Princess Twilight could not stand the silence of her new home. It had been many weeks since Spike left for Canterlot, almost two months in fact, but she still never got used to the big empty space. Not too long ago, the cutie-mark crusaders came to her asking to lend a hand. It was something about finding their cutie mark in ‘Royalty Assistance’. After convincing Twilight that they weren’t trying to repeat ‘Twilight-Time’, she agreed. They all fumbled about of course, but Twilight enjoyed having them around. Eventually, she asked if they could each help her once a week individually in the library while she studied. They were happy to help out, and Twilight gave them a few bits for their trouble.
Today was Applebloom’s turn, and she was a little hopeless compared to Spike. Twilight flipped quietly through her book about pony psychology while the little golden filly bravely clammered up the book ladder. She rolled the ladder to the right with a push and let out a soft ‘weee’. After sorting through a few titles, she turned and hollered down to the reading princess.
“Is this the one? ‘Guilds and Cov-nants’?” Applebloom asked.
“‘’Guilds and Covenants’, yes that’s the one!” Twilight said and smiled, watching the young pony try and pick it out of the shelf with her hoof.
“Commin' right up, ma’am. Just give me--Woaaah!” The filly tripped as the ladder fell away from her feet and she tumbled downward. Just before she collided with the crystal floor, a purple aura of magic scooped her up and held her in the air upside down. Twilight floated the Applebloom over to her and gave her a smile and a shake of her head.
“Sorry, your highness,” she said with a nervous giggle.
“Be a little more careful next time, ok? And call me Twilight, Applebloom! We’ve been over that before.” she said and put the filly down before floating the book over to her pile. She let off a loud sigh as she closed her current book and opened up another one.
“Anythin’ wrong, ma’am?” Applebloom said with a concerned look. “Uh . . . I mean Twilight?”
“It’s nothing. I was just wondering if Spike was doing well in Canterlot,” Twilight said.
“Oh . . . I'm sorry,” she said and looked down at her hooves. Twilight realized how she sounded and immediately apologized.
“Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that Applebloom. You’ve really done a great job and you’ve been an absolute joy to have around. I mean it,” she said and gave the filly a reassuring smile. “I’m just concerned about my friend, really.”
“Well, whatchya worried about? He’s lived there before, right?” She asked.
“Yes, before we came here to Ponyville. I’m just . . . I don’t know, I’m worried that he might be trying too hard to be somepony else.” Twilight said. She wondered why she was discussing the subject with a filly when it was really a private issue.
“I don’t think that’s a problem with ole’ Spike,” she replied with a smile. “He told me all about what he was leavin’ for at that party y’all threw for him. He said he’d be workin’ and learnin’ and tryin’ out new things, it sounded great to me. Ah do that all the time.”
“You do?” Twilight asked with her eyes wide.
“A’course! I’m one of the Cutiemark Crusaders after all. That’s what we do is try to find new things to do. Sure we mess up from time to time, but we always learn somethin'. That’s what Spike is doin' up there, I think. He’s just lookin’ for his cutie mark!” she said with a little jump, before pausing. “. . . do dragons have cutiemarks?”
Twilight chuckled. “I don’t think so, my little pony. Now go on home. You’ve done enough for the day, and I don’t want Applejack thinking I’m stealing her sister.”
“Ok Twilight, hope I was helpful today,” she said and began to canter away.
“Oh you were!” Twilight called out as she watched her leave. She turned and looked out the window to that shining city on the mountain.
Looking for his cutiemark . . .
“One minute down, keep holding it in,” Knight Wing said glancing at a stopwatch in his hoof. Spike stood across from him with his chest puffed out and sweat starting to form on his forehead.
“Hnnnnnmmmm,” he grunted as time ticked by agonizingly slow. Spike’s lungs were filled to the brim and stretched out uncomfortably.
“Look at you, kiddo. You’re not even at a minute-thirty and your face is already purple,” the pegasus said and chuckled at himself, exposing his sharp fangs in a cheeky smile. Spike bet that he probably considered himself clever for that one.
“Ok . . . ten seconds left, so get ready. Nice and controlled exhale out through the nose. . . three, two, one, time.” Knight Wing clicked his watch and watched Spike exhale. The tension in his chest eased as he let his hot breath seep out of his nose. Long and hot trails of steam pushed out of his nostrils and covered the grass beneath him. His lungs emptied out slowly before squeezing completely shut and Spike muffled a cough as the last of the air left his chest.
“Alright kiddo, that’s enough for now. Take a breather,” Knight Wing said and stuffed his watch into his armor pocket. Spike groaned and collapsed backwards onto the grass.
“Why are we even up here?” Spike asked with another groan. “We climb up here every day to the top of this mountain, do some breathing, and then walk down.”
“Weren’t you paying attention to Princess Luna in your last lesson? A unicorn’s magic comes from their horn, but a dragon's power comes from their breath. Exercising your lungs should make sense to you after that. As for why we're on top of a mountain, the altitude means the air is thinner up here, so your lungs need to work even harder.”
“But last week you took me into the palace just to repeatedly open and close a giant set of stupid doors. Where’s the sense in that? The guards thought I was insane!” Spike said, propping himself up and pointing at his teacher with an accusing finger.
“Those doors are hoof-crafted masterpieces forged from solid brass over 2 millennia ago. I have more respect for those doors than I have for you, kiddo, so don’t call ’em stupid. And if you must know, that was to exercise your shoulders. You’ll thank me for that one day. Come on now, let’s head back. You’ll be late for the moonrise,” he said and headed back down the mountain path towards Canterlot. Spike gave another grunt before following reluctantly.
The nightly lessons with Princess Luna were the best part of his day. Every morning he’d wake up and begin studying whatever books or manuscripts she assigned to him, then Knight Wing would put him through some odd and usually embarrassing physical routine while drilling him on the things he was learning. But after every moonrise, Princess Luna would spend the first hour of the night walking the halls of the observatory and teaching him about dragons, emotions, controlling power, and Aurora. He learned more about himself than Twilight or even Celestia had ever told him.
For example: apparently his egg was used during Twilight’s entrance exam as a sort of trick question. The judges were simply observing how fillies and foals tried to hatch his egg. There was a great deal they could learn about a pony’s magic when they were attempting something they’ve never done. According to her, this was common practice even before she was banished, and only in very rare cases could a pony actually hatch one. His case was even rarer because most of those dragons would be re-introduced to other dragons and kept away from pony-kind. Twilight kept him because the Princess saw extra potential in Twilight.
Spike and Knight Wing made their way back to Canterlot and walked back up the stairs towards the study and the invisible bridge to the secret observatory. Over the past few weeks, Spike did notice a little change. He was a few inches taller now, and his legs were a little longer too. He could know climb the steps to his quarters without needing to leap from step to step. He still had a hard time keeping up though. He really missed riding on Twilight’s back everywhere they went.
“Hey Knight Wing,” Spike began, “why is this observatory secret anyway? I mean, why doesn’t anypony else know about the Dragon Sages and stuff?” he asked as they trotted up the stairs.
“Nearly two months and you’re only asking now?” he responded dryly. “There’s a lot of information in there about raising dragons and back when that information was public, a bunch of ponies started stealing dragon eggs. Every now and again another town would get demolished by a dragon who couldn’t control his greed and went berserk.”
“Wait, so the princess knew I might destroy ponyville the whole time?” Spike asked angrily.
"Honestly, didn't they ever tell you anything?" he replied with a scoff.
“No! They hardly ever tell us about important stuff, really. Discord, King Sombra, Tirek, they leave out a lot of stuff,” Spike said counting the disparities on his fingers.
“Well be grateful then that her majesty has taken you under her wing,” he said and walked into the observatory. Spike did like the time he spent with Luna, and she was a busy princess, so Knight Wing certainly had a point.
“Good evening Knight Wing and Spike,” Princess Luna greeted them while standing beneath her massive telescope.
“Your majesty,” they both said in unison and respectfully bowed. “He’s coming along slowly but surely,” Knight Wing added and Spike rolled his eyes.
“Very good. I trust you enjoyed reading about the philosophy of Rune Reader the Wise?” she asked Spike.
“Yes, um, it was . . . well I’m having trouble seeing what it has to do with me,” he said sheepishly.
“You must understand, Spike, that while it is wise to follow our hearts, it is also true that logic and reason have their role to play in each of the decisions we make. It is beneficial to observe the elder's philosophies if we are to fashion our own. Thank you Knight Wing, you are free to go,” she said with a nod in his instructor’s direction. He bowed again and bid the two of them good evening before seeing himself out as usual.
“Your next book will be . . . now where is it?” the princess said with a hoof to her chin. “Ah yes, downstairs. This way.”
“Princess, may I ask you something?” Spike said following her down the stairs again. “How does Knight Wing know so much about dragons and breath power? He probably didn’t learn them from a wild dragon, and you said that Aurora died thousands of years ago.”
“Excellent question. He knows because he has read the same books you will be reading next. Ah here we are,” she said and used her magic to pick a book out of the top shelf of one of the nearest bookshelves. She floated it down to spike who dusted off its cover.
“The Sage’s Lyric,” Spike read aloud as he thumbed through the pages. The book felt like it was falling apart and smelled of dust and age.
“This book is actually a letter to you, young dragon,” Luna said gesturing to the crumbling pile of pages in his claws.
“What do you mean? It looks ancient. It’s a big letter,” Spike observed. “Who wrote it?”
“This journal is from Aurora herself, and she left it here so that the next Dragon Sage could learn from her,” she said and Spike gasped at the book in his hands. The book must have been actually ancient. If it was written by Aurora herself, that means that he might answers to questions not even the princesses had, like what’s it like to be a grown dragon in a pony’s world? He flipped it open to the chapter titles and immediately found something that astonished him. ‘The Love of My Life’ was the name of the 4th chapter. Does this mean she fell in love with somepony? Was it actually a pony?
“Wow,” was all he could say to the princess.
“Now before we get to that . . .” Luna began, “let us review what you learned about jealousy," she said and left her statement in the air for Spike to respond to.
"Jealousy, while extremely common, can ensnare the mind and control emotions just as powerfully as greed can," Spike recieted from memory.
"Very good," Princess Luna praised him. "Now, let us talk about envy. There is actually a difference between envy and jealousy. See, envy is--"
“--Your highness!” somepony shouted from above them. Spike looked up and saw another grey pony who looked just like Knight Wing, only younger. His fangs and eyes were all the same, with scaled wings as well. The Pony lept from the top floor and quickly glided down and landed before the princess with a bow. Spike guessed that he was likely a member of the Night Watch.
“Are they on the move again?” Luna said with a very serious tone.
“Yes your highness. It is Manehattan this time,” he said with a frown on his face. The Princess opened up her wings and stepped forward.
“My apologies, Spike, but we will have to continue this another night,” and with that she took off and flew to the exit on the top floor followed quickly by the Night Watcher. Spike clutched the ancient book in his hands as he watched them fly away. He made a mental note to mention what he saw in his next letter to Twilight. But at that moment, his curiosity poked him more strongly from somewhere else. He opened Sage’s Lyric and looked for chapter 4. Once he found it, he began reading closely with his heart beating quickly.
As Dragon Sage, my own personal growth brought with it many new things into my life. It was then that I discovered my lifelong love for flying. My wings became big enough to support my weight after . . .
“Darn,” Spike said with a sigh. There was probably nothing in this book about love and whether or not a dragon and pony could be together. It was a question that irked for some time now, and he was far too nervous to ask anypony about it directly. Spike closed the book and walked back up the stairs to his study. He decided it best to dive into the Sage's Lyric, despite the princess cutting their lesson short. He made his way up the stairs heaving the book with a groan. His sore legs ached and begged for a ride on Twilight’s back.