//------------------------------// // Spike's Quest // Story: A Tale of Two Assistants // by Mylittleponyfan //------------------------------// Twilight has just finished reorganizing the books in the library. She begins to wonder where Spike is as he has been gone for a long time. "I wonder where Spike wandered off to. I hope he didn't get distracted by gems or anything again. Maybe he's taking a nap in the shade," says Twilight. Suddenly, there is a loud knocking on the door. "Well now, who could that be?", Twilight asks herself out loud. Twilight opens the door and in a moment's flash, Pinkie Pie pins her to the ground in a flying tackle, making her groan. "Ohhh... shoulda seen that comin'!", says Twilight. "Hey, Twilight, how come you never told us there was another Dragon Migration going on?", Pinkie asks. Confused, Twilight raises an eyebrow. "Huh?", Twilight says. Rarity and Rainbow Dash walk in to help Twilight up. "We saw him walkin' out of Ponyville with a knapsack on his shoulder," says Rainbow Dash. "Again. We thought he was trying to find more dragons or something," says Rarity. "Noooo...? The migration only happens at a certain time and now would not be that time,", Twilight tells them. "You did not have a disagreement or anything, did you?", Rarity asks, a little concerned. "Of course not!", says Twilight. "Is he on an errand? Somethin' personal?", asks Rainbow Dash. "He didn't tell me anything about an errand. Which is weird because he usually does tell me," replies Twilight. "Is there any circumstance that you could think of where he would not?", Rarity asks Twilight. Twilight begins to think for a moment. "Only if it was something he thought was of utmost importance and wanted to do something for me. But I don't know," says Twilight. Suddenly, Twilight's ears shoot up in realization that Spike has gone off to find Derek. "Oh, no." Twilight looks over to where she set down the picture of Derek and then uses her magic to levitate it over. "Who's that, Twilight?", asks Pinkie Pie. Twilight explains to her friends, "This is Derek. He was my assistant in Canterlot when I was a filly. Long before Spike came around." "Aww! He looks just like the little guy!", says Rainbow Dash. "Yes. The resemblance is quite uncanny," Rarity agrees. "I think Derek may have taken that a bit to heart. He must've thought he was being replaced. He just left without saying goodbye," Twilight tells them. Rarity puts her hoof on Twilight's shoulder in a comforting manner. "Oh, Twilight. I am so sorry," Rarity sincerely apologizes. "I think I got it!", exclaims Pinkie. The others look to her. "Got what?", asks Rainbow Dash. "Spike must've gone off to find Derek and get him to come back to Twilight!", announces Pinkie. Rarity chuckles nervously. "He would not-- he would not do that," Rarity says. "Wow. You ignore him that much?", comments Pinkie. Rarity gets offended and exclaims, "Ignore him?! What do you mean?!" Startled, Pinkie raises her eyebrows and quickly says, "Nothing!". Pinkie glances at Twilight. Twilight hides a smirk before becoming instantly serious. "I think Pinkie's right. He must've gone off to find Derek and see if he can't convince him to come back!", proclaims Twilight. "Honestly, I'm not that surprised. Spike will do anything to make you happy," admits Rainbow Dash. "I know. And for the first time in a long time, that's what I'm worried about," says Twilight. "Then we should go and find him!", says Rarity. "Right! But first, we should see if Applejack and Fluttershy will come with us!", says Twilight. Pinkie is bolting out the door and shouts in a sing-song voice, "Last one to Applejack's is a rotten apple!" The others shake their heads, chuckle, and run after her. Meanwhile, Spike arrives in Canterlot, having turned back around the edge of town to catch the train. He walks through the kingdom to the castle, where the guards recognize him and let him through. He makes his way to the castle, where he comes across an older unicorn stallion wearing a dark blue jacket and silver glasses with a short, thick beard. "Well, slap a saddle on me and call me a racehorse! Ain't your name Spike?", the stallion says. "Y-- yeah, but... how did you know?", says Spike, a bit surprised. The stallion explains, "Well, for one thing, you've been famous ever since you saved the Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire. But I never can forget the helper of lil' ol' Twilight Sparkle!" Spike's eye widen. "You knew Twilight?!" "Sure did! I was one of her counselors when she was workin' on her magic and stuff growin' up!" Spike says, "Well, if you knew her as a filly, maybe you can tell me about her previous assistant? Kinda looks like me, but bigger? His name is..." "Derek," they both finish at once. "You knew him too?", asks Spike. "Yeah," the stallion replies, "Big fella just left one day, not hardly a word to anypony. Come to think of it, that was the day you hatched, I do think." "Yeah. I found a picture of him in Twilight's library and she told me the story. I don't suppose you could tell me--" "Why he left? Sorry, little one, no can do. But I would guess Princess Celestia would know. That's why you came here, isn't it?" "Yeah, sir." "Well, don't let me stop you from finding answers! Let me show you in! I got special access to the castle, too, y'know!", the stallion announces. The stallion winks and he and Spike walk into the castle together. Eventually, they reach the throne room, which is actually empty. "Huh. The princesses must be out and about in the kingdom somewhere. Sorry, kid, I thought they'd be here!", said the stallion, dumbfounded. "Oh, it's all right, sir! I may not have been here awhile, but I know my way around well enough to find them from here. Thanks for walkin' me in though!", says Spike. "Oh, my pleasure, Spike! Good luck with your search for answers!", the stallion calls out. "Okay!", Spike calls back. The stallion leaves and Spike makes his way throughout the castle. Eventually, he finds the old library where he and Twilight worked and lived. "Ah, good ol' memories. This is where Twilight and I first got word to go to Ponyville!", says Spike. A voice suddenly said, "I remember that letter! She still worries too much sometimes, right?" Startled, Spike jumps and turns around. Celestia is walking up the staircase to meet him. "Princess Celestia!" Spike bows in respect. "Oh, come, now, Spike. You do not need to be so formal when we are alone. Especially not in here, where you used to work," says Celestia. Spike stands up straight and says, "Okay. Um... I was wonderin' if you could tell me somethin'." "And this "something" is important enough for you to come to me all by yourself? Must be urgent!" "It's... it's about... Derek." Celestia's eyebrows raise and then lower in sadness. "How about we sit down? This may be awhile." Spike and Celestia sit down. Celestia begins to explain to Spike, "You see, Twilight had Derek since she was about 3 years old." As she tells the story, there is a flashback of Twilight as an infant and wearing a diaper. Her parents bring in an egg and set it down. Twilight stares at the egg, which starts to crack. The egg hatches and reveals Derek as an infant. He yawns, releasing some green fire. At first, Twilight is shocked, but then becomes amused as she giggles. Then Twilight and Derek begin to play as Twilight's parents happily watch them. Celestia narrates the story. "Those two got along well. Derek has helped Twilight when she was in need." Twilight tries to put a book on a shelf with the others. However, due to it being too high for her, she falls and drops the book. Derek comes along, takes the book, and stands on Twilight while putting the book on the shelf. Grateful, Twilight smiles and she hugs Derek, who hugs her back. Then they both start tickling each other, falling on the floor and laughing. "Then, by the time Twilight was an older filly, that was when you were born." In the flashback, Twilight is an older filly, admiring an infant Spike. A young Derek (who is around Spike's current age) is peeking at the entrance of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Feeling left out, Derek gets tears in his eyes and leaves. "And that was when he ran away for good." Derek walks off by himself, carrying a knapsack. Young Twilight stops him. "Derek! Wait! Where are you going?!" "Away. Forever." "Why?!" "You probably don't need me anyway." Derek sniffles and lets a tear fall from his eye. He leaves and Twilight sadly watches him for a moment before going back inside. Back to reality, Celestia is feeling a bit sad. She sighs and Spike says, "Wow. So he never came back again?" "I am afraid not," says Celestia. Spike puts a hand to his chin, thinking. Then he looks back up to Celestia and asks her, "Do you have any clue where Derek could've gone?" Celestia furrows her eyebrows and tries to remember. Her eyebrows rise slightly. "Actually, I do believe Derek wanted to join the Great Dragon Migration at one point. It seemed to be more of a desire since he never got the chance to even try to do so. He could have decided to go and find others of his own kind though." Spike smiles and says, "Thank you, Princess Celestia. I think I know where I can find Derek." Celestia smiles as Spike walks out of the room and calls out to him, "Good luck, Spike!" Spike ventures across mountains, rivers, and forests. Finally, he arrives at the volcanic area that the dragons have migrated to. "Okay. Derek must be here." Quickly, Spike runs up a hill and, upon climbing up to the top, sees a bunch of dragons. "Right. Where are you, Derek?" Spike runs down the hill to find Derek. "Derek? Derek?" Spike makes his way through the other dragons. "Excuse me. Pardon me. Derek?" Spike looks around, but Derek is not there. "Hmm. Not here." Spike leaves and climbs up another hill with other dragons in there. "Derek?" Spike looks around, but still doesn't find Derek. Instead, the dragons turn to look at him. Upon noticing this, Spike becomes a bit scared. "Oh, uh, excuse me. I came to the wrong section." Quickly, Spike leaves before any of the dragons could hurt him. Spike climbs up another hill and peeks in before he gets in and widens his eyes, upon noticing a giant dragon that looks like his giant version from "Secret of My Excess," the exception being that he has wings. "D-- Derek?" Hearing Spike's voice, the dragon perks up and turns toward his direction. "Who are you, little guy? What are you doin' here?" "You're... Derek?!", says Spike, surprised. "Yeah. Why?" Spike begins to stammer. "Well, I-- I-- I was lookin' a-- all over for you!" "Well, what do you need me for?" "I need you to come with me! I'm takin' you back to Ponyville so you can reunite with Twilight Sparkle!" Hearing her name, Derek's eyebrows raise. "Twilight Sparkle?" "Yeah, you know, Twilight. You were her #1 assistant, I just recently found out." As Spike says the last sentence, he begins to look sad as he no longer feels special. Derek furrows his eyebrows as if he is trying to remember something. "Wait a minute. You look familiar." Derek's eyes widen. "You... you are Spike, aren't you? The dragon who replaced me as Twilight's #1 assistant?" Spike nods, still looking a bit sad. "Yeah, that's me, all right. I'm sorry I made you feel like you weren't needed. I never knew." Derek's facial expression softens. "Aw, it is okay, little guy. You could not have known. You were only an infant back then." Derek looks off to the side thoughtfully. "Hmm. Maybe Twilight did not know either." Suddenly, Derek becomes sad and lets out a sigh. "Oh, what have I done? Twilight must have been devastated when I left." "Yeah. She really misses you. She actually wants to see you," says Spike. Derek's eyebrows raise in surprise and looks at Spike with a smile. "Really?" Spike nods. Derek crawls a little closer to Spike. "Spike, are you and Twilight still living in Canterlot?", he asks. "No. We moved to a town called Ponyville years ago," Spike answers. Derek nods and opens one of his mighty claws in front of Spike, who raises an eyebrow. "Come on, Spike. It is time I see Twilight again and maybe make things right." Spike grins and jumps onto Derek's claw. Derek lifts Spike and safely sets him on his head. Then Derek spreads his wings, runs out of the cave, and, with a flap of his large wings, takes flight. Spike is cheering that he finally got Derek back. "Yeah! My mission is complete!", Spike exclaims. Derek smiles at Spike, "Good for you, buddy."