Princess Twilight Sparkle’s coronation had gone off rather awkwardly, not well timed, not well rehearsed, and hilarious, if one knew the former unicorn as well as Spike the dragon did, and knew that as much as it embarrassed the Alicorn, a failure on such a level was to be expected.
His older sister was now the ruler of Equestria, no longer trapped in an enormous crystal castle, reading millions, if not trillions of books, only some of which were because they caught her interest.
No longer going over the bills, laws, and political structure of Ponyville with Mayor Mare, and those who bothered to pay attention, or care about how to run a town, but an entire country now.
A town was one thing; Smaller disputes, trade agreements, arguments and political backstabbing to get ahead, it was very well maintained and ponies knew to come to both the mayor and Twilight for their issues as such could be dealt with quickly and peacefully with both mares being in such close proximity.
But an entire nation... that bothered Spike deeply, not because of how much he worried she would be able to handle it all, she had the Council of Friendship which were her friends and even though it could be seen as biased with how long Twilight had known them, Spike knew that others would listen to the Elements of Harmony and their judgement.
Spike was her number one assistant, once the temporary Dragon Lord, the Friendship ambassador of both the Dragonlands and the Changeling Kingdom and hopefully more as time went one, her royal advisor, and a member of the Council of Friendship, though the last two would receive a proper ceremony once everything had settled down, even the Council of Friendship had not been officially established yet but he knew that was only a matter of time.
On a lesser note he was permanent Sibling Supreme, though such a title only mattered in the Sparkle household.
On a much more serious note, though, he was a prince, the adopted son of Princess Celestia, nephew to Princess Luna, or, rather, former Princesses. He was the cousin of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, first cousin to Princess Flurry Heart, and cousin to Prince Blue Blood.
He was the little brother to both Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Shining Armor, as well as personal friend to Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax, he knew Queen Novo on a first name basis and had fun with Prince Rutherford, he was still waiting for Griffionstone to get a proper king or queen as they had with King Grover, but he knew that would take time.
Personally, he wondered if Gabby would be interested in the throne, but knowing her personality, he doubted it.
Perhaps he would ask her next time they saw each other.
As Twilight and the girls went off to Pony Joe’s to relax after the coronation, Spike sat by himself, all alone. Even the workers were avoiding him, sweeping, picking up trash, and generally doing their job as quietly as possible around him, while the small dragon slowly and angrily gripped the bottle of cider in his claw.
He stared at the bottle, almost hoping the answer would be inside it, the answer to the question boiling deep inside him. Why did his mother chose Twilight instead of him?
It wasn't about the mare. He loved her to death, and always followed her every word with nothing more than a snarky remark at times, and yet... he was not chosen to be king, as he'd been promised.
He was happy for her, and knew that though it would be a huge overhaul from everything they had done in their lives until this point, he did not feel as though she was ready.
He plastered the smile on his face and gave his approval in public, even when they were alone, but he knew deep down that the purple Alicorn and her friends was simply not ready for such responsibility.
As he bitterly growled to himself with many questions in his mind, his ear fins caught noise of something approaching, making him lift his head from where it lay and saw his mother, aunt, and cousins slowly walking towards him with half hearted smiles on their faces and their ears low as they silently waited for the dragon they loved with all their heart to say something to acknowledge them.
It was Blue Blood who finally broke the silence. “It’s rude not to say hello to the ponies that helped raise you, you know.” He was almost scoffing, as he normally did when he spoke.
He was a brilliant diplomat to be sure, but Spike always thought Blue Blood thought too highly of himself.
Spike scoffed, himself, as he regarded his cousin with nothing more than a roll of his eyes and a small wave.
The others took up seats close to him, or borrowed other chairs from different tables to place around them as they got comfortable, ignored by the staff as well while Spike took another drink of his cider, wishing he was old enough to have the alcohol version as he sighed loudly.
“We’re sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, Spike.” Cadance muttered sadly as she glanced at her cousin, thankful to her husband for watching Flurry Heart with his parents and allowing her the time to be among family.
“Why didn’t you?” He questioned as he lifted his eyes to look at each of them, none able to meet his angered gaze save for his mother who took a deep breath and slowly lifted a hoof to place on his left shoulder.
“Because we were worried about how upset you would be. You’re an amazing dragon, my little scales. Kind, loyal, brave, patient, and not one to hide your true thoughts. Your photographic memory will serve you tremendously more than you think, and you have an extremely well crafted process of political allies at your side. You will be a unique king, one day.” Celestia responded softly, noticing the way Spike gripped his drink tightly.
“But you don’t think I’m ready?” He asked as he looked into her eyes, seeing her frowning and sighing loudly before shaking her head.
“Not at the moment. You’re far too young, inexperienced with both politics and court affairs. Not to mention-”
“Ponies can’t fathom having a dragon ruling over them.” Spike interrupts, making her ears drop and grit her teeth.
“It’s nothing personal, Spike. Equestria is just now getting used to dragons being among them. For centuries we were enemies, and now, thanks to your efforts, we are finally at peace. But other nations will not forget what's been done to them in the past from your species, and it will take-”
“A thousand years, or longer, for their wounds to heal?” He cut off Luna’s words as she scowled, but knew that he was right, making her give a hesitant nod.
“The good news is that dragons live up to ten thousand years, barring disease and war. So you’ll have plenty of time to shape the nation as you see fit.” Blue Blood joked, causing Spike to give a small chuckle at the thought.
“I just want the world to be at peace with one another, just like Twilight. And she'll be here for a few thousand years, right, mom?” Spike asked as he turned to look towards her, seeing her nod.
“Alicorns, whether gifted with wings or horns, or naturally born, as such with Flurry, have always been a long lived race. But much like dragons, our lives can be ended prematurely. That’s what happened to our father when he ruled over the land, before it was given to Luna and I. We have very powerful magic in us, thanks to a mixture of all three races, and our immorality, but contrary to popular belief, we are not gods, unlike Discord.” She answered with a bitter laugh.
“I say this not to offend you, Spike, but you are... rather small, at the moment,” Blue Blood paused, giving his arm a poke, “and soft. I’m not saying that someone will try to kill you, but if someone tried, and did manage to slip past security, I don’t think you’d be able to fight back.” Blue Blood chuckled with a somber smirk.
Spike merely gave Blue Blood the finger, smirking as the older unicorn blew a raspberry back, which caused Celestia to glare at the both of them while the others snickered.
The breach in mood allowed the five to start joking and teasing each other as they've done in the past, at least until reality reared its ugly head.
“Do you have any thoughts about military strategy, or foreign trade?” Cadance suddenly asked, confusing Spike by the random question.
“What about economic structures, and how to appease politicians, ambassadors, and world leaders?” Blue Blood questioned with a rather serious gaze as the dragon frowned and thought carefully about his answer.
“What about improving the lives of governing officials, cities, towns, or other nations?” Luna wondered to the drake, whose head was starting to spin.
"What about improving the lives of your citizens. That should be your top priority. Do you have any idea on how to do that?" His mother asked as he slammed his hands against the table in front of him, a dangerous growl erupting from his throat as he did so, causing the ponies near him to flinch.
“I get it, ok. I honestly, sincerely, get it. I’m not ready for the crown!” He screamed, breathing heavily as his head swam with so many different thoughts and ideas on what he's been asked, before he felt a hoof on his shoulder.
“We didn't mean to overwhelm you, Spike. But these are questions all leaders, be they kings, queens, princes, princesses, even mayors and lords must be ready to answer at a moment's notice. No, you’re not ready to be king just yet. But you will be. You’ll learn from those around you, and we will always be here for you, for any questions you may have. We are family, Spike, and there is nothing more important. Remember that.” Celestia said softly, in a tone that he knew always meant that she loved him.
Spike’s eyes swept over his family, all of them giving him loving, caring smiles as he sighed, accepting their truth as he returned the gesture and nodded.
“I guess this means I’ll be using all this to help Twi and her friends rule Equestria, huh?” He giggled as they nodded in response. “How ironic.” He muttered before he was slugged in the shoulder by Cadance.
“What are you complaining about? You'll be on the throne longer than she ever will. Aunt Tia told me that all Alicorns step down after about a thousand years, so quit your bellyaching.” She teased, causing him to laugh before giving a dark smirk.
“No, no... Spike the dragon... I swear to the gods-”
She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before Spike leaped from his chair and tackled both Cadance and Blue Blood from their seats, both males working to tickle their cousin with reckless abandon while she howled in laughter, not even having the strength to get up, or use her magic.
Celestia and Luna did nothing to stop the three from messing with each other as Luna looked towards her older sister with a smile.
“He’ll be a great king one day, won’t he, Tia?” Luna asked, seeing Cadance finally finding it in her to fight back, tackling Blue Blood, who ran after Spike, all of them laughing without a care in the world.
“No, Luna. Spike will be a king that Equestria will never forget, in time.” She answered, right before the three stopped and turned towards the two former rulers with an evil, twisted smile on their faces.
“Don’t you even think about-”
Celestia’s half hearted threat was completely ignored as they ran after the two, Luna wisely choosing to unfurl her wings and lift up into the air as Cadance followed suit, while Spike and Blue Blood continued running after Celestia.
The laughter of the Royal family was heard all throughout Canterlot as Spike accepted, deep in his heart, that his family was right. There was no reason to worry about such serious issues, issues that will not come to past until a much later date.
That was future Spike’s problem.