No
“What happened here?” Spike asked still looking around.
“YOU.” Twilight screamed.
“I didn’t do it. I was gone remember.”
“You left me alone. Do you have any idea how much work I had on my hooves when you left. You are my assistant Spike, you are suppose to assist me. Not wasting your time prancing through the woods. Do I make myself clear?”
“No.”
“Good now get to work cleaning this place.” Twilight levitated a broom and placed it into Spikes hands.
“No.” Spike said dropping the broom.
“After you are done take out the trash. It’s been piling up for the last couple of days.” Twilight said as she sat at her desk trying to catch up on the weather report and requests Rainbow Dash dropped up a week after she was supposed to.
“Will this pony ever fill these out right?” She said levitating a quill from under a pile of rain request. “It’s not humil, it’s humilis... genius instead of genus... genus again... and again... and again... Uh, I will correct them later. Spike get me some coffee, this is going to take a while.”
“No.”
“Thanks and while you are at it, check to see if there is any more milk... and do the dishes.”
“No.”
“Great Spike. Oh, and one more thing... the toilet seems to be acting up.” She levitated a plunger towards him.
“I SAID NO.” He yelled throwing the plunger at Twilight, it missed but grabbed her attention.
“Spike what’s the matter with you?”
“I said no.” He replied firmly.
“No what?”
“No cleaning. No taking out the trash. No coffee. No milk. No dishes. And no toilet.”
“Spike what do you mean no?”
“I am on strike.” He said sitting down.
“On strike? You left me alone for two days and now you go on strike?”
“Yes I am.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“You are my assistant. You are supposed to help me. Not go on strike.”
“That’s the problem Twi. I am your assistant. As-sis-tant. I am supposed to assist you. Not do your work.”
“What?”
“I know you are busy, but that doesn’t mean I have to do everything around here. Every single day. Since you became princess I barely had any time for myself. And just look around. I leave for two days and this place is a mess.”
“Spike. I’m sorry, I am not as good at housework as you are, you know that.”
“Huh...Fine. I will clean this up, get your coffee, do the dishes, even check the toilet...”
“Thanks Spike. I will try to do a little work around here too.”
“But...”
“But what? I already said I will help.”
“I want a day off.”
“A day off?”
“Yes one day every week. No chores, no paperwork.”
He went on.
“If you need me to send a letter to the princess I will. If there is a crisis, a real crisis, I will do what I can. But except for that I want one day to do what I want, go wherever I want, with whomever I want, without having to explain myself to you. Deal?”
“And if I don’t agree?” Twilight asked raising an eyebrow.
“Then you clean up your own mess, do your own dishes, make your own food, clean your own toilet.”
“And what are you going to do, just sit around all day? What are you going to do for food then?”
“Don’t worry about that Twi, I can take care of myself if I have to. But you...”
“Don’t you dare.” Twilight said angrily.
“You will be...” He paused. “... tardy.”
“SPIKE.”
“The time you spend cooking cleaning and taking care of the house will make you fall behind on your studies and on your work both as a librarian and as a princess.”
Twilight stared at him.
“Now Twilight, do you want to see who can last longer... I see I have a head start.”
He said spreading his arms as if to point at everything around them.
“And this is only after two days. Now I think I can go about two or three days without any food. Can you keep this up that long?”
Twilight looked around the room. It was a mess, through a doorway she could see some of the dishes that stood in the kitchen sink. Her eyes darted from place to place, as if trying to imagine the room after two more days. The prospect frightened her.
She could see herself in the room. It was filled with overdue papers, reports and books the toilet was overflowing and the water reached the room getting some of the papers wet. Sharp pieces of dishes were everywhere in the kitchen, the mountain had toppled over, the smell of garbage was nauseating and she felt like she hadn't eaten in days. One of the pieces of paper seemed to be getting nearer and nearer to a candle.
“No.” Her mental projection screamed as it began to notice the entire room going up in flames.
All the work she done, all the papers she wrote and didn’t have time to publish, all the forms she filled and didn’t have time to have them delivered, all the books she never had the chance to read... all the books she did read. Everything went up in smoke. She and her projection stood there in a pile of ashes. Four days of work, gone in the blink of an eye.
She now had to do it again. But even worse all those ponies who filled out reports or forms or request had to fill them out again. The room will be filled again, but this time there will also be the papers she had to do while she did the papers she didn’t do. And that candle, that blasted candle, still was there, ready to burn everything all over again.
“NO.” She screamed breaking out of her trance.
“Yes Spike. Yes you can have your day of, I will help around, just don’t let them burn again.”
“Burn? I have no idea what that was about but I am happy you accept.” He said smiling.