Twilight felt the heat of the sun hit down on her like a heavy ton of bricks, that, and also the fact she was handling more than she could chew, and it was killing her arms and legs to the point where her legs were starting to shake.
She had not only to push the stroller down the stone pathway, but she had to hold on to a large picnic basket hanging on the edge of her shoulder filled to the brim with supplies for their ongoing trip. Twilight felt moderately happy with her position right now, she had just passed through the most busy part of town and no one had spoken to her, wondering about Spike or anything else that was going on.
Luckily she didn't run into any of her friends, not that it was a bad thing at all, but there was a time and a place for talking and a place for doing so. She needed to get things done with her baby brother and it seemed it was the only thing stuck on her mind right now, the last thing she wanted was Pinkie Pie stepping in trying to stall them about a new type of cupcake or how Rainbow Dash recently shown herself up during one of her drunken episodes.
But it felt nice to be a little secluded from the others, there were no real adult matters like partying, drinking or fashion to talk about. It was just her and Spike, plus, a whole range of time to know him better than ever.
They reached their destination, a honey spot for most outdoor lovers, but thanks to Fluttershy she didn't have to worry about being seen any more. Up in the distance was a large oak tree and behind it was a vast field sporting all sorts of beautiful plants and noticeable wild life lumbering around keeping a clear distance from the new guests.
The oak tree itself was tall, incredibly tall, it sported a large amount of shade underneath and the sound of the wind rustling the leaves at the highest branches felt very relaxing. Twilight got to the bottom of the tree and put down her bags and stopped the stroller in its tracks.
She got down on her knees and opened up the picnic basket, the first thing she got out was a large plain white blanket with little icons of the Royal Sun and Moon on each corner for basic decoration. She unfolded the blanket and shook it greatly, causing it to quickly unfold and fly up into the air and drift back down slowly onto the ground, fully expanded and ready to be sat on in the shade.
Next she pulled out a few items that were wrapped completely in tin foil and a plastic bag and put them down on the blanket. She then pulled out a can of cola for herself and put it down next to the other food she brought out.
Now that she was done taking out some of the food to prepare the first part of the picnic, she had to take out Spike from his stroller. She got back up on her feet and walked over to the front of the stroller and leaned back down.
Spike was sitting in his stroller happily making bubbles with his spittle to keep him busy, donned in just a white t-shirt and a diaper he looked up and saw Twilight leaning down who started to unstrap him from his restraints one by one. Soon he was able to move freely and attempted to get out of his stroller by his own, but his plans were foiled when he was picked up by Twilight.
"C'mon you, time to get some sun and have a delicious picnic." Twilight wrapped Spike in her arms and held him close to her chest, she walked back over to the blanket and placed him down. Twilight then moved onto the other side and sat down opposite Spike.
She grabbed the wrapped up food and began to unravel the plastic and tin foil until one of the items revealed a cheese sandwich, she flattened the tin foil and put it down on the blanket.
"This one is for me."
She unpacked another item and it revealed a packet of banana yoghurt with a small plastic spoon, she put it down next to the sandwich.
"This one is for you."
The final item she unpacked revealed to have a bottle full of milk and a juice carton together in one serving of tin foil.
"And these are for both of us!"
A smile grew on Spike the second the bottle came into view, he started to crawl over to Twilight and where the food was, determined to grab the bottle and enjoy the milk inside. But he was quickly stopped when Twilight lifted him up once again and placed him down on her lap.
He started to wiggle and struggle out of her grip and reached out for the bottle. But Twilight picked up the yoghurt and opened the packaging before Spike could escape and grab the bottle.
"Come on, Spike, if you have the yoghurt then you can have your bottle, does that sound fair?"
Spike didn't listen or even care about what his big sister was trying to say, the bottle was in front of him, but he wasn't getting any closer to it whatsoever. He wanted it more than anything, but Twilight wasn't having none of his behaviour.
Twilight on the other hand took a deep breath and dug the spoon into the yoghurt and scooped up banana scented mush from the container and aimed it directly towards Spike's mouth. He quickly turned his head and groaned at the sight of the food and let out a little whine, Spike continued to try and break free, but he was too weak.
She knew that this would cause a scene between her and him, but Twilight had an idea that was make him eat the yoghurt, it wasn't nice but she had to do it.
"Okay Spike, you win, you get your bottle."
She pretended to act defeated and complied with Spike's orders for the bottle, she picked it up and took off the plastic top and shook the milk a little, she slowly aimed it for his mouth and Spike fell for the trap, he opened his mouth awaiting the amber nipple to be put inside his mouth.
Twilight dropped the bottle and quickly shoved the spoonful of banana yoghurt into his mouth while it was open, surprising the infant with the mush effectively forcing him to swallow it down the hatch. Spike spat out his tongue and pouted.
"Either you eat the yoghurt and be a good boy, or else you won't get your bottle at all, what'll it be?"
Spike could still feel the last tinge of banana stuck on his tongue from that random attack on his mouth, though he didn't like the mush and preferred the milk over anything else, it felt rather refreshing to have something that didn't taste like milk. He bit the bullet and decided to open his mouth again.
Twilight took another scoop out of the yoghurt tray and shoved the mush into Spike's mouth for a second time, he swallowed the goop down the hatch and started to understand the taste, though it still wasn't as good as the milk he had it certainly was different.
"Good boy! Do that a few more times for me and you'll get your bottle!"
The process repeated until Twilight had finally managed to scrape the final bit of yoghurt out of the bottom of the tray, she put it into Spike's mouth and he swallowed the food without a problem.
"You're such a good boy! I bet that yummy food filled you up, didn't it? I bet you want your bottle now, don't you."
Twilight picked up his bottle and slowly directed it into Spike's mouth and felt a sense of accomplishment, she managed to make Spike eat food for once, not just suckle down his bottle, this was a great day for her. The thoughts of the miserable attempts to make him eat his food soon disappeared and now this day was kept in her head for all times sake.
She held the back of his head with one hand and aimed the bottle into his mouth with the other, she never felt so proud of something so strange. Spike kept his eyes closed and started to suckle on the bottle like he always did.
When he finished with the bottle he dropped it and it fell onto the blanket, he soon squirmed a little in her arms and Twilight knew what was about to come up. She lifted him up and put him over her shoulder and started to pat on his back.
"Come on, Spike. Cough up all those yucky bubbles in your belly and burp it all up."
Twilight patted Spike's back for the final time and moved him back in front of her, she saw a trail of drool make its way down Spike's t-shirt with a little grin on his face.
"Ugh, should've brought you the bib, messy bo-"
Spike let out a big belch right in front of Twilight's face again just like before, she smelt his breath and smelt the awful tinge of banana and milk mixed together was just horrible.
"Who's a good boy? Did you get the yucky bubbles out of your tummy?"
Twilight shrugged off the smell and decided it was best to try and see how playing would work with Spike. Despite them doing it together in the Nursery a few times they never had spent a proper amount of time together. In response to Twilight's question, Spike let out a happy gurgle and then put his thumb in his mouth to suck on.
While keeping Spike held up, Twilight moved him closer, so close in fact that they rubbed their noses together in a playful manner.
"I bet you want to play with your big sister, Twiliy!"
Spike giggled and nodded his head up and down, he grinned and shown off his toothless mouth. Twilight put him back down on the blanket and turned round, she reached for the picnic basket and pulled out a few baby toys, a rattle with the image of the Royal Sun on the front of it, a toy chariot made to look like the one that the Princesses use and a small brown teddy bear. Twilight put them down on the blanket and watched Spike pick the teddy bear.
"You want the teddy? Here you go."
Twilight took the teddy bear and moved it closer to Spike, he crawled over a little and grabbed it with both arms, causing him to fall on it. Luckily, he used the teddy to soften his landing and began to play with it.
But before Spike could do anything with the teddy, Twilight took it off him and grabbed it by the back of the neck, she moved it around trying to pretend that it was coming to life and moved it close to Spike and began to play with him.
"Hello. My name is Smartypants Jr, what's you're name?"
Twilight reworked the way she was sitting down and now leaned on her stomach and controlled the bear, she put on a voice and wiggled the toy in front of Spike's face. He clapped his hands in wonder and tried to crawl after the bear.
"Spike? That's a nice name, isn't it? What's your favourite toy, Spike?"
"Ba!"
"Oh really? I like Twilight's Smartypants doll, he's a lot of fun to-" Twilight let out a giggle. "He's a lot of fun to play with, he's also my big brother too!"
"Ba! Ba!"
"No way! I like bananas too!"
"Goo!"
"Yeah you do! See! Twilight knew that the banana yoghurt was good for you!"
Twilight couldn't go on with what she was doing, she was at the point of bursting, this was too funny for her to carry on and she let go and began to laugh loudly. Spike wasn't interested in his sister at the moment, he continued to crawl and grabbed the teddy bear and hugged it tightly.
"Oh boy, I've never done anything so silly in my life."
Twilight wiped a tear that came from her eye.
"Spike. You're really fun to play with. I needed that laugh, thanks for that buddy."
Spike looked at is sister and held tight onto his teddy and let out some baby gibberish and then continued to play with his teddy.
Twilight felt very relaxed at this point, she needed to calm down and catch her breath, she turned herself round and lied down on her back and felt the sun going through the oak tree.
Now that she had some fun and kept Spike happy with the food and toys she brought, now it was her turn to take a bite out of her own food and feel as relaxed and as carefree like her baby brother. She leaned herself up against the tree trunk and reached for her juice carton and her sandwich and started to unwrap them.
She took a bite out of her sandwich and dug into the juice carton after pulling the little straw out and took a look at the world around her.
Twilight didn't know how to feel now that she was on her own with Spike, things seemed very quiet with the sound of the wind continuously rustling the leaves, not to mention the chirping of the birds. She thought about different things and ideas that she could do, but she wanted to fix a few loose screws and do something that hadn't done in a very long time.
Speak to her friends.
She knew that she wasn't out of the water just yet, but she had to accept the facts and the things that life decided to throw at her for whatever reason, that her family may not be the symbol of the typical Equestrian family and that some can show their darker sides. But the thought of Spike growing up seemed alien to her, the fact that he may have to grow up alongside her and it would be his choice whether the role of sister or mother would be given to her by his own choice.
But then there was the problem about telling him about the rest of the family and the bad things that happened, she couldn't dwell on the facts, but they were things that were about to happen and she needed an answer.
Another possibility, a dire one she personally thought of, was that she could branch herself off from the rest of the Sparkle family and raise Spike as her own, but this was very out there for her. She couldn't just leave her own family because of what happened.
Twilight finished her sandwich and sipped the last of her juice carton and neatly put the wrappers and packaging back in the picnic basket and looked at Spike. He seemed to be wrapped up with his teddy right next to him, curled into a fetal position with his thumb stuck in his mouth. Twilight let out a little smile and leaned forward to pick up the sleeping infant into her arms.
"Right now, from this day on. I'm going to try and make sure you're as happy as can be. I don't care what I need to do, no matter what mood or day nor storm, I'll keep you safe and I'll definitely love you till the end of time. Your life isn't going to waste because of what happened in the past, no need to dwell on it at all, but when the times comes, you'll just shrug and understand that you didn't cause any of this. I strongly believe you didn't, and I stand by that. You're such a smart little guy and I'm going to keep on doing what's best for you, whether you call me mother or sister, it doesn't matter. I'll look after you."
Twilight kissed him on the forehead and then put him back in his stroller, ready to go home.
To be continued...