In Praise of Twilight

by GJT_Productions

Spike's Journey

Dear Princess Celestia,
Although I have yet to learn something about friendship this week, I am writing anyways as I have become aware the short term financial arrangements to support my time in Ponyville will soon come to an end. I am sending Spike alone back to Canterlot temporarily in order to facilitate negotiations with the Finance Minister for a longer term support. I'm sure you would hate having my friendship lessons be cut short over a simple matter like money, and hope you can persuade that tightwad Finance Minister to extend the monetary support for a longer term.
- Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle

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It was such little Spike the Dragon found himself on the overnight train to Canterlot, alone and silently nursing his anxieties in a train car. He both liked and hated the loneliness - liked because it gave him a break from the chores Twilight would constantly give him as well as the curious stares of other ponies in Ponyville. The residents of Ponyville still hadn't quite gotten used to the sight of a "baby" dragon living among them, and honestly even with what little Spike knew about his kind at the time he couldn't blame them.

It also worried him that he got those same curious, and often hostile, stares from the other train riders, and he was sure if it wasn't for the "royal correspondence" badge Twilight had given him before leaving he would not have made it onto the train at all. Spike often didn't have much alone time, but here it certainly focused his mind of being a young dragon living among ponies.

On the one side, he knew he was naturally hatched with abilities that would make many a pony jealous - scale armor, extremely sharp claws and teeth and fiery breath. On the other side, all those natural "weapons", plus the then-vague awareness of his true draconic nature and the perception as being nothing more than a glorified servant or pet of Twilight that just happened to be able to talk, seemed to balance if not outright overshadow the "radicalness" (to use a term he'd heard from Rainbow Dash once) of those abilities.

That ambivalence about his existence and purpose always became amplified whenever he was alone, hence why he hated being alone. Even when he understood why he was being left alone, as when Twilight went with the five other ponies she now called friends to find the Elements of Harmony, it still irked and upset him, even if he didn't show it at the time. He felt he deserved the respect a dragon should have, despite his young age and relative lack of power compared to a full-grown dragon.

Oddly though, he found some comfort in looking at what was now called "the untainted moon", referencing the official position that the moon had been "tainted" by Luna's exile over the past one thousand years. Propaganda spin? Yes, but certainly there was at least a grain of truth to it - Spike certainly didn't think Princess Luna would argue with it.

Why did it comfort him? Perhaps because it was who he was - he certainly took pride in being the "number one assistant" of the pony who'd unlocked the power of the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria. It was a cheap source of comfort, but it comforted him nonetheless. And slowly, under the moonlight and the rhythms of the train traveling in the night, he drifted off to sleep...

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When Spike awoke, it was well into the morning and the train had already arrived in Canterlot, forcing him to hurry as fast as his short legs could carry him off the train and to the castle, all the while drawing stares that added to his unease. By the time he neared the castle gates, Celestia's sun had already climbed fairly high in the sky.

The first obstacle was the gate guards - Spike was vaguely aware that the guards may not recognize him because of the turnover that had occurred following Luna's arrival in Canterlot. Nevertheless, the showing of the message addressed to Princess Celestia was enough to get him past that pair of guards and into the castle proper. Whatever ease Spike picked up by clearing this first obstacle went away when he discovered that most of the once-familiar hallways had changed as a result of the reorganization following Luna's arrival as well, leaving him to make guesses as to where to go next.

He dare not ask for help, considering all the confused, surprised and sometimes hostile stares he was getting from passers-by. By the time he finally finds his way to where Celestia is currently in a meeting with some members of her Royal Ministers, he is quite frustrated and muttering under his breath about why Twilight couldn't have just have him send the message the "normal way".

Spike requests entrance to the chamber from the two pegasus guards posted in front of the door, hoping against hope he would be recognized. They simply exchange looks, and one of them says "The princess shall not be disturbed while in the meeting."

"But I have a message for her!" the exasperated dragon shouts out, holding up the scroll with the message and unrolling it so that it could be read by the guards.

Like before, the guards exchange strange looks before replying. This time, however, the answer Spike got was "We can't admit you without consulting the Lieutenant Captain first. Please wait here."

Spike lets out a low growl of frustration as one of the guards leaves to go to the Lieutenant Captain's office, resisting the urge to just barge his way into the room to deliver the message...

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A FEW MINUTES LATER...

"What? How did it even get in here?! Send it right back where it came from!" Lieutenant Captain Aten rages in his office after getting the report of Spike attempting to get into Celestia's meeting.

"But sir, it has a message for Princess Celestia!" the pegasus guard objects.

"I don't care what message it has for who, the rules are very clear Guard! No dragons are allowed in Canterlot! Eject it from the premises immediately, and summon the Lieutenant over the gate guards here to my office." Aten continues ranting.

"Yes sir." the pegasus guard answers, but as he turns to leave he comes face to face with Captain Gibraltar, who had overhead what was going on from his office across the hall.

"What's all this about dragons I'm hearing?" Captain Gibraltar asks, giving a very serious glare at the pegasus guard.

"There's a small purple dragon that has a message for Princess Celestia, sir." the guard replies with a salute.

Gibraltar pauses for a moment of thought - to him, it had to be Spike making the delivery, because what other dragon could it logically be? But what was he doing here himself when his usual "delivery system" seemed to be doing the job just fine? He would have to get answers from Celestia herself afterward.

"Guard, tell your partner to let the dragon in." Gibraltar orders, much to the guard's subsequent confusion.

"Sir, you can't be serious! The rules from the city's founding have prohibited..." Aten starts objecting from behind the guard.

"It's probably Spike, Aten, and Spike has long been the exception to the rule. His assignment to Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle has not changed that status, however much you may would like to think otherwise." Gibraltar counters with an indignant tone, looking past the guard into Aten's office and at Aten's annoyed expression.

"Sir, he's still a walking, talking safety hazard!" Aten objects again.

"That's enough Aten. I'm countermanding your order. Guard, let the dragon in to talk with Princess Celestia."

The guard looks back and forth between the irritated Aten and the stern Captain Gibraltar before nodding at Gibraltar and heading away back to his partner. After that, Gibraltar walks into Aten's office, past a display of "replica ceremonial weapons", and stopped in front of Aten's desk.

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"Sir, with all due respect I must protest your decision. The original agreement allowing Spike to stay in the castle ended when he was reassigned to Ponyville. He's no longer an exception, sir." Aten says to Gibraltar, refusing to be intimidated by the Captain's presence.

"I want none of your guff, Aten. I know that you, and many other of my subordinates for that matter, have never been comfortable with his presence here. But Celestia has him in her service for very good reasons, and I'll tell you a story about that so that you won't have any more excuses if something like this happens in the future. Understood?" Gibraltar firmly replies.

"Oh goodie, storytime..." Aten thinks to himself as he rolls his eyes, realizing he was not going to get much more work done this shift...

Comments

[The Descendant]

I look forward to seeing where you take this.