the best day of my life…! Aside from the Sister Hooves Social.”

“Well I hoped you enjoyed having fun ‘cause our will falls to you,” Apple Bloom said cryptically.

“I’m sorry?”

“You are the only crusader that is free to roam the city, and as such, the only one able to carry our will. Earn your cutie mark, for us,” Scootaloo urged. “And pray that we don’t die from boredom… Why did Twilight need to get involved in our class trip? Doesn’t she know that the point of an educational end of year field trip is not to learn?”

Sweetie Belle let out a sigh as she closed her eyes, blocking out her friend's 'I Hate School Speech'. She needed her rest for tomorrow.


 
“You spent the day with whom?” Celestia inquired as Spike ate his dinner, smirking as if she heard a joke.

Spike shrugged as he munched on his pasta and gems, “Just Sweetie Belle.”

“So does this mean Rarity is no longer the object of your affection?” Celestia asked with a large grin.

“I never said that! I was asked to keep her out of trouble and to make sure she shows up at these times.” He handed Celestia a sloppily folded schedule. Celestia skimmed the document, her wide grin growing wider.

“Well I think it’s very sweet that you would escort Miss Belle during her stay… and might I add, I wish I could see you dance with her.”

“Yeah, I thought…. Wait, what?” Spike grabbed back the schedule from Celestia and skimmed down to the last item of the list that said Dance. “… I swear to you, I did not know about this last part.”

“Oh Spike… I can just imagine it, you escorting the blushing filly to the ball room.”

“No,” Spike retorted.

“She nestles into your shoulder, swaying to the flow of music.”

“No,” Spike repeated.

“And then you two make eye contact,”

“No,” Spike continued.

"You two close your eyes and lean in.”

“No!”

“And you share your first kiss.”

“No, no, no!” Spike shouted.

“Spike, I’m only teasing. Still though, just make sure to treat her opposite of how Blueblood treats mares.” Celestia smirked, “I suggest you get to bed after you eat, ladies like when their dates are on time.”

Spike let out a sigh. He was never going to hear the end of it. Before Celestia could continue to tease him more, Spike left for his room. He needed to erase the image of Sweetie Belle and him kissing out of his head.