The Son of infinity

by Krystl_Fae

Chapter 9: PROGRESS

I stared down the door with all the fury my kind was known for. To say I was angry was an understatement, for I, Spike, am FURIOUS. I can’t believe that Twilight forgot. Not just that, but she didn’t even seem to care. She spent all night in that library of hers, fell asleep whilst researching again, and then dashed out the door the moment she realised the sun had risen. She didn’t even bother to check that she had all of her books with her- which she didn’t; Advanced Spellcraft 2^nd Edition by Magnus Firebloom was still on the couch where she had left it last night.

I can’t believe she forgot about today! Of all days-

“Spike! I’m-“

“EEP!”

I stared at Spike, he was standing at the base of the stairs and looked like I had just given him a heart attack, not that such a thing would be possible to achieve in these circumstances.

“Spike? What are you…?”

Spike’s eyes started watering profusely before he ran to me and began sobbing into my coat.

“How… how could you forget???”

I tried to wrack my memories for anything I might have missed… I had already had a stressful enough day today after forgetting my textbook and nearly falling asleep during class on numerous occasions. Perhaps late night studying before days like this are a bad idea… oh, who am I kidding. This was probably just a once-off. I’ll be fine next time.

“Was it that… thing with the flowers again?”

Spike glared at me with all the adorable annoyance he could muster. “You forgot my birthday!”

Oh…

OH HORSEAPPLES!!

“Oh my Celestia, I am so, SO sorry Spike, I completely forgot-“

“Yeah, I know you did because I had to spend it on my own.”

I visibly recoil from his remark. It hurts a little bit to know I missed something like this, but I can fix this. I can fix anything; I’m Twilight Sparkle!

“I’ll make it up to you! I promise! I-I’ll get you a ruby! A ruby the size of a pony! A-and…”

Spike was shaking his head.

“I don’t want a ruby, Twilight! I just want to spend more time with you!”

“Oh, Spike…”

“You’re always so busy! If it isn’t some new novel you’ve found it’s studying for an exam, or it’s work for the princess, or Cadance has an issue that only the two of you can talk about because it’s ‘mare stuff’ and I wouldn’t understand!”

I blushed a little at that last one, it had been the excuse I used to ditch Spike when Cadance wanted to meet up with me after finding out I had read her diary.

“I…”

“Twilight… I just want to spend some time with you, without interruptions. Just this once.”

“…”

“Please?”

I thought about what I could do. I had to attend the princess’ tutoring for another three days this week, and over the weekend I wanted to dedicate as much time as possible to the task that princess Celestia said she would be giving me. I couldn’t let the princess down, but I couldn’t just abandon Spike either… maybe that could work…

“Spike, what about if I take you with me to the castle. You get to see the princess and Cadance again, and meet the new student; and I’ll even get you some of those sapphire gem-cookies you like so much. Okay?”

Spike was still a little upset, but wiped away his tears and crossed his arms.

“…for how long?”

“F… for tomorrow… why?”

“…3 months.”

Apparently he wasn’t going down without negotiating this one. Normally I wouldn’t give in to such childish behaviour, but he deserved it this time.

“A week.”
“2 months.”
“The rest of this week, and the next.”
“A month and a half.”
“The rest of this week, and the next two.”
“The next 3?”
“Deal.”
“Deal.”

We shook pony-hoof-to-dragon-paw to seal the agreement.

My finances were going to take a hit from this (sapphire gem-cookies were NOT cheap!), but at least Spike is happy with me again.

Celestia and I walked out into the gardens together. Today we were practicing practical applications of magic… or at least Cadance and Twilight were. Celestia allowed me to sit on the sidelines and study how they performed, seeing if I could understand what they were doing and finding any flaws in their casting of spells.

“Are you certain you still want to attend today’s lesson? I know you don’t have the best relationship with magic and completely understand if you want to sit this one out. You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to be.”

I shook my head.

“It’s…” I paused, “…a little bit more complicated than just ‘magic’. It isn’t magic itself, nor spellcasting that makes me nervous. I’m fine around spells and magical artifices, and those who use them. But…”

“When it comes to your own magic you have concerns,” Celestia finished. I nodded in response.

“Hello auntie Celestia, hello Andy!”

I nod my head in greeting towards Cadance as she enters the courtyard, Twilight only several hooves behind her.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I had to stop by the castle kitchen for Spike, and then I almost forgot the textbook and thought I left it at home again, and then on my way out of the castle, Spike told me he’d packed it in my saddlebags, and so I came here as fast as I could, I’m sorry pri-…”

Twilight cut herself off.

It was so ingrained in her habits to call Celestia “princess” that she’d almost completely forgotten about Andromeda. She had explained to Spike the previous night that he couldn’t call Celestia princess under any circumstances, no matter what he might normally do.

Spike had pressed her for more information, but she had denied his curiosity. She had already told him this much, but she needed to check with the princess about letting Spike in on the whole story before she did something the princess didn’t approve of.

“Um… I-I’m so sorry, Celestia.”

It still felt weird for Twilight to say that so casually. She was speaking with princess Celestia, ruler of all Equestria, the most powerful pony on the planet, as if she were an old friend- something she noticed Spike immediately picked up on.

“It is fine, Twilight. You are not late. Speaking of, however… hello there, Spike. It is nice to see you again. Happy birthday for yesterday.”

Spike wandered forwards to stand beside Twilight, who flinched at the mention of Spike's birthday. Now that she thought about it, she realised that Celestia had been dropping hints all day yesterday... which only made her feel worse. Great.

“Hello p- oof!”

Twilight jabbed Spike in the side to cut him off, and with a small scowl in Twilight’s direction for the hit, he got the message and resumed.

“Hello, Celestia.”

Celestia went to chuckle behind a hoof at Spike and Twilight’s antics, when things were set into motion that caused her to refrain from the action as she remembered that Andromeda was there, and had never seen a dragon before.

When they spoke of a “Spike”, I didn’t think he would be here- though that would normally be fine; I’d probably just be a little bit shyer than usual. But when the 4-hoof-tall bipedal lizard showed itself (himself?) I freaked out inside. I knew it was safe to be around. Twilight, Cadance, and Celestia were acting like it was an old friend, and the guards would have stopped it if it was dangerous; and my instincts would be telling me to flee for the hills if he were any kind of threat.

That said, I don’t always think logically, and despite knowing that the situation was under control, the irrational part of my brain panicked and forced me into a fight-or-flight mode.

I dived for the safety of Celestia and hid underneath her, trying to cover and hide myself in her flowing tail… or mane; I didn’t have time to see and recall which one I grabbed in the moment.

“Oh my sun and stars, Andromeda, I’m so sorry. This is Spike, he’s Twilight’s friend. Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. I can assure you that he is quite tame.”

Spike seemed to take that as a challenge. “Tame? I’m Spike the dragon! Ain’t NOTHING ‘tame’ about meeee-!!” Celestia lifted Spike into the air by his tail with her magic, leaving him quite helpless.

“See? He’s quite harmless.”

“That wasn’t what those cookies thought about me earlier…”

I left the comfortable safety of Celestia and walked a little bit closer to inspect him.

By his physical appearance he had to be a “…dragon,” his wings hadn’t developed, but his claws were long enough (even if filed back) to put him around the age of “…roughly 9, 10 years old…” I began circling him as I continued analysing him.

“Uhh… what’re you doing?”

I stopped and realised I might be invading his personal space by staring at him like this.

“A-ah, s-sorry, I…”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just asking.”

“I, I’ve never seen a dragon before. I’ve read all about them, but…”

Spike smirked and crossed his arms, still suspended by his tail.

“Lemme guess, nothing compares to the real thing?”

I nod.

Celestia turned Spike upright and gently returned him to the ground.

“Now, for today we will be practicing some techniques and basic advanced-level spells. Twilight, Cadance, I want the two of you to try implementing what we discussed yesterday. Twilight,” the mare flinched, “if you have any trouble remembering yesterday’s lesson, just ask one of your fellow students or myself. Andromeda will be sitting on the side and analysing how you both use your spells, as well as attempting to find any flaws you may make.”

Cadance nodded and went to begin warming up.

“Wait, why isn’t Andromeda practicing? Wouldn’t it be better for him to get hooves-on experience with spellcasting rather than just watching us?”

Celestia glanced at me, and went to begin speaking before I spoke up for her.

“I have certain… issues pertaining to my magic. It can… I have found that it… is best if I do not use my magic, not that I can use much of it with a broken horn…”

Twilight looked at me, then at my horn. She scowled for a moment before accepting the answer and moving off to warm up her magic with Cadance. Celestia took a seat on the grass watching them and I sat beside her, with Spike sitting down next to me. I was just glad that Twilight hadn’t gone through with studying my horn. I had attempted to chip it again last night after class had ended while Celestia was busy, and managed to break off a few more fragments.

I don’t think Celestia noticed, but Twilight had a keen eye for details like this… apparently.

It took some time for things to get going, but it was nice being able to sit back and take my time for once; especially with my little Andromeda by my side. It took him a few minutes, but he and Spike eventually started to open up to one another and began casual conversation. I would occasionally ask him about Cadance and Twilight’s performance when I knew he was watching them, but otherwise left him to interact with the young drake. It was not often Spike had a stallion to talk with or made new friends; many in Canterlot were wary of him due to his species. The same could be said for Andromeda, given everything that happened.

As the day progressed, things changed. Cadance and Twilight fell into their usual habits when casting- Twilight always trying to be perfect with her spells, sometimes attempting to force them out right if they didn’t seem properly formed; Cadance always trying to make her spells flow… ‘frilly’ is the term I would use to describe them. Two opposite ends of the spectrum. Too rigid or too loose when casting magic could set you up for disaster in the long run. It is far better to be adaptable, yet diligent. Like Spike and Andromeda’s conversation.

I was more than surprised when the two began discussing details on dragons that I had not realised Andromeda was aware of. He seems to know more about magical creatures than he lets on, and certainly more than I gave him credit for. Perhaps that is where his talent lies? He is still yet to obtain his cutie mark, though some ponies go through their entire lives and never find their talent, so it is not too concerning at the moment. Or perhaps his knowledge itself is the key to his talent? He knows much more than the average colt…

After a break around noon for lunch and a brief revision of today’s lesson, I let them all out of class early for the day around 2pm. Spike was eager to get some more cookies from the kitchen and hang out with Andromeda; even if Twilight looked like she wanted to return home as soon as possible. Is she researching something again? Or perhaps it’s another new novel she’s found.

“C’mon, Andy! It’s only down the hall a bit, it’s not like we have to travel across half of Equestria!”

Andromeda looked at me.

“If you want to go, you have my blessing. You only need to call if you need me, and I will be there.”

He nodded somewhat unsurely, and cautiously made his way out of the courtyard with Spike and Twilight. I gathered the few things he had brought down with him and teleported them back to our room as Cadance walked up to me.

“He’s been doing really well. I don’t know what he was like at first with you, but I think he’s becoming a lot more comfortable around others.”

I nod my head at that. “Yes. Though we should not overburden him with too many ponies too quickl-“

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!?”

“Oh no…” “Oh no…”

“When auntie Celestia hears about this transgression you’ll be sorry!”

Cadance and I rushed into the hallway the others had entered moments ago only to find them facing down the one pony I had hoped to keep away from Andromeda for the time being.

“Do you not know who I am?!”

Cadance made a break for it.

“I am Pr-OOMMPH!!”

“Thank you Cadance…” I whispered under my breath. She’d managed to reach Blueblood before he could let his “title” slip, and tackled him to the ground.

The three onlookers stood in stunned silence as Cadance held Blueblood in a headlock with one hoof and had another stuffed into his mouth to prevent him from speaking.

“I’ll meet you guys up ahead; I just have to deal with my brother here,” she tightened the headlock in emphasis; “I apologise for his rudeness and behaviour. I’ll catch up with you later.”

And with that Cadance teleported out of there.