//------------------------------//
// The Other Spike? 
// Story: Twilight's "Baby" Dragon 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
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Twice now in one day Spike had struck out on trying to assert some form of independence. He still didn't know how he could hope to get this Twilight's attention, let alone where her Spike actually was. Heck, he didn't even know how much more of this obsessive cooing and babying he could take. He didn't even want to think about possibly getting used to it all.

The little dragon thought and contemplated all this and other things as he was pushed back to the castle in the stroller, that blanket from that Rarity close by.

"Bet you're glad to have your favorite blankie again, huh, Spike?" This Twilight cooed as she brought the stroller up to the front steps of the castle. "It's been so long since you had it. I was worried by the time Rarity fixed it you might outgrow it," She paused and wiped a lone tear from her eye. "I'm sorry. I know you can't stay a baby forever. But no matter what, you'll always be my little Spikey Wikey!"

Spike could only groan and curse while diving beneath the sheets, hoping to hide his blush. "I never thought I could grow tired of Twilight actually giving me attention all the time," He thought to himself. "Even if it's not my Twilight."

The castle's front door opened and Spike was freed from the stroller just as this Starlight happened to come trotting up. "Hey Twilight, back already?" She seemed to tease.

This Twilight just played off the comment with a smile. "Oh, I couldn't stay all day. I've still got the picnic, and Spike has to take his afternoon nap. He needs it after the way he's been acting today. Good thing Rarity finally fixed his favorite blanket for him."

This Starlight just stretched. "My offer to babysit him still stands, you know."

"Thanks, but I think Spike can handle a picnic just fine," This Twilight answered. "You need to keep working on your studies. One of these days in the near future, I'm going to give you your first true lesson. Better make sure you study hard."

The unicorn mare nodded her head. "Oh, I am."

Spike, for his part, just stood there. He knew it was a futile gesture to protest nap time even though he didn't feel tired. He knew this Twilight was going to put him down for a nap whether he wanted to take one or not. And his suspicions were soon proven correct when he was picked up in the soft glow of her magic once again, carried off with that baby blue blanket in tow.

Mare and dragon entered the nursery together, Spike soon finding himself being floated into the crib as this Twilight opted to check his diaper again. "Nothing yet, still clean. That's good, hopefully it'll stay that way for a while longer," Then she flashed a knowing grin at him. "Now, I know you're probably not feeling sleepy yet. But lucky for you I have just the thing to remedy it!"





As if she'd just heard what this Twilight had said, this Starlight came trotting in with the proposed solution: A nice, warm, creamy bottle of milk. "I had a feeling you'd want to give him a bottle when you got back, so I went ahead and whipped one up," She declared. "Oh, I hope I didn't mess it up somehow. I even put in some crushed gems to make it taste better for him like you told me to."

This Twilight accepted the bottle without hesitation. "I think Spike will be the judge of how good it is," She floated its rubber nipple over to him. "Go ahead, drink up, every last drop!" She coaxed.

The little dragon reluctantly did the only thing he could and grasped the rubber nipple of the bottle with both of his pudgy claws. He was feeling kind of thirsty now that he thought about it. It took a lot of effort for him to get that first drop to come out, but once he did it was easy to just lean back and fall into a routine.

Both mares cooed and awwed at how adorable Spike looked as he gulped down the bottle in the blink of an eye. Then Twilight picked him up and patted his back, burping him. Then she popped the pacifier into his mouth and wrapped him in that baby blue blanket, kissing him on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, my little Spikey Wikey." It was the last thing Spike would hear before he closed his eyes and nodded off.

For how long Spike slept, he wasn't aware. Eventually, however, the little dragon did wake up as his eyes fluttered open slowly. A quick look around dashed his hopes. The crib was still there, the pacifier still in his mouth and the diaper still wrapped around his hind quarters. It wasn't a dream. True, he'd kind of ruled out the possibility of that already but it was still disheartening to have his suspicions be confirmed.

"I need to find out what happened to the other me," Spike thought to himself as he stood up in his crib, finding it hard to do. "With any luck that'll tell me how I got here and how I can get back to my own universe."

Just then, light suddenly flooded the little dragon's vision as the nursery door opened and this Twilight stepped in. "Well well, look who's finally awake," She spoke in that soft, motherly tone of hers. "Somedragon must've had a really good sleep. I knew that blanket would do the trick. You never could get to sleep without it."

"Not like I could do much else around here." Spike pouted and folded his claws across his chest.

"Ah ah, don't be a cranky dragon on me now, Spike," This Twilight scolded as she approached the crib. "If you don't behave yourself, I'm not taking you with me to the picnic. You'll just stay here with Starlight," That seemed to immediately make Spike clam up, more out of surprise than anything else. "Good," This Twilight smiled as she floated Spike out. "Let's check your diaper real quick, and then we can get ready. I know everypony will be happy to see you again."

The little dragon could only curse under his breath. His encounters with this universe's Pinkie Pie and Rarity had been every bit as humiliating as he'd imagined them being. He most certainly wasn't looking forward to not only spending more time with them, but also dealing with this universe's Applejack, Rainbow Dash and especially Fluttershy. He could only imagine what this Fluttershy would do.

Because Spike worried so much over this he all but failed to notice this Twilight subjecting him to yet another diaper inspection. He barely even felt it, that's how quick it was. The padding was quickly snapped back to its original position. "Wow, I'm amazed you've kept it clean for this long!" She commented with what sounded like sincere amazement and only the slightest hint of exaggerated praise. "Maybe Rarity was right after all. If you keep this up, you'll definitely be ready to graduate from diapers," She again paused to wipe a tear from her eye. "Oh, here I am getting sentimental again."

Against his better instincts, Spike reached out to give this Twilight a hug. He didn't know why but he felt compelled to do it to her to cheer her up.

This Twilight acknowledged the hug from Spike and returned it full force. "Thanks, Spike. You really know how to make Mommy happy. Seems like only yesterday you were born or I should say hatched. I never expected to become a mommy, especially not to you. But now I can never imagine my life without you. In a way, you were the first friend I ever had," It took her a moment to regain her earlier composure. "Sorry, that just sort of crept up on me," She then set him down on the floor of the nursery. "Stay here, okay? I'll be back for you soon."





Giving a nod to confirm his obedience, Spike watched as this Twilight disappeared. He had no idea what she was going to do, but he had no intention to try and wander away again. It's not like he really had anywhere he could go right. Unfortunately, being a baby there was little chance he could escape.

It did give the little dragon a chance to better observe his surroundings though. His green eyes were in particular drawn to what looked like a small rack of framed photos. Curiously, he crawled towards the shelf that the rack stood above to get a better look. Something about the photos caught his eye from afar and he wanted to know what it was.

A closer inspection revealed a rather startling detail about those photos! They weren't just random pictures of random events, oh no. Every single one Spike looked at showed him (or perhaps this universe's him) along with this Twilight at events he remembered from his own universe: Twilight after her entrance exam into Celestia's private school, Twilight hanging out with her old friends at Donut Joe's, Twilight's 'Welcome to Ponyville' party, the first Grand Galloping Gala with her new friends from Ponyville, the royal wedding of Shining Armor and Cadence and so many others.

What was even odder though was that the last photo on the rack depicted what had to be this universe's Shining Armor and Cadence announcing that they were going to have a baby. Everything was the same as Spike remembered it being from that celebration in his universe, except here he was front and center with this Twilight (in his universe he had joined the party at Sugarcube Corner late due to not being informed ahead of time about it). That had to have been just a few short weeks (maybe two months tops) before Starlight Glimmer had returned and used the table map to go back in time.

So why was there no photo of Spike with this Twilight at any point after this Starlight was taken on as a student of friendship? Spike remembered from his universe that his Twilight had seen fit to document the occasion with a photo, albeit one just being the small circle of friends and not the whole town of Ponyville. Had this Twilight thought otherwise for whatever reason?

Spike didn't know, and he wouldn't get a chance to find out since it was at that moment that this Twilight came back. She had a diaper bag strapped over her left wing and a small pouch with leg holes just the right size for Spike hanging around her chest. "Okay, Spike. I'm all ready!" She happily told him! "Let's get going, the girls will be expecting me at the picnic at any moment now."

And before Spike could say anything or do anything in protest, he was picked up by Twilight's magic and floated into the pouch that was the same baby blue color as his pacifier and blanket. Was baby blue this Spike's favorite color or something?

Well, those were thoughts for another time and place as he and this Twilight disappeared in a flash of violet red magic.





Mare and dragon soon reappeared on a familiar hill overlooking Ponyville, the exact same kind of hill that he knew his Twilight and her friends always gathered on whenever they had picnics.

Sure enough, this universe's Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were all there and were waiting for them. And all of them immediately turned their attention to Spike, much to his embarrassment once again.

"So, how did you like your blankie now that I fixed it up all nice for you?" That Rarity cooed as she used her magic to pinch his little cheeks.

This Twilight happily answered. "It worked like a charm, Rarity. He slept for far longer than I ever remember him sleeping before, and he didn't bother Starlight or I once. I really can't thank you enough for fixing it, he was so torn up when he ripped it by accident."

That Rarity only cooed further. "Oh, it was nothing, darling. I just hated seeing little Spikey Wikey all upset."

That Rainbow Dash then declared. "Hey, is it just me or does it seem like he's gotten a little bit bigger since the last time we saw him?"

"It's probably just 'cause we haven't seen him since the Helpin' Hooves Music Festival." That Applejack suggested as she patted his head.

That Fluttershy was quick to remark. "Oh, I hope he's okay with being out and about again after all this time. He probably didn't like being kept inside all day."

This Twilight only waved a hoof. "You were all more than welcome to come and see him whenever you wanted. Besides, what we were doing after the festival was the kind of stuff a baby doesn't need to be involved in. And Starlight's been great at helping me keep him under control."

Despite what this Twilight had just said, the gears in Spike's mind began to turn. He could still think like the not so little dragon he actually was, even if that was harder to do than normal. "Wait a moment! Now it all makes sense! In my universe, Starlight messed with time to try and get back at my Twilight," He thought and contemplated as a horrible realization began to creep in. "What if in this universe, she did something that caused the me that's supposed to be here to disappear?! Maybe I got sent here by mistake!"

That was it, that had to be the case! The Spike that was supposed to belong here had gone missing somehow, most likely as a result of this Starlight's stopping of the Sonic Rainboom. If in the universe Spike remembered coming from a simple act like that could produce radically different timelines with each attempt, who knows what might have happened as a result of this Starlight's actions?

But he still didn't know where the other Spike was. And he still had no idea about how he'd gotten here or how he was to ever get back. Not just get back, in fact, but also hopefully find a way to put the other Spike back here where he belonged. Assuming the Spike that was supposed to be a baby wasn't in the care of the other Twilight (the one that Spike saw as a big sister), or in the care of any Twilight that could care for him, he was probably frightened, scared and worst of all alone.

This Twilight seemed to notice the troubled look on Spike's face as she asked him. "Hey, what's wrong, Spike? Are you feeling okay?" She put a hoof up to his forehead to check and see if he was running a temperature. He was not.

"Oh, I hope we didn't startle him unintentionally or something." That Fluttershy declared with concern, a look of worry befalling her in an instant.

That Pinkie Pie quickly bounced over. "I'll bet he's just hungry. You forgot to feed him before you came to this picnic, didn't you, Twilight?"

This Twilight blinked slowly in realization. "Oh, I totally did. I can't believe I did. I'm usually so on top of things. I guess I'm still a little out of it for having woken up so early with him today."

"It's not just that, is it?" Spike thought to himself, now more convinced than ever that something was wrong with this universe. This Twilight's behavior alone was very troubling. "Whatever happened to her Spike is affecting her badly. If only I knew what it was and how to fix it." And then and there he decided that that was just what he'd done, preferably once he had time to think of a plan.