//------------------------------//
// Episode 15: "You Are (Not) The Father" 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 14 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

…

…

Ever since she'd become supreme ruler of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle had a personal goal she wanted to fulfill: To help Spike, her little brother figure and royal advisor, find out the origins of his family. To further strengthen her desire, she'd kept a small piece of Spike's egg in both Ponyville and Canterlot.

Removing her large crown, Twilight walked over to the egg shell piece which was covered by a large dome shaped glass. Seeing the egg shell brought back memories of when she'd first hatched Spike as part of her entrance exam into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Had it not been for Spike, she wouldn't be standing where she stood.

"There has to be a truth to the matter," Twilight said to herself. "For too long, Spike has not gotten any closure of where he came from, who his real parents are. Sure, he considers us his family: My family, and my friends of course. But who laid his egg? Who were his birth parents?"

Just then, Twilight heard a knock on the door and in stepped her captain of the guard, Tempest Shadow. "Tempest, have you found any dragon who claims to be Spike's parents?" She asked, turning to face Tempest.

"No, princess," Tempest replied. "We've searched everywhere and no dragon is willing to come forward with information. The dragon you talked about before…what's his name?"

"Sludge." Twilight bitterly remarked, remembering her experiences with the deceptive dragon.

Tempest moved to inquire. "Shall I bring him in, your majesty?"

"If he's somewhere," Twilight answered in a bitter tone, remembering the time Sludge had come to the Castle of Friendship and taken advantage of Spike. "Although I certainly wish he wasn't Spike's father. He admitted he wasn't, but he's the only dragon who's ever even briefly claimed he was one of Spike's parents."

After a moment of self-reflection, Twilight gave her directions to Tempest. "Find him and bring him to me. If he gives you any trouble, give it back to him. You have my word."

"Yes, your highness." Bowing, Tempest left Twilight alone in her bedroom as she prepared to come down for dinner. But not before taking one last look at the broken egg shell.

"We will find your birth family one way or another, Spike," Twilight vowed. "Mark my words."

…

…

"Twilight, do you think that maybe finding my parents at this point is a lost cause?" Spike asked at the dinner table that night. "I mean, I already consider your family and your friends to be my family, right? And there's Smolder, Ember and even Garble too if I really want to go that far."

Twilight said nothing and proceeded to take a bite out of her salad.

"Spike, you know how bothersome this has been for Twilight," Luna pointed out. "This is a personal mission for her."

"But even if we do find my family," Spike remarked as he ate a gemstone. "They might not even care about me."

"That's not true, Spike!" Twilight protested, sighing in exasperation. "Whoever is out there does in fact care about you, they have to! It's just, finding any dragon who knows about you is difficult."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Spike remarked, wincing at Twilight's sudden outburst. "I want to find the truth as much as you do, but I don't want you risking your mental health and sanity over it."

"Spike is right, Twilight," Celestia advised. "Remember what Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze said about controlling your stress levels?"

Sighing deeply, Twilight immediately calmed down by doing some of the breathing techniques taught to her by Princess Cadence.

"That's better," Celestia calmly replied, before turning her attention to Spike. "This bothers me just as much as it does you, Twilight. I have been trying to find out the truth myself considering that I found you as an egg, Spike. In what free time I had when I was a princess, I would pursue any leads I could find."

Eating another gemstone, Spike deep down didn't want to stress his adoptive family about something that was otherwise out of his control. But it seemed he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Then he had another thought. "By the way, is all this stress about my birth parents all because we're visiting the dragon lands tomorrow?"

"Mostly," Luna replied, eating another bite of her salad while looking over at Twilight (who was still feeling slightly tense with anxiety).

…

That night, Spike could only lie in his bed looking up at the ceiling, trying to piece together why the stress of finding out his past was getting to Twilight. At the same time, he also began to develop feelings of resentment towards another dragon who took advantage of him. "Sludge," He whispered with a scowl on his face. "Had it not been for you, Twilight would never become so obsessed with finding out the truth about me."

In fact, all Spike could do was think of whatever was necessary to get Twilight's stress level to come down. Stretching out a wing, he tried to think of a way to take his bigger sister's mind off of something that he considered a lost cause. If his birth family hadn't tried to find him by this point, they obviously didn't care what had happened to him.

"Then again, maybe Twilight does deserve some closure as much as I do," Spike sighed while trying to get back to sleep. "But I'm fine either way with accepting who I am, right?"

However Spike's attempts to fall asleep were deterred when he suddenly heard a commotion coming from downstairs. "Ugh! Can't anypony sleep around here?!" Spike heard Twilight from down the hall as Celestia also awakened, clad in a gold bathrobe.

After giving each other a confused glance, Spike and Celestia proceeded down to the front lobby of the castle. There was Tempest Shadow and several pony guards with a shackled Sludge beside them as he struggled loudly against his bonds. "SILENCE!"

Once Sludge was silenced, he looked menacingly towards Twilight. "Is this how you treat dragons, Princess Twilight?" Sludge snapped. "Because you think that I'm that runt's dad?"

"That runt you are speaking of is my royal advisor, Sludge," Twilight snapped. "Now, I asked you here…"

"-More like forced here," Sludge retorted, causing Tempest to glare at him as a sign that he needed to be quiet. "What? I mean it!"

"Sludge, I may not like you," Twilight seethed. "But I'm trying to find out the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Spike's past, and you are going to help me."

"And how do you propose you do that?" Sludge sharply asked. "A paternity test? Well, I confess that I wash my claws of all this! For starters, you can call your goons off along with these chains they put around me!"

Nodding, Twilight had Tempest remove the chains that were tied around Sludge, freeing him from his bonds.

"Sludge, be forewarned," Celestia cautioned. "This has been hard on all of us. We want the truth and you are going to help us if you know what's good for you."

"Why should I listen to you, Celestia?" Sludge asked while folding his arms together. "Last I checked, you weren't princess anymore!"

But Luna activated her horn, pointing it at the side of Sludge's neck as a warning to cooperate with the questions. "Okay, okay," He muttered. "If I agree to help you, will you call off your attack pony here?"

Feeling insulted, Luna nevertheless reluctantly backed away.

"Okay, if you want me to help you find the runt's family, let's go to the dragon lands and have Ember decide who the runt's family is." Sludge demanded.

"That's really getting annoying." Spike muttered to himself.

…

…

The next morning, Twilight and her entourage departed for the dragon lands, with Twilight determined to put an end to the search for Spike's parents once and for all.

"I can't stand him, Celestia," Twilight protested about Sludge as they departed. "He was a jerk then and he's a jerk now. Why must he act the way he is?"

"He could be in denial about possibly being the father, or knowing who the father is," Celestia pointed out. "But then again, most dragons are. I've met some bitter dragons in my time, but he takes the cake!"

Hearing this made Twilight smile briefly, knowing how much of a cake fan her mentor and mother figure was.

"Well, that's one way to control your stress level," Celestia chuckled upon seeing Twilight smile.

Soon, they all arrived at the dragon lands and there standing to meet the entourage was Ember flanked by two other dragons, one of whom was Smolder's brother, Garble.

As soon as the entourage landed, Ember walked over, but she didn't go over to Twilight, but Luna.

"Welcome, Princess Twilight, nice of you to drop in." Ember said to Luna, who pointed over at Twilight, trying to correct Ember's error.

"She's over there." Luna chuckled as Twilight shook her head in slight disbelief that Ember still didn't know names.

"Ember, when are you going to start to realize the names of other creatures?" Twilight asked. "Anyway, thanks for having us."

"Anytime, your highness," Ember remarked in a casual tone. "But it seems you have an unfamiliar dragon in your possession. Is this all related to Spike here?"

Ember glanced over at Spike who acknowledged her. "Rather unnecessarily at times," Spike explained. "Listen, Ember, I know that you are a busy dragon and have other things to do, but I need help with finding out who my parents are. It's mostly for Twilight's sake here."

"For Princess Twilight's sake?" Ember asked in a confused expression. "Why aren't you concerned about this?"

"Because it really doesn't matter who my family is," Spike answered, much to Twilight's annoyance. "I mean, what's the point? Who really cares?"

"I care, Spike!" Twilight firmly replied. "It's been bothering me for days, Ember. I think we all need to know the truth."

As much as she wanted to help Twilight in her situation, Ember was naturally reluctant to force a situation that may otherwise be a totally lost cause. "But…does Spike here?"

"Of course he does!" Sludge cried, pushing several pony guards back with his strength as he flew over to Spike and picked him up. "He wants to know that I am not his father. And if it gets the ponies off my back, I'm happy to oblige!"

"I certainly wouldn't want you for my dad, Sludge. You disgust me," Spike muttered to Sludge before turning back to Ember. "How do you even put up with this guy?"

"But if he is yours, you'll be a part of Spike's life, right?" An unfamiliar voice called out. And then, walking towards the entourage was a red coated unicorn stallion with a gray mane. He was wearing glasses in front of his green eyes, acknowledging Twilight and the ex-royal sisters as he arrived. "Princess Twilight, Princess Emerituses Celestia and Luna."

"Maury Ponyvitch? What are you doing here?" Luna asked with a shocked look on her face. "This is too dangerous for a civilized pony like you. The dragon lands still remain an at times hostile environment for ponies."

"I've had worse, I'll have you know," Maury responded. "Anyways, I administor paternity tests and lie detector results. And all for out of control teenage creatures and abusive spouses among other things. I believe my services could prove useful in resolving this matter."

Reaching into his bag, Maury pulled out a pair of fire matches, showing them briefly to the small crowd. "If Spike and Sludge will come forward and breathe on these sticks, please?"

Although it was best against his better judgment for Twilight's mental health, Spike came forward while Sludge had to be pushed by the pony guards.

"What are these for?" Spike asked.

"The fire that you breathe will determine if there is a match," Maury answered. "Now, if you will please do your stuff."

Taking a deep breath, Spike breathed onto his fire stick while Sludge reluctantly breathed onto his. With the two flames burning, Maury took the sticks and placed them between several small cracks.

"What happens now?" Celestia asked.

"The fire sticks will decide if Sludge is truly Spike's father," Maury answered, turning back to Celestia. "After all, I didn't come all the way from Manehattan for nothing."

…

After an hour, the sticks finished burning and magically produced a parchment that Maury took in his aura and brought forward towards the entourage, who had been pushed back away from the sticks.

"Now before I read the results," Maury explained while holding the results in his aura. "Sludge, if Spike is yours, you'll be in his life, right?"

"Whatever," Sludge muttered as Maury unfurled the scroll containing the results. "Like it's going to do me any good. This is a waste of time! I didn't steal Spike's egg or do anything to his parents if that's what you're thinking! I never knew Spike until I crash landed in Ponyville by accident! Pretending to be his father was just a spur of the moment thing so I could keep living the easy life."

"Oh shut up!" Spike whispered to himself. "No wonder you live alone. How can anycreature stand you?"

Taking the scroll, Maury placed it to his eyes and the moment of truth had arrived. "When it comes to Spike," He announced. "Sludge…you are not the father."

Excited, Sludge let out a loud cheer and began to dance in celebration much to his relief, but to the dismay of Twilight and the ex-royal sisters.

"Now I promise you, princess that we will keep on looking," Maury sighed. "I'm sorry. At the least any doubts about Sludge's possible connection to Spike have been eliminated."

"It's all right, Maury," Twilight sighed, as Celestia comforted her daughter figure by draping a wing over her shoulder. "I think that we just have to try a little harder if you ask me. The truth is out there! Spike has to have come from somewhere!"

"My advice to you, Princess Twilight, is to not obsess over this," Maury advised. "If Spike is happy with you as his family, then you should respect his wishes. That is what family does, right?"

Still, Twilight could only hope for she felt what was best for her younger brother figure as she watched him breath a sigh of relief that Sludge was not his father after all. Spike's birth parents were hopefully still out there, and she was still not going to rest until they were found.

"One day, Spike," Twilight said to herself, trying to remain as hopeful as possible that Spike would get the closure he deserved. "One day."

…

…