Spike growled loudly as he struggled to pull the gem filled cart for his pretty unicorn partner. They had been mining the whole day, and was now trying to head back to Ponyville before it got too dark.
" Come on Spikey! We're almost there~" Rarity said.
Spike grinned weakly as he just nodded. Anything for his friend.
From there they trudged on in mutual silence, admiring how pretty the stars were as they come out, the moon as it shone, and the song of the wind.
" Say, Spikey...." Rarity said, cutting the silence short.
" Y-Yeah, Rares?" Spike replied as he pulled the wagon off a ditch.
" Do you know of the famous Raid of AM in Canterlot?"
Spike froze. " Where did that question came from?"
Rarity shrugged. " It's just it popped into my mind recently. I recall a group of actual heroes and heroines appearing and helping the Princess stop the raid, and i remember one was a dragon, with the name is All-around. I thought-"
" That i knew him or something?" Spike finished.
" Yes. Something of that sort. " Rarity agreed.
Spike smiled inwardly, but frowned in thought outside.
" Never knew any other dragon that can tolerate ponies, much less save them, so maybe I'm not alone in this pony eat dragon world." He said dramatically.
" Oh Spikey, I'm serious." Rarity giggled.
" No you're not. You're Rarity." Spike retorted with a sly grin.
" Oh were did you learn those moves?" Rarity asked with a pleasant smile.
Spike thought of a certain battlescarred changeling.
" No pony." He said in a way that made Rarity hesitate for a second. But she shrugged it off, not noticing Spike's silent laughter.
They were reaching the end of the barren field, and Rarity spoke again.
" Can't you help but wonder though...." She began.
" Wonder what?" Spike asked.
" Who the Unity Squad are in real life. I've always wondered how a team of different creatures managed to stay and work together. I mean, i only know of you and Twilight to be the dragon and pony to have a mother son relationship."
" That's because she hatched me from an egg. Also, I love her like i love gems. I'm a pretty awesome son." Spike said proudly.
Rarity reached over and scratched his scaly head.
" Of course you are! Now let's continue on, shall we?"
" We shall!" Spike said, less tired after that conversation about his being an awesome son.
-------
Spike looked at the library door in confusion, as it was locked and there was clearly no pony inside.
He sniffed the air, then chuckled.
He was right, No pony.
But there was someling in there.
Spike looked around, and when was no one in sight, turned his claw into a key. He slipped it inside the knob, opened the door and went inside.
Spike locked the door back, and immediately darkness swallowed him. He smirked, then with a single breath, wreathed his hand in flames. He was careful at maneuvering the hand around though, he didnt want to invoke his mother's wrath if he burned the library down.
After a few minutes of searching, Spike pin-pointed the scent to be-
" D r a g o n....."
He froze on the spot.
" D o n t y o u k n o w h o w h o g r e e t a n o l d p a l?"
Wait, that's a pretty familiar line-
" T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h o o f."
Spike felt all fear wash out of him, but he played along and turned.
He frowned and waited.
But nobody came.
" Wait, no-" A purple mass of fur and feathers attacked him from behind, rolling them around until the attacker was above him, pinning the dragon to the floor.
" You've still got slow reflexes, even after all those years, don't ya All-Around?" She said.
Spike widened his eyes at the purple pegasus.
If one would look for a second, one would say this was Twilight. But it was not, for they just looked the same except for cutiemark, tribe and mane color.
" Spy- er, April! What brings you here?" Spike smiled nervously, tensing his sides to prepare for a tickle attack. Luckily April just flew off him and smiled.
" Nothing much. But before i say anything, did you get that reference?" She grinned expectantly.
" Y-yeah. For a second there you actually scared me until i realized those lines were from your favorite game... Under... Tail? I think." Spike smiled back, happy to see an old friend.
April waved the praise away. " Nah, was nothing. But back to why I'm here in this time of day..."
She flew to the spot beside the shaken dragon.
" Dya happen to see or know where Magi is? She's obviously not here, unless she can hide within the tree trunk."
Spike shook his head. " Not sure. Either she's visiting the hive or somewhere on a misadventure with Jason."
April smiled. " Perfect then! I have something to report to the three of you, assuming you didn't get the letter yet."
Spike frowned. " What lette- AUDBINXKCJDINF!"
Before he even finished that question, he burped out a column of fire and a piece of parchment materialized in the air in front of him. Spike recovered enough though to catch it in his claw before it fell.
April smirked. Spike ignored her as he opened and read the scroll, but later it fell out of his clutch and he stood there in shock. April grinned.
"So...?"
Spike blinked. " Mom will so kill Shining for not telling her in person."
April's grin got wider. " Then let's go get that blockhead killed!"