//------------------------------//
// New Princess of The Castle 
// Story: Little Dragon Daycare 
// by TAD2 
//------------------------------//

"...But after living a long life of 92 years, full of adventures, he passed on. Sure it was sad, but it wasn't all bad, thanks to him, I was able to start up the Little Dragon." Said Spike. He just finished telling Moondancer the short version of his grandfathers life. He looked over at Moondancer, who was looking at him in awe. 

"That was amazing, but do you ever miss him?" Asked Moondancer.

Spike nodded. "I do, but I knew he loved me, and I hope he knew I loved him too. But he's never truly gone." Said Spike as he pointed to his heart. "I will always have him with me in my heart."

Moondancer moved her hand over her heart. "I know how you feel, I lost my daddy when I was small. I don't remember him very much, but I knew he loved me." Said Moondancer as she started to cry, but she kept smiling.

Spike sighed as he wrapped Moondancer into a small hug, he wiped away her tears. "Hey, its ok to be sad." Said Spike. "My grandpa was kind, funny, creative, caring, smart, playful, and a hundred other things. Sure I miss him, but I show my love for him with this place."  

Moondancer buried her face into the hug. She continued to cry. "I miss him." Said Moondancer. 

Spike sighed as he just sat there and let the little girl cry herself out.

Spike looked over at Cadence. "Rule 77: Emotions are powerful things, especially in children." Said Spike. Cadence nodded. 

For the next ten minutes Spike just let Moondancer cry, and she soon ran dry. But once she was done, Spike's shirt was now little more than a wet rag. But Spike didn't care, he could always head to the apartment for a second and change his shirt. But right now, what was more important was making sure Moondancer was ok. Spike looked down at Moondancer who was just sniffling now. He smiled at her. "Do you feel better?" 

Moondancer nodded. Spike smiled at the answer. "Good to hear." Said Spike as he rubbed the top of her head. "If you ever want to talk about your daddy, I will always listen, when you cry, I will be there to hold you, but right now you need to laugh." Said Spike. He looked at the clock on the wall and noted that it was just about to hit two hours since the Dragon's Lair began. "And its just about time for that to happen." 

Spike looked at the center of the play area. Five of the girls were sitting on the side lines, they were tired of the Dragon's Lair, but right now it was Twilights turn. Spike chuckled as he placed Moondancer into Cadences lap. He got up from the floor and walked over to the group of girls. "So is the intruder strong?" Asked Spike. 

They all nodded. "She is, she stopped me from getting into a fake fight with the 'canary', she answered all of Pinkies questions, without needing to ask her what she said, then she stopped Rainbow from flying into a wall twice, and Rarity tried to sneak over to you, and she stopped that." 

Spike looked shocked. "Really?"

All the girls nodded.

Spike looked back at the play area, and to both his shock and horror, there she stood. Celestia was using her Solar magic to create a small version of her worlds solar system. She was actually teaching Twilight about her world, and Twilight was actually listening and paying attention. Spike dropped his jaw, Cadence dropped her jaw, hell even Silvia dropped her jaw. Celestia was fine, a little winded from running around on her own for the last two hours, but compared to Cadence who had gotten a small cut on her forhead because of Rainbows talons during her trip into the Dragon's Lair, Celestia looked untouched.

Spike walked over to Celestia and Twilight. "Ok, times up." Said Spike.

"Really? Aw, I had so much more to teach Twilight." Said Celestia. 

Spike sighed as he picked up Twilight. He looked at Celestia. "Hold on right there, I need to talk to my little minions." Said Spike as he carried Twilight back to the girls. 

Spike gathered all his minions. "Ok, how did she do, was she nice? Can she keep up with everyone?" Asked Spike. 

"I like her, she said she wanted me to throw her a party." Said Pinkie.

"I like her fashion style, but she called you cute, so I'm going to keep an eye on her." Said Rarity growling. 

"She's kind." Said AJ.

"And quick." Added Rainbow.

"She likes animals, and she said she has a phoenix, named Philomena." Said Fluttershy.

Spike nodded. "Ok that's 5 for 5." Spike then looked at Twilight. "Twi its all on you, yes or no?" Asked Spike. 

Twilight smiled at Spike. "Yes, a million bazillion times yes. She's smart, funny, knows a lot of things, and she said she would teach me how to do magic like her." Said Twilight with a wide smile. 

Spike placed Twilight down on the ground. He then walked over to Cadence. "Cadence, I'm going to go get Celestia her stuff, and to change out of my shirt." Said Spike. 

Cadence nodded. "Ok Spike."

Spike nodded as he walked over to Celestia. "Ok, so here's the deal. I need you to tell me your measurements." 

Celestia looked at Spike confused. "Why?" 

Spike smiled. "I need to know so I can get your uniform in the right size." Said Spike.

Celestia gasped. "So I'm?"

Spike nodded. "Now your one of the princesses of the castle. But be warned. The demon is not happy with you." Spike smirked. "But thanks for the complement." Said Spike. Celestia blushed slightly.

She leaned over to Spike, and whispered her measurements. Spike nodded. "Ok." Said Spike. "You have two choices, you could leave right now, and get ready for your first day tomorrow, or you could stay and get more acquainted with the girls."

Celestia thought for a moment. But she nodded at Spike. “Nah I’m good, plus I want to get to know the little unicorn that you called over to you.” Said Celestia.

Spike nodded. “Ok, I need to head back to my place and get your uniform, when I get back, there’s still some stuff we need to discuss, and I need to head to the pony world to get you a key made.”

“A key?” Asked Celestia. 

Spike nodded. “Yes a key, every employee of the Little Dragon gets a key. Its mostly for when I pass out in the back, after a long night watching a kid who needs to stay past closing, and I need someone to come by and wake me up before the kids show up that morning." Said Spike. "But it will take me a few days to get it done. Unicorn magic is a pain to deal with when one world is involved, but Starswirl is going to need to take some magical readings of the Elf world. But right now I need to head back to my place and get your uniform." Spike walked over to the back door and pulled out his gold key.

"Um, Spike the exits that way." Said Celestia confused.

Spike smirked. "I know. But in this place, every door is an exit, if you have the right tools." Said Spike as he turned the head of the key until the words home showed. "You see." Said Spike as he opened the door to the back room. But instead of the back room, Celestia saw a furnished apartment, with hardwood floors and the sun was showing in to the room. She looked behind her and noticed that the sun was behind her as well.  

Celestia dropped her jaw at seeing that the room was completely different. Everyone giggled at the weird look on her face. Spike looked at Cadence. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. I'll be back in a few moments." Said Spike. 

Cadence nodded. "Sure thing boss, I'll have the girls get ready for lunch in the mean time." 

Spike nodded. He walked into his apartment and closed the door, so Cadence could get to the back area.

Cadence looked at all the girls. "Ok girls, when Spike gets back were going to have lunch. Lets hear what you all had last night."

AJ raised her hand. "AJ, lets hear it." 

"Well, last night we had some potato stew, with a nice salad that we grew from the farm, and Granny made an apple brown betty for dessert."

Next up was Rainbow Dash. "Mom caught some nice herring, and dad brought home some pork sausages and some radishes." 

Fluttershy went next. "Mom got some honey dew melon, and a blue berry for dessert."

Pinkies turn. "Well I rolled over some leaves, a hunk of wood, and mom brought home some obsidian."

Cadence nodded. She looked at Celestia. "Did Spike get Pinkies slab out of the basement already?"

Celestia nodded. "We did, its granite." 

Pinkie hummed as she giggled and jiggled. "MMMMM, I love granite."

Cadence laughed. It was always funny how slimes express emotion using their body.  When they giggled it made them jiggle, when they are sad, they puddle, happy made them bigger and shinier, mad made them hotter, tired made them colder, and a large array of other actions, all dealing with the emotion spectrum. But Pinkie was special, she got combos, normally they would be a mixture of two emotions, but everyone and a while they would really add up. But back on track. 

Cadence looked at Moondancer. "Moondancer, sweetie what did you have for dinner yesterday?" Asked Cadence.  

"Well, Mommy made some spaghetti with fresh marinara sauce with mushrooms, and we had a loaf of bread."

Cadence nodded, she looked at Twilight. "Twilight?" Asked Cadence. 

"The same. Aunt Moonlight invited me and Mommy, Daddy, and Shining over for dinner." 

Cadence shrugged. "Well that makes that simple."

Cadence looked at Rarity. "Ok, Rarity, what'd you get?"

"Well, Daddy made some nice lava stew with some fresh demon boar he got from the market, and some of Mommy's soul, but Sweetie Belle got most of it." Said Rarity.

Cadence nodded. "Ok."

Suddenly the door to the back room opened. Spike walked out of his apartment and into the play area. He was holding a shopping bag in his arms, and it was clear that he had changed into a spare blue polo. Once he was inside the daycare fully, he closed the door and locked it. Now that the door was locked, he turned around, and actually looked disappointed. "Really?" Asked Spike.  

"What?" Asked Cadence.

"Why is it that when you leave, something usually goes horribly wrong, normally to me, but when I leave, nothing happens?"

"Well what do you expect, you were only gone for a few moments." 

"Well, last time you left to take a call in the back for a few moments, I was turned into a rooster for an hour, remember?" Said Spike. 

Celestia looked at Spike. "You were a chicken?" 

Spike sighed, as he raised his hand to stop the no doubt long list of questions. "Don't ask. Long story short, that was Twilights last magical surge on record, and I still sometimes wake up at the crack of dawn." Said Spike. He walked over to Celestia and handed her the bag. “Here is your uniform. A baby blue polo shirt, with a set of slacks.” 

Celestia took the bag and looked in side. “Is there anything else I need to know about this job so I don't mess up?”

Spike nodded. “No high heel shoes, it would be impossible to run around with the kids. No large pieces of jewelry, especially around dragons. Small earrings are ok but they need to be secure, choking hazard. Very little to no makeup and no perfume, one of the kids we watch is a werewolf and she is very sensitive to strong smells. Aside from that, the kids pretty much run the show.”

Celestia nodded. "Ok, thankfully I don't use much, just some mascara."

Spike smiled, and then he looked at the clock on the wall. He looked at the kids. "Ok, my little minions, line up and we'll head to the back for lunch." Said Spike as he clapped his hands to get them into a marching line. "Pinkie in front today."

"Yay!" Said Pinkie as she formed a arrow using her slime hair. 

"Rarity, wings in, feet on the ground." 

Rarity nodded as she folded her wings in and got behind Pinkie. "Of course my dear." 

Spike winced on the inside, but kept smiling and clapping. "Walking Library, your up."

Twilight grumbled. "I'm not a Walking Library."

Spike stopped clapping and looked at Twilight. "Twi what does Unconsentaneous mean?"

"Disagreement." Said Twilight in an instant. Everyone looked at her shocked. It was not normal for a 4 year old to know the word Unconsentaneous, let alone the definition of it. Twilight looked at all of the others who were giving her looks. She sighed and fell into line.

But Spike didn't start clapping again. Instead he walked over to Twilight and smiled at her. "Twi, if I made you upset, I'm sorry, but there is so much about you that is very unique to you, and when I call you thing's like Walking Library, I promise you it's not to be mean but a way to tell you that you are special. If you want me to only call you Twilight or Twi, all you have to do is tell me." Said Spike as he bent down to his knees and looked at the lavender unicorn.

Twilight sighed as she hugged Spike. "I'm sorry Spike, but some of the kids at the park call me a book worm for having a mom that runs a book store, so I don't like it when my friends call me names." 

Spike sighed as he returned the hug on the little filly. "Twi, I'm sorry, but remember, if you let their name calling get to you, your only giving them what they want. The phrase 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' is important to know." Spike then looked at Twilight very seriously. "But it they ever try to hurt you, just tell me and I will handle it." Said Spike, but something was off, his body was hotter than normal, and his eyes became more oval shaped. But Twilight was the only one to see it happen, and just as quickly as it happened it was gone. "But, lets get back to the line up." Said Spike as he smiled. 

He stood up and got back in front of the line as he started to clap again. "Moondancer, get behind Twi." 

Moondancer nodded. "Yes, Mr. Spike." Said Moondancer as she got behind Twilight. 

"Rainbow, try not to crash into me, and fall in behind Moondancer." 

Normally Rainbow would try to give Spike a light hearted comeback, but instead, Rainbow walked over to behind Moondancer, and the sound of her stomach growling was echoing in the play area. Harpies were very strong flyers, and they have very large metabolisms, so they need to eat a lot of food to run their bodies. She no doubt, after going through the Dragons Lair,  was running her body on empty. 

Spike looked to Fluttershy and Silvia. "The Lone Flutters, Silvia needs to rest, its time to hitch her up for a while." Said Spike.

Fluttershy nodded as she flew off of Silvia and landed on to Spikes shoulder. This was her normal seat, mainly because she was not a great flyer and she got tired very easily. Silvia now free of Fluttershy, ran straight for her masters apron pocket, it was exhausting to run around for 3 hours like a horse, so it was nap time for the ferrate.

"Ok AJ, your in the back, show us that your the best at herding. Keep everyone in line." Said Spike as he finished clapping. 

AJ nodded as she brought up the rear. On AJ's family farm, they had a few cows, and it was necessary to move their herd. AJ always wants to join in the drive, but she needs practice. So a group of little girls are just the perfect stand-ins. 

Spike turned around as he used his key to open the door to the back area. "Ok. Today we have a special menu, brought to us by the newest princess of the castle. We have a grilled cheese sandwich, with a nice bowl of soup, and for dessert a fruit salad. Pinkie gets some granite, and Flutters gets a grape. Any objections from princess number one?" Asked Spike. 

Cadence shook her head. "Aside from you not letting me cook in a while, not really?"

Spike shrugged. "Well, you can try tomorrow, how does that sound?" 

Cadence smiled. "I can work with that." 

Spike nodded as he opened the door and the group filled in to the back room. Spike was leading the group to the sink, and once they reached it, Spike pulled out a little stool. "You know the drill. Wet, soap, scrub, rinse, dry." Said Spike. Pinkie diverted from the group so she wouldn't be diluted, and stood at Spikes side. Rarity, Twilight, Moondancer, Rainbow, and AJ all took turns to wash their hands, and once they were done, Fluttershy flew down and used the last few drops to wash her hands. Spike smiled. "Ok, now, who's hungry?"