//------------------------------// // Prologue: Before The Beginning // Story: Take Two // by LordBrony2040 //------------------------------// Disclaimer: MLP is the property of Hasbro Prologue: The Beginning If one were to ask Spike the dragon what his special talent was, he would probably point to the fact the majority of his time was spent asleep, his ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, the strange skill that allowed him to stay asleep on the back of a moving equine, as well as his power to nap through Twilight Sparkle’s craziness the night before a test when she read textbooks at volumes loud enough to make his ears ring form the overloading sensory input of the information. Armed with these skills, it was next to impossible to rouse the dragon from his slumber, or keep him from it when it was time for bed. So when he was awakened from his dream of swimming through a sea of sapphires by a jubilant scream, you might understand just how joyfully loud Twilight was being that morning. “WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Spike pulled his head out of his basket and looked on in confusion as Twilight danced around the room in a way that would have made Pinkie Pie jealous while a mess of papers lay strewn about the floor, already dictating his first job of the day. “Ohmygosh! Ponyville! I’m still here! And I'm in the library! The library here in Ponyville! It worked! IT REALLY WORKED!” she cried while sliding forward on her hind knees with upraised forelegs. The confusing antics of his honorary big sister had Spike scratching his head. As far as he knew, Twilight hadn’t been doing one of her mad science experiments last night. Hay, they hadn’t even gotten her stuff delivered from Canterlot yet. “Twilight?” the little purple dragon groaned in confusion. The purple unicorn froze, then slowly turned around to face Spike with wide eyes. “Spike?” “Ye-” “SPIKE!” Twilight shouted again before she just…appeared right in front of him in a flash before snatching the dragon up in a crushing hug to nuzzle the smaller reptile. The strange behavior made the dragon tense in surprise and before Spike could even begin to fight her off, Twilight did something that stopped him cold: she kissed him on the forehead. Then things got really strange as she loosened her grip and looked down on the dragon with some sort of weird expression with a smile that Spike had seen on Princess Celestia a few times and motherly eyes. “I love you Spike.” After the weird swelling of emotion caused by Twilight's affectionate actions was finally under control, Spike looked up at his caretaker in worry. She had another odd expression on her face that only confused the dragon even more, if anything her joy seemed to fade for every second she looked at him. “T-Twilight?” “I never told you that enough before, did I?” she asked as her eyes became a bit sadder. “But I do love you, and not just for being my assistant! I love you because you’re you. In fact, forget about being my assistant from now on!” The declaration snapped Spike out of his confused haze. “W-what?” he nearly screamed as the dragon's brain tried to digest the information. Being Twilight's assistant was...well, it what he did! It was what he always did! In fact, if Spike had been a pony, he was pretty sure that he would have had a crazy purple unicorn assistant cutie mark! If he wasn't Twilight's assistant, then... He really didn't know what he was. “But Twilight! I like being your assistant! If I’m not you’re assistant, then what-umph!” Twilight held her hoof to his mouth for a few more seconds after he stopped talking, and gave him a warm smile; banishing the look of growing depression that had been there a moment before. “Okay Spike, you’re still my assistant. Just…if you don’t want to do something, then tell me and I’ll take care of it instead, okay? I don’t want you to be cooped up in this library all your hatchling life. You need to be like me! Go out and make friends! Live! Play and be happy!" “Umm, did you read a self-help book again or something?” the dragon asked cautiously. He didn’t want to think about the last time Twilight had tried messing with one of those things. It was supposed to help her get organized, and now she made lists for every little thing. Every. Little. Thing. Twilight even had a whole schedule that covered everything from what she planned to do in the morning that was so broken down it had steps that actually involved getting out of bed and going to the bathroom! “No silly, I’m just happy! I mean look, we’re in Ponyville!” the unicorn exclaimed as she finally released the dragon and practically bounced away from him in joy. “I can’t wait to go hang out with Pinkie, and Rainbow, and AJ, and Rarity! Oh, and Fluttershy, can’t forget about Fluttershy!” Spike frowned. “You mean the ponies you were telling me about yesterday? The ones that helped you take down Nightmare Moon a couple of days ago?” They had seemed like a friendly enough bunch, although...that white unicorn named Rarity stood head and shoulders above the rest. He wondered if she needed any help at her... Wait, does she design dresses, or decorate stuff? His memories weren't too clear on that point. For a moment Twilight’s exuberance vanished, and she rubbed her chin in thought. The action dragged Spike out of his introspection, as the sudden loss of his caretaker holding him nearly made the dragon collapse. “Couple, so that’s two days then?” she asked herself. “Looks like I overshot my mark, but…ah well! Guess that just means more time to enjoy unicorn-hood!” “Say what?” the dragon asked while Twilight ignored him and just stared at…her back? Twilight let out a sigh of contentment before Spike began to hear an odd sound coming from the air around him a few seconds before the Music of Harmony kicked in. While Twilight muttered to herself, some music Spike remembered from a puppet show back in Canterlot began to play. “No wings. Oh… I’ve got no wings To flap around To lift me up And get me down Plainly, as you can see I’ve got no wings on me! “Uh, Twilight?” Spike said as the music abruptly stopped so fast he could practically hear the needle being ripped off the record, “you’re starting to worry me.” Why in the world would Twilight be singing a song about not being a pegasus? Spike had no idea. It was just…freaky. As soon as he said the words, Spike began to have regrets. Twilight just flashed in front of him again, and her expression changed form insane levels of joy to something approaching panic. “Oh no! Am I neglecting you? I’m sorry! I just got so wrapped up in the fact I’m not an alicorn I couldn’t help it! I… I, oh my gosh, I REALLY AM A HORRIBLE MOTHER!” she cried to the ceiling. “Really worry me,” Spike continued before trying to back away. Unfortunately, he found himself trapped between his basket, the wall, and Twilight's bed. A second later, half a dozen gemstones floated over to park themselves in front of the dragon’s face. “Breakfast! You need breakfast, right?” “Uh-” Spike managed to say before Twilight cut him off with more panicky nonsense. “Oh jeez, how many years did I have you just slaving away cooking breakfast for me every day?” she asked the ceiling. “That’s not what a mom is supposed to do!" And, before the dragon could point out they were in no way related, Twilight was back to looking at him with some kind of wide-eyed look that was a fifty-percent mix of guilt and worry. "Spike! From now on, I’ll do all the cooking, okay?” While the rather odd idea of Twilight getting it into her head that she was supposed to be Spike’s mother needed to be addressed, he didn’t want the place they lived in burnt to the ground. “But, you’re a horrible cook,” the dragon pointed out. “I’ve gotten better!” the unicorn exclaimed before she pointed a hoof at the dragon. “And don’t back talk your mother, it’s rude.” “Uh, Twilight, you’re not-” Twilight cut him off with a somewhat forceful poke to the dragon’s gut with her hoof. “I hatched you from an egg,” she told him before he could even finish. “And I’ll admit, I wasn’t ready for you when you first came out. But now we’re on our own. I’m the adult, and I’m ready to take on my parental responsibilities!” Spike blinked, unsure as to how he could follow that. Although, he was starting to get an idea of what was really wrong. “Please tell me you didn’t read some kind of single mare’s guide to parenting or something,” he groaned while regretting the fact he hadn't gone through the library's stacks of books to get rid of anything that instructed Twilight Sparkle in the way things had to be done. “Um...no,” Twilight replied before she waved away his concerns and brought the gems up to Spike’s face. “Now, here’s your breakfast. When you’re done, you can…actually, I think I’m going to need this week’s to-do list. So you can find that for me, and…we’ll go from there. I’m going to go make myself some food.” The looming threat of the incineration of their new home brought out a sigh from Spike. “I’ll go get the fire extinguisher.” Before Spike could start searching for what Twilight asked for as well as what they‘d need to keep the tree full of books from going up in flames, a knock at the door drew his attention. “Who is it?” “Spike?” a female voice with a southern drawl called out. “Is Twilight in there? Ah need to ask fer a favor.” Right as the dragon opened the door, there was a loud pop of displaced air and magical light, and Spike found Twilight standing right behind him with an almost manic level of happiness on her face. “Applejack!” the unicorn said as she grabbed the farmer and brought her into a hug. “It’s so good to see you again! You have no idea how much I’ve missed you!” “Twilight, we saw each other yesterday,” she managed to get out before fighting the unicorn off of her. When she looked down to the dragon, he just gave a confused shrug as if to say: ‘don’t ask me’. A few seconds passed as Twilight just stared blankly at the orange pony, then let out a nervous laugh. “Hehe, right…yesterday,” she mumbled. For a moment, Spike was sure he saw the smile on Twilight’s face slip, but it was back less than a second later with renewed vigor. “So, what do you need?” For a moment, the farmer pony’s face took on a look of embarrassment. “Well, the thing is…Ah might need a tiny bit of help at the farm,” she admitted slowly; clearly not used to asking for assistance. “Ah already asked Rainbow Dash, and-” Twilight didn’t even give Applejack time to finish before she practically got in the other pony’s face, her own split in a grin of excitement. “You need help on the farm?” she asked in glee. “Oh, I haven’t done that in…okay, well, I haven’t done that at all…yet. Sure I’ll come! No need to thank me. We’re friends, and friends help each other! Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Just let me take care of something real quick.” The purple unicorn took off in a burst of speed and out of the sight of the dragon, who turned his attention back to Applejack when she asked a question. “Uh, is she always like this in the mornings?” “Not usually,” Spike replied before a flash of light returned Twilight to the doorway. “Okay, ready to go!” she exclaimed. “Hey Spike, you want to come with us, or stay here?” Spike considered his options for the moment. Usually, he would have jumped at the chance to see the sights Ponyville, and Twilight would probably need some help avoiding a few social pitfalls thanks to her complete lack of skills in that regard… But, the way she was acting this morning was a little too weird, even for the wyrm who’d been with her his whole life. “Uh…think I’ll pass. Thanks.” “Suit yourself,” Twilight said as she stepped outside and turned around. “Be good. And don’t forget, I love you!” As the purple unicorn waved goodbye, Spike quickly closed the door in her face and made his way back into the library’s kitchen. Much to his surprise, nothing was on fire. But then again, Twilight hadn’t had time to really start cooking. A quick check of her desk did reveal what she had been doing. There was a small checklist that had been left out in the open for the ink to dry. Spike pulled himself up onto the desk, and read it. Use Chronomancy Spell: Check Ensure Proper Temporal Landing: Check (more or less) Ensure Complete Mental Amalgamation: Check Obtain Elements of Harmony: FIX EVERYTHING: