Panicking, panicking, panicking.
Applejack bucked another tree, apples tumbling down from it and into the preset buckets near it. Twilight Sparkle, a good friend of hers, babbled almost incoherently to her.
“-And then Spike said that Ember and Thorax might have a friendship problem between them and he solved it but I said-“
On and on and on. She went to the next tree, and bucked it, as Twilight went on.
“-And I don’t know what to make of it. What do you think, Applejack?”
Twilight actually stopped her verbal vomit. It was as comforting to her as it was worrisome. Applejack had to take a few seconds to center herself and process through the utter ocean of words that the purple pony had spewed forth. When she did, she sighed.
“Twilight, come with me. Let’s talk over a cup ah cider.”
Twilight was momentarily stunned, both by the calmness in Applejack’s voice and the non-answer to her question. But soon, she followed.
Applejack went into the kitchen of the homestead, and poured them both a mug of cider. “Take a load off, Twilight.” She said, offering her a chair as she sat down.
Twilight did so. “So, what do you think I should do?”
Applejack thought carefully on how to phrase this when inspiration struck. “Twilight, you know how you’re always trying to help everypony as much as you can?”
Twilight nodded.
“My Ma had a saying she used to tell me when Me and Big Mac got into fights as Youngin’s. She always said, “Mind your own biscuits, and life will be gravy.”. What she meant was that if we kept pickin’ at each other, we’d never be happy. And the same thing is happenin’ here. Twi, you know I love ya like one of the family, but you gotta learn to let some things be. It ain’t your job to solve every little problem for every pony there is. You can give advice, or you can try and help ‘em in little ways, but ya can’t do it all, sugarcube. Sometimes you gotta let others figure things out themselves or they ain’t gonna grow. It’s like when you overwater a plant and it dies.” She explained.
“But I’m the princess of friendship! If I can’t help, who am I?!”
“You’re still you, sugarcube. It don’t make ya any less you if you take some of that load off yourself. You’re puttin’ too much on yourself. Even though you are a princess, you can’t do everything. No pony can. You gotta learn to let some of that go.”
“I… I can’t.” Twilight said softly. “Not this time.”
Applejack waited for her to say more, but when she didn’t she gave her a nudge. “Why not this time?”
“Because this isn’t just anypony, this is Spike. I hatched him, I took him home with me, I raised him, I cared for him when he was sick! If I can’t fix his problems, what kind of mother am I?!” She lamented.
Twilight and Applejack both realized what she said at the same moment, and silence prevailed over the room at the outburst.
Applejack recovered first, and reached a hoof out to her. “So, that’s what’s botherin’ you. You’re afraid of him growin’ up.”
“I… I guess I am. I mean, I knew it was going to happen, but I wasn’t ready for it to start happening. I never expected to feel like… He wasn’t going to need me anymore.”
“Sugarcube, that ain’t true. He’ll always need you. You raised him, and he’s always gonna need you to give him advice or some time to spend together. He just won’t need you to take care of every little thing for him. And it’s how it should be. You remember me tellin’ you about when I went plumb crazy tryin’ to protect Apple Bloom when she was left home alone the first time?”
Twilight nodded. “I do.”
“I learned that even though she don’t need me watchin’ over her anymore, she’ll still need me. I just had to learn that the hard way. Hopefully this’ll spare you the same lesson.”
Twilight took a long draught of cider. “Thanks, Applejack.”
“Anytime, sugarcube. But… Have you told Spike how you’re feelin’?” The sentence was heavy with implication.
“I don’t think I even realized…” She trailed off. “He is my son. I just never bothered to look further into it. I never really acknowledged it, because I think I was afraid that I’d be taking away his draconic heritage in doing so.”
“Twilight, You ain’t takin’ anything from him. You gave him everything. He’s got a home, friends, food, knowledge, and he wouldn’t have none of it if it weren’t for you. You gave him chances to go to the Dragon Lands. He went, and he always came back. That says somethin’ if you ask me. I’m thinkin’ he knows who his family is. The real question is if you’re gonna be brave enough to tell him how you’re feelin’ and see where it goes.”
Twilight was quiet for a few minutes, thinking. Then: “I think I have to, don’t I? For myself and for him. I need to know where we stand and he needs to know where I do.”
She nodded. “Good thinkin’.”
Twilight finished her cider rather quickly. “I think I want to do this now. Sorry if this seems so sudden, Applejack.”
“Don’t you worry about it, sugarcube. Now go talk to him.” She smiled.
“I will.” She promised, hugging her friend.
“And the next time he gets himself into a situation, you just remember what I told ya. I know it’s hard, but it’s important.”
She nodded. “Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy.” She repeated.
“That’s it.” She smiled.
With one last hug, Twilight departed from Sweet Apple Acres.
It took a while for Twilight to get back to the castle, and she intended it that way. She needed time to think about what she was going to tell her young assistant. When she got back to the castle, she found Spike in his room, and knocked a little on the door.
“Spike, can I come in?”
“Sure Twi. What’s up?” The young dragon sat on his bed, and Twilight moved over to sit down with him.
“You know, I went to see Applejack today.” She began.
“Oh? Was it time to get another Apple delivery to the castle?”
“No, no, nothing like that. You know how you told me about solving the friendship problem between Ember and Thorax earlier?” At his confirming nod, she continued. “Well, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Not about your decisions, but about you handling it yourself. And she helped me realize something important.”
Spike looked at her. “What was it?”
Twilight looked at him, very serious. “Spike, you’ve been my assistant and my friend for practically as long as I can remember. But there’s one thing you are that I haven’t acknowledged that I should have. You’re more than my assistant, or my friend. Spike, you’re my family, and not just any family… You’re my son. And you have been for as long as I’ve had you. I just haven’t known how to tell you because I wasn’t sure what you’d think. But I want you to know what I think, and I want you to know that however you choose to see me, I’ll always love you, and be your friend.”
Spike’s emerald eyes looked up at her, awash with so many emotions she couldn’t pick just one out to save her life. Seconds of silence stretched on and on, and the tension was nearly unbearable for Twilight, but she didn’t dare push him to say anything until he was ready to. This wasn’t some innocent conversation that could be pushed off as something else. This was a real, serious conversation that could change two lives forever.
After an eternity of silence (or so it seemed) Spike finally spoke. “Twilight?”
“Yes, Spike?” Her heart thundered in her chest.
“I’m really glad you finally said something.” He said with a smile.
“H-Huh?”
“Twilight, I always saw you more as a mom than a sister. I just didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable. But now that you said it, I can say something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time. Thank you, Mom.” He said, and hugged her.
Twilight felt tears of joy streaming down her face as she held him. “I love you… Son.”
They held one another like that for a Long time.
When the hug finally broke apart, Spike looked up at her. “So, what do I call you now?”
“This is still new to both of us, but you can Call me Twilight or Mom. It’s up to you. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” She said.
“I can say mom? Even though I’m not legally your son?”
“Of course you can, if you want. And if you wanted to be legally my son, well, I’m a princess who has an in with Princess Celestia. I’m pretty sure we can make it legal.”
“Really?” He looked up at her, eyes shining.
“Absolutely.” She smiled. He hugged her fiercely.
“Thank you, Mom.”
“Anytime, Son.”
And so, a few weeks after that day, Spike was legally adopted by Twilight in the presence of their friends and Twilight’s family. Cheers were given at the announcement, and hugs and mugs of cider were had by all. And in the future, whenever Spike tried to handle something on his own, Twilight felt Applejack’s words come to her reassuringly, giving her the confidence to let her step back and let her son make decisions on his own. Never again would she forget the wise words her friend had spoken, because they had led her to the best decision she ever made. Adopting her son. And it was all thanks to one saying.
Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy.